Basics:

                                    The blockchain is a
                                        cryptography-focused architecture based
                                        on the internet protocol, powered by
                                        networked computer servers that do not
                                        need to be set up by developers.
​
​
​
​
                                  

                                    That is, however, just one of its many
                                        attractive features. In addition,
                                        blockchain is a software approach
                                        designed to bind this hardware together
                                        and dedicate it to the consensus, a
                                        universal validity check system that,
                                        among others, uses the Proof of Work
                                        (PoW) and Proof of Stake (PoS) methods
                                        for validation, and is the primary layer
                                        of any decentralized verification
                                        architecture.
​
​
​
​
                                  

                                    The Bitcoin Core developers sign all of
                                        their releases using the “Pretty Good
                                        Privacy” (PGP) encryption program that
                                        provides cryptographic privacy and
                                        authentication for data communication.
                                        PGP is used for signing, encrypting, and
                                        decrypting texts, e-mails, files,
                                        directories, and whole disk partitions
                                        and to increase the security of e-mail
                                        communications. End-users can download
                                        the software and signatures and verify
                                        the releases using PGP software running
                                        on their own machines. In this
                                        particular verification, blockchain is
                                        not necessary.
​
​
​
​
                                  

                                    See also:
​
​
​
​
                                  

                                      
                                        
                                      
                                    

                                            ​Paxos​
                                          

                                      
                                        
                                      
                                    

                                            ​Proof of authority​
                                          

                                      
                                        
                                      
                                    

                                            ​Proof of burn​
                                          

                                      
                                        
                                      
                                    

                                            ​Proof of personhood​
                                          

                                      
                                        
                                      
                                    

                                            ​Proof of space​
                                          

                                      
                                        
                                      
                                    

                                            ​Proof of stake​
                                          

                                      
                                        
                                      
                                    

                                            ​Proof of elapsed time​
                                          

                                    In many respects, blockchain can be
                                        considered a meta-technology, since it
                                        utilizes, enhances, challenges, and
                                        potentially supersedes other
                                        pre-existing software technologies. As
                                        such, it allows us to create versatile
                                        technological solutions that aim to
                                        minimize the agency of third-party
                                        providers and, in a way, return power
                                        back to the users. This can be achieved
                                        by the blockchain providing an
                                        environment where users can interact
                                        freely in a trustless ecosystem for very
                                        low to almost zero fees, at speeds that
                                        make everybody in the world reachable in
                                        a matter of minutes. To make this
                                        possible, the blockchain is used as a
                                        transaction platform and distributed
                                        accounting ledger that uses
                                        cryptocurrency tokens (digital money) as
                                        a representation of a specific value at
                                        the current time (much like traditional
                                        fiat currencies). Nevertheless, for
                                        trustless technology to work on a global
                                        scale, it needs to implement trust in a
                                        different manner. This is where ISO
                                        standards come into the picture, as they
                                        ensure that the blockchain interactions
                                        follow globally applicable rules, norms,
                                        and procedures. This is also why
                                        starting in 2016, the blockchain
                                        technology obtained its own set of ISO
                                        standards, called ISO/TC307.
​
​
​
​
                                  

                                    From the perspective of a technician,
                                        the blockchain is:
​
​
​
​
                                  

                                    A transactional platform and
                                        distributed accounting ledger using
                                        cryptocurrency tokens as a
                                        representation of a specific value at
                                        the current time (same as fiat). That
                                        means that a transaction is carried out
                                        by the blockchain nodes, and every
                                        member of this blockchain party has a
                                        copy of this transaction on their
                                        computer (node). Everybody verifies if
                                        the entities that are about to do a
                                        transaction have enough funds to make
                                        this transaction happen. You are
                                        basically announcing to all members of
                                        this system that you are about to make
                                        something happen and, even though this
                                        action is happening between two peers,
                                        the rest of the network verifies and
                                        records the transaction. It is a
                                        computing infrastructure that uses the
                                        power of the decentralized database with
                                        linear cell-space structure, published
                                        in a semi-public way (also known as “the
                                        block”). It’s an open-source software
                                        operating on a development platform of
                                        the future. The trust service layer, in
                                        combination with Peer to Peer (P2P)
                                        network, handles microtransactions and
                                        large-value transactions as well -
                                        allowing two users to do the same things
                                        that a bank would need to do on their
                                        behalf. That’s right, instead of a
                                        middleman or third party (such as a
                                        bank, PayPal service…), you and only you
                                        are the master of your transaction
                                        registers and the way you do it. This is
                                        all possible because of the fact that
                                        more and more people realize that
                                        there’s a way to do things differently.
                                        Because the blockchain transaction is
                                        borderless, you don’t need to think
                                        where your friends are when you are
                                        about to send them some money - and with
                                        very low fees, to boot!
​
​
​
​
                                  

