The History of the Bitcoin

[charleshoskinson]

I've been developing a comprehensive introductory course on the Bitcoin for mainstream consumers and I'd like to include a lecture on the history of the Bitcoin in the course. Do you guys have a suggestion for authoritative resources on the history of the Bitcoin? If not, then lets build one. Start posting major events in the History of the Bitcoin

https://www.udemy.com/bitcoin-or-how-i-learned-to-stop-worrying-and-love-crypto/

[bg002h]

There are at least 100 good stories. Probably 1000. Here are some events at random (kids screaming): Satoshi's cypher punk release post. Hal Finney's receiving the first transaction (which he wrote about here: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=155054.0). MyBitcoins.com. 10kBTC pizza. Knightsmb making people crap their pants with his screen shot. Zhou tong. Pirate. Glbse. BitBills.com. Mike Caldwell Casascius coins, including the typo. The slashdottings. June 2011. There are so so many more.

[dree12]

The more nefarious side of Bitcoin history.

[FreddyFender]

Hi Charles,
Just to let you know that the history of Bitcoin has precursors, so if you wish to include mention of it, it could be an avenue of study for those who want deeper insight.
I have noticed distinct differences between the left-brain logical thinkers, who delve on the more immediate, and the right-brained theorist who come from other disciplines and backgrounds. Usually the hardcore group wants to know what it is, what it can do for me, how to best use/develop it, and disregard the other, less pragmatic types.
The right-brained theorists are valid and often prescient in their pronouncements of trends but carry little credence on direction or development. 
Check out early postings by Hal or Satoshi and the rogue beginnings of cryptocurrency. If you need links or short explainers, there are many here to help.

FF
PS. good job on the videos!

[charleshoskinson]

Thanks. My hope is to record the collective knowledge of this community and put it in video format. We can't afford to lose our history.

[gogxmagog]

I was thinking on similar lines last night. especially... the very early history and the core of earliest adopters.
http://blockchain.info/charts/n-unique-addresses?timespan=all&showDataPoints=false&daysAverageString=1&show_header=true&scale=0&address=
as this chart shows, until ~ july 2010 there were very few unique bitcoin addresses. The small group of developers who were the entire bitcoin economy until then would most definitely have some interesting stories; I am sure most of them are here, and I couldn't blame them if they opted to remain anons, still, if you really want to understand a system, you should go back to its genesis and early steps.
I also like the analysis of how the very notion of virtual currency comes from video games. And how MtGoX was originally a trading center for "magic, the game" cards. Brilliant! Its got a bit of "life imitating art" thing to it. The dilettante is often the purest of creators, for they create from the love of their craft alone!

[hak8or]

Knightsmb making people crap their pants with his screen shot.

I was hoping if you could explain this? I never heard of such a thing before.

[charleshoskinson]

Can anyone make an introduction for me to some of the older members? I'd like to interview them about the history of the Bitcoin.

[FreddyFender]

Knightsmb making people crap their pants with his screen shot.

I was hoping if you could explain this? I never heard of such a thing before.

The screenshot of the drop from $28 to $0.01 after the MtGOX hack.

Not to be outdone by the Cosby Caper hack of bitcointalk.
Salt them hashes boys!

[Elwar]

Can anyone make an introduction for me to some of the older members? I'd like to interview them about the history of the Bitcoin.

There is no "the Bitcoin", it is simply Bitcoin. When used to refer to the blockchain, protocol or underlying technology it is referred to as Bitcoin (upper case 'B'). When referring to the value of the currency then it is referred to as bitcoin or bitcoins (lower case 'b') like one would refer to dollars with a lower case 'd'.

[FreddyFender]

Can anyone make an introduction for me to some of the older members? I'd like to interview them about the history of the Bitcoin.

There is no "the Bitcoin", it is simply Bitcoin. When used to refer to the blockchain, protocol or underlying technology it is referred to as Bitcoin (upper case 'B'). When referring to the value of the currency then it is referred to as bitcoin or bitcoins (lower case 'b') like one would refer to dollars with a lower case 'd'.

I'll introduce you to Elwar! Usually whatever is rising/falling is due directly to Elwar!
 
Can take/give a joke too!

[jml]

Can anyone make an introduction for me to some of the older members? I'd like to interview them about the history of the Bitcoin.

I have the research paper from Nakamoto sitting on my desktop though you can download it here: http://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf
There are other crypto currencies that are branching off from BTC. A new paper that I am reading is based on zerocoin which addresses the anonymity issues that bitcoin fails to deliver.

[charleshoskinson]

I read satoshi's paper a few years back when the bitcoin was a very small project. I initially didn't think it was special at all. Then I thought about it and invested during the 4 dollar btc days. Everyone said I was nuts

[jml]

I read satoshi's paper a few years back when the bitcoin was a very small project. I initially didn't think it was special at all. Then I thought about it and invested during the 4 dollar btc days. Everyone said I was nuts

Tell me about it; even my colleagues think its ludicrous and don't take it seriously.

[bg002h]

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=564.msg5607#msg5607

Knightmb. 370kBTC.

[bg002h]

Can anyone make an introduction for me to some of the older members? I'd like to interview them about the history of the Bitcoin.

There is no "the Bitcoin", it is simply Bitcoin. When used to refer to the blockchain, protocol or underlying technology it is referred to as Bitcoin (upper case 'B'). When referring to the value of the currency then it is referred to as bitcoin or bitcoins (lower case 'b') like one would refer to dollars with a lower case 'd'.

We do speak of _the_ Dollar though...For example, one would never say, I'm writing about the history of Dollar But I agree, we often rephrase things to avoid placing a "the" before Bitcoin ("I'm writing about Bitcoin history," for example).  And we do use Bitcoin to mean something very different from bitcoin or bitcoins. 

[charleshoskinson]

How about the history of the Bitcoin Open Sourced Project. I decided the Bitcoin was a shorter title, but apparently the semantics police have come crawling early this morning

[kiko]

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=564.msg5607#msg5607

Knightmb. 370kBTC.

Wow, that old thread was a blast to read.

[bg002h]

The MNW bet deserves a mention.

I think we should have a child board dedicated to preserving our history.  Anyone feel the same?

[coastermonger]

The history is rich and interesting, fortunately much of it is preserved.  Check out this March 2009 snapshot of bitcoin.org http://web.archive.org/web/20090303195936/http://bitcoin.org/

(Yes, that is satoshi's email address at the bottom)