Marilyn Monroe sings “Happy Birthday” to President John F. Kennedy, 1962. (Creative Commons Photo)
Today is the ninth anniversary of the day Bitcoin was unleashed on the world, ushering in the cryptocurrency revolution. Well, kind of. It took a while to be picked up but check it out now! Keep this in mind by reading Satoshi Nakamoto’s whitepaper (pdf).
The very first block in the Bitcoin blockchain (the “Genesis Block”) contained simple evidence of its creation: “The Times 03 / Jan / 2009 Chancellor on the verge of the second bailout for banks”. That was the headline of an article on the front page of the Times of London when the global banking and monetary system was on the verge of collapse. Nakamoto’s choice for this as the first block could have been a coincidence or a conscious message. For a stroll down Memory Lane, read the article for yourself here (subscription required).
Cover of the Economist, January 9, 1988.
As mentioned on Reddit, this week also marks the 30th anniversary of the Economist cover that reads “Get Ready for World Currency” with an eagle over a 2018 gold coin. Some say it predicted cryptocurrencies, but if it really did the headline should have read, “Get Ready for Thousands of World Currencies.”
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