Episode notes
In this episode of Bitcoin, Explained, Aaron and Sjors discuss two electronic cash projects that predate Bitcoin: Adam Back’s Hashcash and Nick Szabo’s Bit Gold. As detailed in Aaron’s new book, The Genesis Book, these systems introduced design element that were later utilized by Satoshi Nakamoto. Aaron and Sjors explain what these elements are, and how they inspired Bitcoin’s design.
To buy Aaron’s new book, visit www.thegenesisbook.com.
Mentioned:
* 1992 Dwork & Naor: Pricing via Processing or Combatting Junk Mail
* 2002 Back: Hashcash - A Denial of Service Counter-Measure
* Bit Gold: Bitcoin Magazine article (1998)
* One-way function: Wikipedia
* Secure-benchmark function: Intrapolynomial Cryptography (1999)
Chapters
00:00:00 Introduction and CoinKite sponsor
00:01:06 The Genesis Book and Bitcoin’s precursors
00:04:31 Hashcash: fighting spam and protecting anonymous email
00:07:19 Dwork and Naor’s early proof of work
00:13:33 How Adam Back’s Hashcash works
00:16:27 Why Bitcoin mining needs a lottery
00:20:09 Secure benchmark functions and hardware advantages
00:27:47 Bit Gold: creating and transferring digital scarcity
00:31:31 Ownership registries, double spending and Sybil attacks
00:38:08 Fungibility, inflation and Bit Gold banking
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This episode’s sponsor: CoinKite, maker of the ColdCard
Aaron’s Twitter: @AaronvanW
Aaron’s Nostr: npub1art8cs66ffvnqns5zs5qa9fwlctmusj5lj38j94lv0ulw0j54wjqhpm0w5
Sjors’ Twitter: @provoost
Sjors’ Nostr: npub1v25jqj332n630klwtqeqxgyrjl4alw4phmluhu2x6lcxzwy9m03suqexw3
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