SBF

Chapter 6Crypto

In the beginning Satoshi created the Bitcoin protocol. And Satoshi said, “Let the input of unspent transaction outputs create new unspent transaction outputs, and let the verifier be rewarded in fresh bitcoin added to the coinbase.” And it was, and Satoshi saw that it was good.

Let's step back before we really get going.

An explanation of why people are excited about cryptocurrency, blockchains, and all they enable is needed for the rest of this book to make sense. My guess is that you've seen some before, and they didn't stick or you didn't find them convincing.

So this explanation will be different. This explanation isn't about money or speed or the banking system. It's about what actually secures crypto networks, the layer of security that's really more important than that provided by the technology.

It's the layer no one talks about because, if you don't know about it, it sounds too crazy. And if you do know about it, it seems too obvious. That's the part I'm going to talk about here: the culture that forms around a cryptocurrency.

So the metaphorical firmament on which SBF and his cohort stood was the industry that rose up around bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, which all began with a whitepaper by some pseudonymous fellow going by the made‐up name Satoshi Nakamoto published on Halloween 2008. Since then, thousands of cryptocurrencies have trick‐or‐treated around the global economy. They did it first by throwing costumes on what was really just bitcoin ...