                                    “Fees are not necessarily low on
                                        blockchains. There are times when
                                        on-chain transactions are quite
                                        expensive! And of course, “low” is a
                                        relative term as well, what may be low
                                        for some is expensive to others and vice
                                        versa.” - John Light
​
​
​
​
                                  

                                    It provides:
​
​
​
​
                                  

                                    The use for cryptocurrencies, the
                                        blockchain’s most famous
                                        derivative.Bitcoin, the most crucial
                                        contribution to blockchain technology of
                                        all time.
​
​
​
​
                                  

                                    From the Evangelist Perspective, the
                                        Blockchain Provides:
​
​
​
​
                                  

                                    A suitable environment for running
                                        decentralized financial service
                                        marketplaces. A layer that creates a
                                        borderless opportunity for anybody to
                                        join a technological and financial
                                        revolution.
​
​
​
​
                                  

                                    To finish on a poetic note, blockchain
                                        sounds like a song of the future and can
                                        be described as an innovative digital
                                        splendor with a strong narrative, with
                                        the ability to influence the global
                                        direction of finance, data integrity,
                                        and the way people control their
                                        credentials.
​
​
​
​
                                  

                                    What is needed to run a blockchain?
                                        Internet, Electricity, Software,
                                        Algorithms, and Hardware (miners)
​
​
​
​
                                  

                                  
                                      Blockchain as a Helping Hand
                                    

                                

                                    Some economies are still catching up,
                                        but accepting innovative technologies
                                        that are easy to adapt and can supply
                                        those regions with proper financial
                                        substitutions, which can foster real and
                                        fast progress.
​
​
​
​
                                  

                                    In some regions, people are trying to
                                        improve their situation and develop
                                        their businesses while struggling with a
                                        lack of government support and FinTech
                                        adoption. Overcoming those problems is
                                        one of the main hallmarks of blockchain
                                        technology and cryptocurrencies, as
                                        people can use them to bypass obstacles
                                        posed by the overbearing authorities to
                                        achieve their goals, such as having a
                                        money account or credit score.
​
​
​
​
                                  

                                    Indonesia: Small-medium Indonesian
                                        enterprises lack access to fundamental
                                        financial technologies like personal
                                        banking or cloud-stored accounting.
                                        This, in turn, makes it difficult for
                                        such companies to provide a formally
                                        valid and reliable record of business
                                        and trade credibility. All those facts
                                        make financial institutions reluctant to
                                        provide a loan when governments are not
                                        able to offer economic support. To
                                        exacerbate the problem, small businesses
                                        are struggling to join existing
                                        marketplaces dominated by large
                                        established companies that already
                                        control the market through great amounts
                                        of business know-how and customer
                                        loyalty.
​
​
​
​
                                  

                                    The majority of Indonesian internet
                                        traffic is mobile, and only about a
                                        third of the population has an actual
                                        bank account.
​
​
​
​
                                  

                                  
                                      A Possible Blockchain Solution:
                                    

                                

                                    The thing we can relate to is
                                        Indonesia’s excitement over mobile
                                        internet/app usage. This is especially
                                        handy since, in many parts of the world,
                                        people don’t have access to a standard
                                        PC with a fixed or wireless internet
                                        connection. This is an obstacle for them
                                        when it comes to making records,
                                        accessing financial institution
                                        services, and communicating with
                                        partners.
​
​
​
​
                                  

