Throwback: First Bitcoin Website in 2009

[mvdheuvel1983]

I decided to do a throwback today. Do you remember the first bitcoin website in 2009? I guess not. I made use of the Wayback Machine (archive.org). Archive.org is a website that archives internet stuff for the future. To get archived picture of the first Bitcoin website from 2009. I simply entered the URL - bitcoin.org in their search box provided and below is what I got.

Image source: https://web.archive.org/web/20090722011820/http://www.bitcoin.org/

Of all the changes I noticed, the one I want to point out is the one that is written -

There are two ways to send money. If the recipient is online, you can enter their IP address and it will connect, get a new public key and send the transaction with comments.

We no longer need to enter a recipient's IP address blah blah blah...we just use the recipient's bitcoin address to send money whether they are online or offline.

What other changes did you notice from the first bitcoin website?

[1714494367]

1714494367

[dragonvslinux]

That was the initial website? Had know idea it was that basic to be honest. No wonder people didn't take it seriously when Bitcoin was first launched 

Also interesting to note that it took until 2020 before a more "normal" looking website appeared with translations and the like. I guess the website wasn't the focus of the project in the first year, it was more about attracting the tech nerds, cypher punks, etc, towards Bitcoin, ie those would be mining and therefore supporting the network, rather than promoting beyond that, but even so...

[DaNNy001]

Hmmm!!!! So this is actually the way the first website looked ?  Well I had no idea about it old looks and since am familiar with this new look, this image you post kinda looks bizzare and too plain. Well what would you have anyone expect, I mean it was the early stages so a lot of corrections was still going on and that same the way the price of bitcoin was also poor but evolution is rather constant and thats why both the website and the actual coin itself has evolved so greatly and I know there are still more upgrades to come in more in this crypto journey.

[Nwada001]

The first site that was first used to send and receive Bitcoin, you mean? Since Bitcoin doesn't actually have an official website.

It was crazy back then, looking at the way it appeared, although I didn't experience or notice all of this. But it could have been crazed to some point because you will need the attention of both the sender and receiver of the coin to be actively available before one can conclude a successful transaction, which could have been hectic. Thank God for development. But I think this old form of sending will be faster and almost drop in an instance since it sends using an IP address, so there will be no form of block confirmation needed.

[hd49728]

It started in late 2008 and that website appeared in 2008 already as a first email sent by Satoshi Nakamoto is archive at Satotshi Nakamoto Institute.

Shows his first email was sent for Bitcoin P2P e-cash paper at (2008-10-31 18:10:00 UTC)

He wrote that the Bitcoin white paper is at bitcoin.org in 2008 but unfortunately we don't have its archive on Wayback Machine.

[hZti]

This is really quite interesting, as the way that bitcoin was used was completely different then. It seems that you would always get a new public key if you wanted to send bitcoin to somebody, but intead needed to know his IP address.
Can somebody explain more how this worked and when this was changed? Seems to me that this was only a very basic version of that bitcoin that we know today and a wallet that was used then would not be able to be used today?

[Z390]

That was the initial website? Had know idea it was that basic to be honest. No wonder people didn't take it seriously when Bitcoin was first launched 

Also interesting to note that it took until 2020 before a more "normal" looking website appeared with translations and the like. I guess the website wasn't the focus of the project in the first year, it was more about attracting the tech nerds, cypher punks, etc, towards Bitcoin, ie those would be mining and therefore supporting the network, rather than promoting beyond that, but even so...

Yes indeed, that's a graphic design that's capable of making people run away from Bitcoin, Kudos to all the old Bitcoin holders that still held Bitcoin since day one, I wonder where they get their courage from.

There are some good projects in crypto space that started with a very bad looking journey, it's same with Ethereum and some popular projects in crypto space today, Matic is another good example, bad design, a different name, and as time goes on they upgrade their website design and also the name. ..

You need more than courage to start with a crypto project at the beginning and see it successful while you holding your bags.

