On October 31st, the price of Bitcoin reached USD 14,027. The development of the Bitcoin code occurred before the publication of its white paper.
October 31st has been a cause for celebration for many people for 12 years. It is not about those who like to dress with scary costumes or those who celebrate the lives of their dead. It is about bitcoiners who celebrate the day when the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto shared the document that explains the original operation of Bitcoin.
In addition to Twitter and Reddit, bitcoiners are celebrating in the markets. This twelve-year-old has managed to break the psychological barrier of USD 14 thousand. However, after reaching USD 14,027 for a few moments, its price decreased again.
Bitcoin rises to its highest price of the year, trading at an average of USD 13,882 at the time of writing this article, according to data from CoinMarketCap. This happens to currency pairs in markets such as Coinbase Pro, Bitstamp, and Kraken, where the price exceeds USD 13,900.
White Paper Marks Birth of Bitcoin
A relevant aspect of the Bitcoin white paper is that the code for the pioneering cryptocurrency already existed when Satoshi Nakamoto wrote it. It was not a promise of a possible technology if enough fundraising from investors occurred in an initial coin offering (ICO). That problem no longer existed when Satoshi decided to reveal it to the world.
That code that Satoshi had written was curiously not the same code to mine the genesis block on January 3rd, 2009. In this code, it is possible to find the first mention of a Bitcoin miner, the denomination of the units coin and cents for which today are bitcoins and sats (or satoshis), as well as the definition of Timechain for blockchain, rather than blockchain technology.
The white paper initially did not cause as much of a stir as people would currently expect with the unit’s price at nearly USD 14,000. After posting it on the small crypto mailing list, Satoshi had to wait two days until November 2nd. At that point, he received his first response from James Donald, which was not very encouraging.
All blockchains (time chains) have an inherent limit for transaction processing when seeking to preserve decentralization. Much of the history of Bitcoin’s development after the publication of the white paper has been of that scalability. The search for a solution to this fundamental problem has led to the research and development of incredible technologies such as SegWit, Lightning Network, Schnorr, and Taproot signatures, among many others.
Changes in Bitcoin take time as it is a decentralized and consensus-based network. However, today it is possible to say that this stability of Bitcoin is a pro rather than a con. The network will continue to advance in due course to ensure its health.
The Bitcoin white paper produced many changes in attitude. People realized that a peer-to-peer digital cash system, without trusted third parties, was possible. Satoshi not only created this system, but he also raised awareness of the fundamental contradictions of the fiat empire.
By Alexander Salazar