                                    Instead of a PC with an internet
                                        connection, they could instead use
                                        smartphones and their mobile data from
                                        mobile network providers, since there is
                                        excellent coverage in places like
                                        Indonesia. Mobiles could solve the
                                        problem of the lack of traditional fixed
                                        infrastructure, and a blockchain-based
                                        application could embrace and encompass
                                        all possible applications under one
                                        roof. A publicly accessible profile,
                                        representing a form of identity
                                        management between the users and
                                        institutions originating from this
                                        fusion could be used to verify a
                                        user's creditworthiness and define
                                        their business profile (identity).
​
​
​
​
                                  

                                    In some countries, this potential for
                                        financial self-sufficiency of
                                        individuals is looked down upon by the
                                        government, and cryptocurrencies are
                                        thus considered illegal. However, there
                                        are also countries, such as Estonia,
                                        where the government accepted and
                                        endorsed the use of blockchain and
                                        cryptocurrencies as a medium in green
                                        energy procurement and trading
                                        platforms. Inevitably, their economies
                                        have benefited as a result. After all,
                                        this technology has not been invented to
                                        make people rich, but to make what we do
                                        more fluent, secure, and in some parts
                                        of the world, actually possible.
​
​
​
​
                                  

                                    Estonia: Tokenized energy from natural
                                        resources (WePower)
​
​
​
​
                                  

                                    Blockchains allow people to be their
                                        own banks in systems where they cannot
                                        have a bank account, it makes it
                                        impossible to provide fraudulent proof
                                        of authenticity of goods, and it
                                        prevents the issue of double-spending in
                                        digital transactions. The proprietary
                                        technology this solution could utilize
                                        are, for example, NFC compatible chips,
                                        which could be discretely incorporated
                                        with any physically manufactured
                                        product. Upon integration of the chip,
                                        the product is paired with the digital
                                        counterpart on the blockchain.
                                        Verification of authenticity is
                                        instantaneous with a simple tap or scan
                                        with any smart device. This way, any
                                        goods would have a record about their
                                        purchase on the blockchain and protect
                                        the ownership, which could be updated
                                        with every secondary market action that
                                        could happen to the goods and transfer
                                        that ownership to a new owner. This
                                        bears striking similarity with the use
                                        of NFT tokens and art. This method would
                                        protect the “non-fake” background of the
                                        chipped goods, the same way as proving
                                        the buyers’ ownership.
​
​
​
​
                                  

                                    Still, there are many other aces this
                                        technology can pull out of its
                                        sleeves.
​
​
​
​
                                  

                                    Everywhere it is needed: Decentralized
                                        Finance (DeFi) as the alternative to
                                        standard centralized financial products
                                        backed by banks. In this system, you can
                                        be the loaner and the borrower, without
                                        adhering to the wishes of central banks.
                                        At the same time, the users are in full
                                        control of their assets and are
                                        responsible for managing and safekeeping
                                        their own private keys.
​
​
​
​
                                  

                                    For some, blockchain is still nothing
                                        more than an idea, which accidentally
                                        made some people rich. On the other
                                        hand, if we free ourselves from this
                                        bubble perspective, we will realize that
                                        blockchain is helping millions of users
                                        around the world to access previously
                                        unattainable possibilities, forbidden by
                                        their countries.
​
​
​
​
                                  

                                    Additional example
​
​
​
​
                                  

                                    Afghanistan: The cooperation of three
                                        companies resulted in a system for a
                                      land registry secured by blockchain
                                            technology.
​
​
​
​
                                  

                                  
                                      Why Does the World Need
                                          Blockchains?
                                    