It's not easy.

[Rruchi man]

It is interesting to see this, but there are a lot of questions to ask first from this

Can somebody explain more how this worked and when this was changed?

 to what will change in the future from now? since one day in the future today will become the throwback.

[mk4]

That was the initial website? Had know idea it was that basic to be honest. No wonder people didn't take it seriously when Bitcoin was first launched 

To be fair, a good amount of websites are very html-only like this one back then. And add to the fact that we're talking about open-source projects, in which a good number of devs prefer very lightweight sites such as this one for page-load speed reasons.

[n0ne]

It is interesting to see this, but there are a lot of questions to ask first from this

Can somebody explain more how this worked and when this was changed?

 to what will change in the future from now? since one day in the future today will become the throwback.

Agreed, someday what we use at present will be considered throwback. Now we doesn't want to add the ip address during transaction. Earlier those were all needed, which might've looked an easy thing in the past, now such usage will surely considered something far back in development. What we use at the present looks perfectly developed and nothing more required to make things easy access, over time upcoming generation will find this to be behind in development. Only time can give the answer about the changes that's gonna happen.

[Faisal2202]

What other changes did you notice from the first bitcoin website?

I was not aware of such transaction (with usage of ip address) and i think it's must not be safe way back then. Because ip address could be used to track anybody (or receiver too) then what purpose of BTC's anonymity and decentralization remains there. Well, i think, back then, most of the people preferred offline way (by using wallet address). Because this can not be linked to any single entity's ID. I am happy this method doesn't exist now. Well, the layout was simple and User friendly back then too. Which is a good sign but other than that i can not find another difference, as this also shows the confirmation status, plus i think today we do not get to see the "message option" as it was back then. Or maybe we still have that option but rarely of usage.

I was totally unaware of this tool you used and it is really great Thanks for it.

[BlackHatCoiner]

What other changes did you notice from the first bitcoin website?

Satoshi had also described the Byzantine generals' problem at that time: https://web.archive.org/web/20090309175840/http://www.bitcoin.org/byzantine.html (archived only once)

Fun fact: the bitcoin-qt software that is shown in the pictures is still available to run to this date. Three years later someone from this forum archived the binaries and source code. However, no such client can reach the tip. It'll take > v0.6 to do so, IIRC.

In 2010, that was its very first logo:

[Stalker22]

Also interesting to note that it took until 2020 before a more "normal" looking website appeared with translations and the like.
~

It depends on what you consider a "normal" looking website.  

If we take a trip down memory lane with the help of the Wayback Machine, we can see that the bitcoin.org website underwent a makeover makeover back in December 2010. And, even during that early stage, the website already boasted translations into several globally spoken languages.

https://web.archive.org/web/20101230111105/http://www.bitcoin.org/

~
Since Bitcoin doesn't actually have an official website.

Back in those days, when Bitcoin was just beginning to gain traction, one of the primary locations where people could get the official Bitcoin client was the official website itself, bitcoin.org. The bitcoin.org domain was registered by Satoshi. As the original creator, there is no one more official than him when it comes to Bitcoin. A lot of things changed after he left.

[lionheart78]

Can somebody explain more how this worked and when this was changed? Seems to me that this was only a very basic version of that bitcoin that we know today and a wallet that was used then would not be able to be used today?

A simple search from the internet states that the feature is removed when Bitcoin core v0.8.0 was released.

For how it works.

Sending bitcoins to an IP address was a convenient way of sending bitcoins to a Bitcoin address along with additional information.

• Your client contacts the IP address to find out if they're actually running Bitcoin and accepting IP transactions. If not, no transaction occurs.
• Your additional information ("from", "message", etc.) is exchanged with the server.
• The server generates a brand new Bitcoin public key and sends it to your client.
• Your client sends coins to this public key.

