The Blockchain was created in 2008. Though the underlying technology behind Bitcoin was initially thought to simply be a counterpart of the first cryptocurrency, the revolutionary potential slowly became realized.
Now let’s backtrack to the actual creation of blockchain technology. Where did it come from?
The Origin of The Blockchain
Blockchain wasn’t an entirely new technology when it was created to facilitate Bitcoin, but rather it used the fusion of several pre-existing technologies working together in a way no one had conceptualized before. These pre-existing technologies all have roles that collectively perform the sequential operations of a blockchain.
- Merkle Tree – A public key distribution system created in 1979 by Ralph Merkel. The Merkle Tree system obtains digital signatures and proceeds to use its data structure for the verification of individual records. The Merkle Tree’s role in the blockchain is to enable reliable data sharing and the verification of all transactions.
- P2P – The first peer-to-peer network (Napster) was formed in 1999 and leveraged the computing and storage power of a network of computers. Though it was centralized, it breathed life into the concept of a decentralized P2P network that we have today in blockchain.
- PoW – The Proof-of-Work algorithm was actually concepted in the late 90’s, although it was used back then to limit email spamming and deter further cyberattacks.
- David Chaum – This one man was accredited with two crucial developments that are part of blockchain now. The first of his creations was the Vault System, which served to establish and maintain computer systems, as it does now on a more complex level. The second was the invention of Digital Cash in 1989 through his corporation “DigiCash Inc.” which eventually declared bankruptcy in 1998.
- Cryptography, Timestamping digital documents, and Hashing (the process of converting data into a fixed number using an algorithm) were all pre-existing technologies that are tied into blockchain’s formula.
All of these pre-existing technologies, concepted from a new perspective and bundled together, are essentially what create any action inside of a blockchain.
The Final Touch
Bitcoin’s whitepaper was published in 2008 under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto. In the midst of the whitepaper Satoshi introduced the core concept of the blockchain, the Chain of Blocks.
All previously mentioned technologies revolve around the Chain of Blocks. All data and information, all actions and functions are logged inside a trusted block until information fills the block, and another is automatically created in sequence. By leveraging the pre-existing technologies, the Chain of Blocks became a permanent, tamper-proof record of transactions, information, and data, making it a necessary superpower as the world dives deeper into the digital age.