                                

                                    Consider the following:
​
​
​
​
                                  

                                    Roads need traffic lights. Modern
                                        states would fail without the rule of
                                        law. Every important technological
                                        field, such as economy, health care, and
                                        medicine, needs ISO standards.
​
​
​
​
                                  

                                    These standards declare the correct
                                        limits, values, procedures, and quality
                                        evaluation methods. The same way a
                                        technology world needs ISO to keep
                                        things auditable and safe, a homegrown
                                        economy based on scarcity and a
                                        decentralized, permissionless,
                                        borderless financial-economic system
                                        needs blockchains.
​
​
​
​
                                  

                                    “Trusted standards mean that industry
                                        doesn’t need to reinvent the wheel, that
                                        innovations will be compatible and work
                                        with existing technology, and that
                                        products and services will be trusted,
                                        too. Governments use standards as
                                        trusted solutions to complement
                                        regulation, and they give peace of mind
                                        to consumers who know they are not
                                        putting themselves or their families at
                                        risk.” - Acting ISO Secretary-General Kevin
                                        McKinley
​
​
​
​
                                  

                                    To extend the above wheel analogy
                                        further, the use of the wheel as an
                                        instrument was initially very limited,
                                        but eventually permeated through every
                                        aspect of the industrial revolution and
                                        the world it created. In many ways, the internet is the new wheel, and the
                                        blockchain, its pneumatic tire
                                        - an enhancement to make the wheel even
                                        more useful and ubiquitous.
                                        Nevertheless, there is still some
                                        uncertainty about how innovative an
                                        aspect this technology can prove for the
                                        IT infrastructure of the future. A lot
                                        will depend on what can be built on or
                                        around blockchain technology.
                                        Implementing blockchain-based solutions
                                        to systems that deliver ISO standards
                                        globally is a great step towards
                                        adopting blockchain technology
                                        thoroughly. Some may still not believe
                                        that the blockchain could ever escape
                                        the pitfalls of being “just another
                                        technological buzzword.” However, since
                                        this technology is starting to permeate
                                        areas like the ISO, banking, and
                                        identity protection, many have already
                                        begun to pay closer attention. Still,
                                        the most important phenomenon born from
                                        the blockchain to date has been
                                        Decentralized Finance (DeFi) and the
                                        freedom of finance for self-sovereign
                                        identities it brings. Thanks to DeFi,
                                        even the erstwhile blockchain skeptics
                                        are now wondering “What is this
                                        blockchain I keep hearing about??!” and
                                        “How do I buy it?!”
​
​
​
​
                                  

                                  
                                      The Massive Adoption of Blockchain
                                          Technology During the DeFi Season of
                                          2020-2021
                                    

                                

                                    Decentralized finance, or DeFi, is a
                                        cryptocurrency use case that has
                                        recently been attracting significant
                                        attention. DeFi refers to financial
                                        services using smart contracts, which
                                        are executed by miners with a
                                        transaction when certain conditions are
                                        met. Smart contracts are automated
                                        agreements that do not need
                                        intermediaries, such as banks or
                                        lawyers, and instead, use online
                                        blockchain timestamping as proof of
                                        authority. With cryptocurrencies, there
                                        are no restrictions related to wealth,
                                        social status, religion, etc. Almost
                                        everyone can permissionlessly and
                                        pseudonymously access and use DeFi
                                        applications. This is an advantage for
                                        those who cannot access traditional
                                        financial services because of the lack
                                        of formal documentation or the absence
                                        of such services in their country. Also,
                                        the current conditions and captivating
                                        rate of Annual Percentage Yield (APY)
                                        attract various investors to DeFi
                                        ecosystems every day.
​
​
​
​
                                  

                                    Between September 2017 and September
                                        2020, the total value locked up in DeFi
                                        contracts has grown significantly, from
                                        $2.1 million to $6.9 billion (£1.6
                                        million to £5.3 billion). Since the
                                        beginning of August 2020 alone, its rise
                                        has grown even faster, and as of April
                                        2021, it stands above $45 billion (£32
                                        billion).
​
​
​
​
                                  

                                  
                                      DeFi from the Regulatory
                                          Perspective
                                    

                                

                                    An important question from a regulatory
                                        standpoint is, “Are cryptosystems money
                                        transmitters or money service
                                        businesses?” This is because money
                                        transmitters are regulated in a
                                        different fashion than other finance
                                        systems.
​
​
​
​
                                  

