Bitcoin Genesis Block 14th Birthday Reflection – Bitcoin Magazine

On this day 14 years ago, Satoshi Nakamoto created the first block in the Bitcoin blockchain. Consciously or not, that move kicked off an entire movement; one that doesn’t stop breathing and expanding for years to come. Nakamoto’s creative singularity has been on display countless times since the Genesis block was mined, and today, more than ever, its purpose is becoming clearer and with luck or not, still needed.

Engraved in the Genesis block is Bitcoin reason for existence.

“Prime Minister on the brink of a second bailout for banks.” A simple but powerful message. The engraving inside and in itself acts as an anchor to the physical world, a proof of Bitcoin’s date of birth –– or, at least, that it could not have been created before January 3rd. 2009, the date the cover was published. But more importantly, and more philosophically, the message establishes a sort of manifesto from the outset. It is clear that the system enabled by the block itself takes a stance against central bank policies enabled by a culture of easy money. Instead, Bitcoin will seek to restore accountability and antifragility through a sound money-based monetary system; something that cannot be brought down or controlled, manipulated, or crafted to benefit a lucky few. Bitcoin will seek to level the playing field, ensuring ownership for millions of people worldwide, equally and without regard to their status, race, religious creed, gender or nationality.

The fundamental properties of Bitcoin will make that dream come true. Powered by a distributed network of nodes, each of which runs the protocol’s software and thus enforces its rules, Bitcoin will be able to allow individuals to take control of their finances –– one and forever. However, as days and years went by, more and more Bitcoin-related activities started moving to centralized institutions, first for buying and selling, then custody, and today a multitude of services. unimaginable service in Nakamoto’s day. While such a move has allowed people around the world to become more involved, the original ideals of Bitcoin have begun to be forgotten. After all, true peer-to-peer cryptocurrency cannot be realized in a custody model where the movement of money is just an update on a centralized database. Instead, that reality closely resembles the old, traditional financial system that Nakamoto sought to fight for in the first place –– a system that makes it impossible for people to be sovereign because they cannot control their finances. mine.

While there are many requirements for Bitcoin holders to escape the reality of the established system, this article focuses on an important aspect that shares the holiday with Bitcoin’s birthday. Proof of Keys Day, also held on January 3, was started by the infamous Trace Mayer, who gathered people to withdraw their bitcoins in bulk from exchanges and centralized custodians. Reason? Only by withdrawing their BTC can people ensure the companies of the growing industry don’t engage in old and age-old evils like fractional reserve banking. Furthermore, only by owning bitcoins –– held by a wallet where they control the keys –– people are free to do what they want with their BTC. There are many different ways to self-manage, and although it can be difficult at first, it is a necessary step in making the leap from the old system to the new one.

The “keys” discussed here are private key for a given Bitcoin wallet. They can be considered the real key of the wallet in that it “unlocks” the wallet and the bitcoins held in it for spending. Without the key, it is not possible to spend bitcoins. This is because when a Bitcoin transaction is formed, the sender “locks” the bitcoin with information about the recipient. Thanks to asymmetric cryptography, this transaction dynamic ensures that only the entity that has received the bitcoins can further spend it. And this spending is done thanks to the private keys of the recipient. So as long as the recipient takes good care of their private keys, only they can spend their bitcoins –– no matter what the government, organization or agency thinks or does about it.

By keeping bitcoins in a wallet you create, you ensure that only you can move bitcoins held in that wallet. When a third-party custodian holds your bitcoins for you, they create a wallet for you and tell you the address where you can send the funds, but they ultimately control that wallet’s private key, and often that’s not the case. is information that you cannot access. Therefore, permission is required to be required to move your bitcoins. Although such a request is automated, it is still necessary for you to transfer your funds. Usually this takes the form of a “withdrawal request” that you issue to your exchange. Proof of Keys Day aims to raise people’s awareness of this fact and entice them to take control of their finances once and for all, making a leap from the traditional financial system to the new one, Decentralized, Bitcoin-based. With that said, Not your keys, not your bitcoins!