And it was removed for this reason:

Unfortunately, the implementation provided no authentication, so any "man in the middle" could have intercepted your bitcoins during the transaction. When they see that you're sending a Bitcoin payment by IP address, they pretend to be the actual destination and send back their Bitcoin address. You end up sending bitcoins to the wrong person. It's therefore no longer a good idea to send bitcoins in this way, especially if you're using a proxy.

Looking at how far the development of Bitcoin is astonishing.  From Legacy Address (address starting with 1), to P2SH(address starting with 3) to segwit (bc1) to taproot (bc1q). Developers are always working hard to give us premium service while minimizing the fee and enhancing the privacy and security of our transactions.

Source: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/IP_transaction

[Lida93]

I am sure many persons like myself are seeing and knowing this for the first time since from whence they started using bitcoin. And when we come across such informations it reminds us that it's pertinent to go way way back to history of bitcoin cause undoubtedly having the knowledge about the history of anything you're interested about is one other way to having a better guide of direction about the possible future for such a thing.

From the picture provided by by OP above the difference is very clear about a lot of changes that have taken place over the year's in the process of bitcoin transactions. And we hope to see a more better technological features and future for bitcoin in the coming years ahead.

[digaran]

Do you guys happen to know where Alice lives by any chance? She has received so many bitcoins as a test model over the years, she is super rich definitely! I hope she is still single!🤣
Throwback is the comments of Satoshi and Gavin on sourceforge. So many of their oldest posts have been deleted by certain forum admin.

[Onset]

To be fair, a good amount of websites are very html-only like this one back then. And add to the fact that we're talking about open-source projects, in which a good number of devs prefer very lightweight sites such as this one for page-load speed reasons.

I get it and I really wish today this was the case as well. Complicated websites are fun only for the eyes, but they’re mentally exhausting when all you need is a download link or text to read. I think today bitcoin.org is still pretty lightweight, loads very fast for me at least. But still, sometimes simpler is so much better..

[Flexystar]

That is good past time travel so far.

I am gonna be honest, that looks like a wallet if you compare it with the Electrum wallet or another. Lolz. That is no way a website. I dont know but websites were not that simple back in the time. I mean I remember we had orkut, yahoo type of messengers with all colorful designs and everything. I am not sure if the web development of bitcoin(dot)org was done just as trial and error stuff but that is way way basic design. Literally look alike a wallet.

The year 2009 or birth of bitcoin literally feels like thing of yesterday guys. I never thought Bitcoin is this much old.

I also came to know about the IP address thing just now. Good to know it was removed because it was more exposing and could have led to hacks. @lionheart78 thanks.

[JoyMarsha]

I was unaware of this until you revealed the first Bitcoin website and how it appears.

Thank goodness for the advancement of technology. How are we to be running our bitcoin transactions if that bitcoin still functions with its old method of using an IP address to receive bitcoin up till now? While bitcoin is supposed to be transacted anonymously. That means anyone that wants to get involved with bitcoin will have to reveal his IP address, which makes him be easily traced by third parties or the government. No wonder, why so many people that heard about bitcoin at its early stage didn't bother to invest in it because they didn't want their IP addresses to be made public before transmitting or receiving bitcoin.

[Stalker22]

I was unaware of this until you revealed the first Bitcoin website and how it appears.

Thank goodness for the advancement of technology. How are we to be running our bitcoin transactions if that bitcoin still functions with its old method of using an IP address to receive bitcoin up till now? While bitcoin is supposed to be transacted anonymously. That means anyone that wants to get involved with bitcoin will have to reveal his IP address, which makes him be easily traced by third parties or the government. No wonder, why so many people that heard about bitcoin at its early stage didn't bother to invest in it because they didn't want their IP addresses to be made public before transmitting or receiving bitcoin.

IP addresses have served just as an alternative means of transacting, rather than being the sole method. In the Bitcoin system, it is my understanding that Bitcoin addresses have always played a central role.

And, where did you come up with the idea that many people who learned about Bitcoin back then didn't invest in it because of that reason? Or are you simply making an assumption?