                                    Money Transmitters -
                                      FINCEN’s definition​
​
​
​
​
                                  

                                    “Any person, whether or not licensed or
                                        required to be licensed, who engages as
                                        a business in accepting currency, or
                                        funds denominated in currency, and
                                        transmits the currency or funds, or the
                                        value of the currency or funds, by any
                                        means through a financial agency or
                                        institution, a Federal Reserve Bank or
                                        other facility of one or more Federal
                                        Reserve Banks, the Board of Governors of
                                        the Federal Reserve System, or both, or
                                        an electronic funds transfer network;
                                        orAny other person engaged as a business
                                        in the transfer of funds.”
​
​
​
​
                                  

                                    An entity that receives money from one
                                        person and transmits that money to
                                        another person or location. This entity
                                        needs to be registered with FINCEN and
                                        is required to have an anti-money
                                        laundering compliance program, including
                                        the “Know Your Customer” procedure,
                                        KYC.
​
​
​
​
                                  

                                    See a video of Yago’s thoughts on
                                        ‘The dangers of KYC’
                                      here.DeFi - A money-service business that
                                        is not a money transmitter
​
​
​
​
                                  

                                    Non-custodial DeFi systems - like
                                        Sovryn - do not take possession of your
                                        funds. They are not controlled by a
                                        single entity and do not hold
                                        transactional control over users’ funds.
                                        Using smart contracts to distance DeFi
                                        platforms from the ownership of the
                                        funds being used causes a regulatory
                                        grey area in most jurisdictions.
                                        Therefore, the system is not currently
                                        classed as a regulated financial
                                        institution, but its users can be
                                        regulated in other ways, such as being
                                        taxed on profits, or having limits on
                                        fiat on/off-ramps.
​
​
​
​
                                  

                                  
                                      Why are Blockchains a Good
                                          Solution?
                                    

                                

                                    Traditionally, electronic security
                                        focuses on authorization,
                                        authentication, and access control.
                                        These mechanics are intended to keep
                                        unauthorized users from accessing or
                                        modifying data. However, when it comes
                                        to authorized access, either on the
                                        application or system level, it does not
                                        provide any protection. Blockchains
                                        enable tamper resistance for data
                                        through distribution over many systems
                                        that are run and managed by independent
                                        parties. This is ensured by the
                                        architecture of the blockchain, where
                                        every piece of data has thousands of
                                        globally distributed copies. A potential
                                        attacker intent on breaching the
                                        certificate would have to compromise the
                                        majority of the data distribution at the
                                        same time, which is extremely hard,
                                        expensive, and with a well-designed
                                        blockchain almost impossible.
​
​
​
​
                                  

                                    To reiterate, a blockchain is a
                                        versatile solution for a variety of
                                        real-world use cases, and it is up to
                                        innovative minds how soon and how
                                        extensively this “pneumatic tire” of the
                                        internet will be used for the betterment
                                        of many walks of modern life.
​
​
​
​
                                  

                                  
                                      Data Integrity
                                    

                                

                                    Blockchains can be the solution to
                                        improve data integrity to the highest
                                        possible standard. By design,
                                        blockchains are inherently resistant to
                                        the modification of data. Blockchain
                                        ledgers are designed to be immutable,
                                        meaning that if data addition or
                                        transaction has been made, it cannot be
                                        edited or deleted without great
                                        difficulty (e.g., the cost to
                                        re-organize the bitcoin blockchain).
                                        This means that what is put on the
                                        blockchain stays on the blockchain as
                                        long as the data owner needs to update
                                        them. Then, this updated information is
                                        distributed between thousands of
                                        computers that created a blockchain
                                        network.
​
​
​
​
                                  

                                    Blockchain blocks are: structures for
                                        data keeping the timestamping mechanism
                                        for these data structures.
​
​
​
​
                                  

                                    Blockchains provide: proof of the
                                        history of any data recorded on a
                                        blockchain data integrity that can be
                                        used for audits, regulatory compliance
                                        requirements, or legal challenges
                                        decentralized data distribution with a
                                        transparent transaction history.
​
​
​
​
                                  

