History of Cryptocurrency: From Bitcoin to Now
The digital currency evolved from experimental beginnings to become a revolutionary financial system that started its path in the past. The discussion starts with the Bitcoin inception then continues through altcoins advent to DeFi and NFTs development. . The Origins: The Pre-Bitcoin Era Before Bitcoin, several attempts were made to create digital currencies, but they struggled with trust and security issues. Digi Cash (1989): Founded by David Chaum, this was an early attempt at an anonymous digital currency. e-Gold (1996): A digital currency backed by gold but later shut down due to regulatory concerns. Bit Gold (1998): A decentralized concept by Nick Szabo that laid the foundation for Bitcoin. The Birth of Bitcoin (2009) In 2008, an anonymous figure or group known as Satoshi Nakamoto published the Bitcoin whitepaper, proposing a peer-to-peer electronic cash system. In January 2009, the first Bitcoin block, known as the Genesis Block , was mined. Ke...