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Satoshi Nakamoto · CryptographyCurated

Bitcoin 0.1 is released

Summary

On 8 January 2009 Satoshi Nakamoto announced the first version of Bitcoin on the Cryptography mailing list, an electronic cash system without a central authority that uses a peer-to-peer network to prevent double-spending. The software initially ran only on Windows, came with its C++ source code and asked users to open port 8333 for incoming connections. The mail soberly describes an experiment that grew into a currency with a market value of over a trillion dollars.

What the mail describes

Nakamoto explained the operation in a few lines: unpack the files, run BITCOIN.EXE, and the program connects to other nodes by itself. Anyone running a node that accepts incoming connections would help the network a lot. The software was alpha and experimental, and there was no guarantee that the system’s state would not have to be restarted at some point.

Coins came from others or via “Generate Coins”. Nakamoto had set the proof-of-work difficulty ridiculously low at first, so that a typical PC could generate coins within a few hours; with more competition it would rise automatically. Newly generated coins had to mature for 120 blocks before they could be spent.

Ideas

  • Consensus without a central authority is possible with proof-of-work.
  • An open network needs nodes that accept incoming connections.
  • Automatically rising difficulty keeps the block rate stable.
  • Free source code creates trust in a money system without an operator.

Insights

  • The announcement is modest and technical; the hype came later. That is exactly why the original is worth reading: it describes a method, not an investment.
  • The proof-of-work that ran on a PC within hours in 2009 turned into an arms race with specialised hardware and enormous power consumption.

Facts

  • The announcement went to the Cryptography mailing list on 8 January 2009.
  • Version 0.1 ran only on Windows and included the C++ source code.
  • Bitcoin nodes accepted incoming connections on port 8333.
  • Newly generated coins had to mature for 120 blocks.

References

Critique

  • The proof-of-work that the mail describes as an easily adjusted difficulty is today one of IT’s largest power consumers; this cost of the method was not foreseeable in 2009 and remains the strongest objection to Bitcoin.

Remarks

  • Who Satoshi Nakamoto is remains unresolved to this day.

Recommendations

  • Read the 2008 white paper; it explains the method in nine pages.
  • With nodes on your own network, remember that an open port 8333 accepts connections from all over the world.

Read the original mail

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