                                  
                                      Trusted Time stamping
                                    

                                

                                    In the context of blockchain, you can
                                        specifically encounter a term called
                                      Trusted Timestamping. This is a process of securely keeping
                                        track of the creation and modification
                                        time of a document, and it is an
                                        indispensable tool in the business
                                        world. It allows interested parties to
                                        know, without a doubt, that a document
                                        in question existed at a particular date
                                        and time. By design, a Bitcoin
                                        transaction includes a date and time
                                        held on the blockchain. By including a
                                        cryptographic digest of a file, you can
                                        later certify that the data existed at
                                        that time.
​
​
​
​
                                  

                                  
                                      Important Blockchain and Bitcoin
                                          Milestones
                                    

                                

                                    1976
                                        An asymmetric key cryptosystem was
                                        published by Whitfield Diffie and Martin
                                        Hellman who, influenced by Ralph
                                        Merkle's work on public key
                                        distribution, disclosed a method of
                                        public-key agreement. This method of key
                                        exchange, which uses exponentiation in a
                                        finite field, came to be known as
                                        Diffie–Hellman key exchange. This was
                                        the first published practical method for
                                        establishing a shared secret-key over an
                                        authenticated (but not confidential)
                                        communications channel without using a
                                        prior shared secret. Merkle's
                                        "public key-agreement
                                        technique" became known as
                                        Merkle's Puzzles and was invented
                                        in 1974 and only published in 1978. 1982
                                        Dissertation "Computer Systems
                                        Established, Maintained, and Trusted by
                                        Mutually Suspicious Groups" is the
                                        first known proposal for a blockchain
                                        protocol. Complete with the code to
                                        implement the protocol, Chaum's
                                        dissertation proposed all but one
                                        element of the blockchain later detailed
                                        in the Bitcoin whitepaper. 1993
                                        The PoW concept was invented by Cynthia
                                        Dwork and Moni Naor as a way to deter
                                        denial-of-service attacks and other
                                        service abuses such as spam on a network
                                        by requiring some work from a service
                                        requester, usually meaning processing
                                        time by a computer. The term "proof
                                        of work" was first coined and
                                        formalized in a 1999 paper by Markus
                                        Jakobsson and Ari Juels.
                                      Hal Finney in 1993 talking about
                                            digital trading cards
                                      1994
                                        Smart contracts ancestors were first
                                        introduced as “Ricardian
                                        Contracts'' by Nick Szabo, a
                                        computer scientist, legal scholar, and
                                        cryptographer. The term “smart contract”
                                        was first introduced long before the
                                        invention of Bitcoin, but it underwent a
                                        long gestation period of inactivity and
                                        disinterest since there was no platform
                                        that could enforce a smart contract,
                                        until the advent of Bitcoin blockchain
                                        technology in 2009. 1995
                                        DigiCash created the first digital
                                        currency with eCash (an electronic cash
                                        application that aims to preserve a
                                        user's anonymity, and inventing
                                        many cryptographic protocols like the
                                        blind signature, mix networks, and the
                                        Dining cryptographers protocol) 1998
                                        Computer scientist Nick Szabo works on
                                        ‘bit gold,’ a decentralized digital
                                        currency. 2000
                                        Stefan Konst publishes his theory of
                                        cryptographically secured chains, plus
                                        ideas for implementation. 2008
                                        Invention of cryptocurrency.
                                        Developer(s) working under the pseudonym
                                        Satoshi Nakamoto released a white paper
                                        establishing the model for a blockchain.
                                        31 October: Bitcoin
                                      white paper
                                        published on the internet. 2009
                                        Nakamoto implements the first blockchain
                                        as the public ledger for transactions
                                        made using bitcoin. Later that year →
                                        Blockchain was the first time operable.
                                        January 3 - Satoshi Nakamoto mined the
                                        genesis block of bitcoin (the first
                                        block) for 50 bitcoins. January 9 - The
                                        first open-source bitcoin client was
                                        released on SourceForge. January 12 -
                                        The first bitcoin transaction was made
                                        of 10 bitcoins to the first bitcoin user
                                        (other than Satoshi), Hal Finney
                                        November 19 - Satoshi created the
                                        Bitcointalk.org site. November 22 -
                                        Satoshi Nakamoto posted the first post
                                        on the bitcoin forum using the account
                                        "satoshi." December 16 -
                                        Bitcoin version 0.2 is released. By this
                                        point, Martti Malmi has joined Satoshi
                                        Nakamoto, a developer with full
                                        permission to change the codebase.
                                        December 30th - The first difficulty
                                        increase occurs, from 1 to 1.18. 2010
                                        February 6 - A currency exchange is
                                        born. The Bitcoin Market is established
                                        by dwdollar as a Bitcoin currency
                                        exchange. March 17 - The now-defunct
                                        BitcoinMarket.com exchange was the first
                                        one that started trading with
                                        cryptocurrency. May 22 - Mr. Sturdivant
                                        filled the order for two large pizzas
                                        from Papa John's paid by 10,000
                                        BTCs, making this transaction the first
                                        physical purchase ever made with Bitcoin
                                        in history.
​
​
​
​
                                  

                                    In May of 2021, this amount of BTC was
                                        worth 367,991,000.00 USD: See the TX
                                        a1075db55d416d3ca199f55b6084e2115b9345e16c5cf302fc80e9d5fbf5d48d
                                        July 6 - Bitcoin version 0.3 was
                                        released. November 6 - Bitcoin market
                                        capitalization passes $1 million.
                                        December 9 - The mining difficulty
                                        exceeds 10,000 December 12Satoshi
                                        Nakamoto posted his last post on the
                                        BitcoinTalk forum. 2011
                                        January 2 - Tonal Bitcoin, designed for
                                        those who prefer the Tonal number
                                        system, standardized its units. May 9 -
                                        The launch of Bitbills is announced.
                                        Bitbills are the first physical
                                        incarnation of bitcoins, coming in
                                        plastic cards that contain cryptographic
                                        information. 2012
                                        January 15 - Bitcoin made an appearance
                                        in the show "The good wife" in
                                        the episode "Bitcoin for
                                        Dummies." September 27 - The
                                        Bitcoin Foundation was launched with the
                                        aim of implementing a core development
                                        team for the protocols and the body to
                                        oversee the digital currency. June 3 -
                                        Bitcoin confirmed its largest
                                        transaction to date with 1322
                                        transactions on block 181919 November 28
                                        - Bitcoin Halving Day. On Halving Day,
                                        Block 210,000 is the first with a block
                                        reward subsidy of 25 BTC. 2013
                                        QixCoin , a Turing-complete
                                        cryptocurrency, was created by some of
                                        the RSK founders. QixCoin introduced the
                                        concept of pay per execution, currently
                                        known as transaction “gas.” However, RSK
                                        inherits several key concepts from
                                        Ethereum, such as its account format,
                                        VM, and web3 interface. January 22 -
                                        BitPay surpasses 10,000 transactions.
                                        BitPay, a Bitcoin payment processing
                                        company, announces that it has surpassed
                                        10,000 Bitcoin transactions for its
                                        merchants, with no cases of payment
                                        fraud reported. February 15 - The
                                        bitcoin-based payment processor Coinbase
                                        reported selling US$1 million worth of
                                        bitcoins in a single month at over $22
                                        per bitcoin.[41] The Internet Archive
                                        announced that it was ready to accept
                                        donations as bitcoins and that it
                                        intends to give employees the option to
                                        receive portions of their salaries in
                                        bitcoin currency. February 19 - Version
                                        0.8 of the Bitcoin client was released.
                                        It features Bloom Filtering and improved
                                        download speed. February 21 - Internet
                                        Archive began accepting BTC donations so
                                        that its employees can be paid in
                                        Bitcoins. Mar 12 - A hard fork occurs on
                                        the blockchain. A protocol rule that was
                                        previously undiscovered results in a
                                        hard fork of the 0.8.0 reference client.
                                        March 18 - the Financial Crimes
                                        Enforcement Network (or FinCEN), a
                                        bureau of the United States Department
                                        of the Treasury, issued a report
                                        regarding centralized and decentralized
                                        "virtual currencies" and their
                                        legal status within "money services
                                        business" (MSB) and Bank Secrecy
                                        Act regulations. It classified digital
                                        currencies and other digital payment
                                        systems such as bitcoin as "virtual
                                        currencies" because they are not
                                        legal tender under any sovereign
                                        jurisdiction. March 28 - The total
                                        Bitcoin market cap passed US$1 billion.
                                        May 1 - Online gaming company ESEA is
                                        called out for secretly using customer
                                        computers to mine Bitcoins. May 2 - 2013
                                        The first Bitcoin ATM in the world
                                        debuted in San Diego, California. May 3
                                        - Coindesk, a bitcoin-focused resource,
                                        and news website was launched by Shakil
                                        Khan, an angel investor and advisor to
                                        Spotify. May 17 - The first major
                                        Bitcoin Conference was held at the San
                                        Jose Convention Center. December 5 - The
                                        People's Bank of China announced in
                                        a press release regarding bitcoin
                                        regulation that whilst individuals in
                                        China are permitted to freely trade and
                                        exchange bitcoins as a commodity, it is
                                        prohibited for Chinese financial banks
                                        to operate using bitcoins or for
                                        bitcoins to be used as legal tender
                                        currency, and that entities dealing with
                                        bitcoins must track and report
                                        suspicious activity to prevent money
                                        laundering. 2014
                                        Blockchain technology is separated from
                                        the currency, and its potential for
                                        other financial, inter-organizational
                                        transactions are explored. Blockchain
                                        2.0 was born, referring to applications
                                        beyond currency. The Ethereum blockchain
                                        system introduces computer programs into
                                        the blocks, representing financial
                                        instruments such as bonds. 2015
                                        Ethereum launched - first 2.0 blockchain
                                        system (but It's not even the first
                                        cryptocurrency to have a Turing-complete
                                        language, which was QixCoin). 2016
                                        World Economic Forum - first governance
                                        models through blockchain IBM opens a
                                        blockchain innovative research center.
                                        Started a development that ends up with
                                        an umbrella product called Hyperledger
                                        Fabric. Blockchain has its own set of
                                        ISO standards, called ISO/TC307 The
                                        “Dubai Blockchain Strategy 2021” project
                                        was launched. 2017
                                        15% of global banks using blockchain for
                                        intercommunication. March 2 - The day
                                        one bitcoin overtook the price of an
                                        ounce of gold. July 21 - SegWit was
                                        locked in by Bitcoin miners August 21 -
                                        SegWit was activated. December 6 -
                                        Lightning Network preview was released. 2018
                                        July 17 - 2018, MasterCard accepted the
                                        agreement to participate in
                                        cryptography. Emirates Blockchain
                                        Strategy launched. 2021
                                        Sovryn platform launched. The
                                        cooperation of three companies resulted
                                        in a blockchain-based land registry for
                                        AfghanistanSovryn developed the
                                        Bitcoin-native DeFi protocol that allows
                                        Ethereum and Binance Smart Chain users
                                        to experience the most feature-rich
                                        platform directly on the Bitcoin-native
                                        RSK blockchain. El Salvador became the
                                        first country in the world to officially
                                        classify Bitcoin as a legal currency.
                                        June 16 - The World Bank has rejected a
                                        request from El Salvador to help with
                                        the implementation of Bitcoin as legal
                                        tender.
                                  
Blockchain & Crypto - Previous
Blockchain Basics
Next - Data Structures & Interviewing
Data Structures
Last modified 14d ago
Copy link
Contents
Blockchain as a Helping Hand
A Possible Blockchain Solution:
Why Does the World Need Blockchains?
The Massive Adoption of Blockchain Technology During the DeFi Season of 2020-2021
DeFi from the Regulatory Perspective
Why are Blockchains a Good Solution?
Data Integrity
Trusted Time stamping
Important Blockchain and Bitcoin Milestones