Reborn Tech Maniac

Chapter 890 The Mysterious Bitcoin Comes Quietly
It is not uncommon for people to start a successful business in the PC gold rush era and then leave the company they founded.Among them, the most well-known to the public may be Jobs who was swept out by Apple Computer.

Unlike the tragic departure of Jobs, Mitchell Kapoor, the founder of Lotus Software and the designer of the spreadsheet software Lotus1-2-3, belongs to the rapid retreat.

Gein, in 1986, he clearly realized that he, the CEO, could no longer adapt to the increasingly commercial Lotus Software Company.

It has to be said that some people just like the freedom and laxity of the "small workshop", while some people can show their strengths in a well-organized "big factory".

After Mitchell Kapoor abdicated, he did not set up the NeXT company as persistently as Jobs to fight against his old boss. Instead, like Woz, he relied on his accumulated wealth to follow his own interests and do whatever he wanted.

But people like them, even if they are "idling", their influence is still not to be underestimated.

Take Mitchell Kapoor, who donated in 1990 to found the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an organization aimed at safeguarding civil rights on the Internet. .

The background of its birth, to put it bluntly, is that there is a computer underground world like hackers, and there is a gap between the concept and the government. Once something is committed, the FBI, the US Secret Service, etc. will hardly follow the law. , Going through the links step by step, and then there are frequent violations of human rights that are unclear.

Mitchell Kapoor has had this kind of experience first-hand, so when another fellow sufferer, John Perry Barlow, complained to the online community about a similar situation that happened to him, he immediately felt it. Together with the other like-minded, and then added the No.5 employee of Sun Microsystems, John Gilmore, to jointly inject capital and establish the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Since its establishment, the Electronic Frontier Foundation has made a lot of noise. It has fought two famous lawsuits face to face with the US Secret Service and the US government.

Since it is a non-profit organization, the funding of the Electronic Frontier Foundation mainly depends on donations-in addition to Mitchell Kapoor and John Gilmore, IT celebrities such as Woz donated money.

Obviously, compared with the lofty ambition of rights protection, this kind of donation is far from enough.

In particular, the things that the Electronic Frontier Foundation does are very sensitive, which makes it difficult to attract large donations.

That night, Mitchell Kapoor, John Perry Barlow, John Gilmore and others were talking about this in the chat room.

John Perry Barlow mentioned one thing with some confusion, "Someone emailed me asking if I accept bitcoin donations-any of you are familiar with this thing?"

With the qualifications of the No.5 employee of Sun Microsystems, John Gilmore, who was able to retire early and do whatever he wanted according to his own interests, was the first to answer: "This is an open source electronic technology that has just emerged. Currency, and P2P download software appeared almost at the same time a few days after the P2P network was formed overnight - I have studied its technical white paper, very interesting stuff!"

"The speed at which the P2P network spreads is comparable to that of computer viruses, and so many applications have been spawned at once." Mitchell Kapoor sighed, and then asked: "What is this?" Bitcoin, who invented it?”

"It's a cryptography expert named Zheshi Nakamoto." John Gilmore replied quickly.

"A person?" Mitchell Kapoor was very surprised and surprised.

"Maybe—you can be sure that it's not my dog ​​typing on the keyboard now? Doesn't our Electronic Frontier Foundation also have anonymous donors?" John Gilmore replied very indifferently, "It doesn't matter anyway. , The entire theoretical system and code implementation of Bitcoin are open and transparent. The entire community generally believes that its indestructibility is so strong that it can only be cracked by computers in science fiction movies.”

After all, Mitchell Kapoor was a CEO, and he thought more about it, "We have all seen the technical difficulty and perfection of P2P. It is estimated that only companies like Zheru can take a look at it." Take it out—Zheshi Nakamoto can contribute a whole set of electronic currency just by himself?"

"Even if it's Tang, so what? He can still hide so many eyes, with ulterior motives?" John Gilmore was very disapproving. "Once everyone installs the P2P program, the P2P network is established at once. Our communication It’s safer—this is the benefit! Bitcoin is the same—if it can really circulate, at least, it will be much more convenient for me to buy marijuana in the future.”

Unlike Mitchell Kapoor, who wrote the spreadsheet software Lotus 1-2-3, and John Gilmore, who until now enthusiastically contributed code to the Freedom Software Foundation, John Perry Ba Although Luo is also a member of the circle, he is not a professional programmer, so he is relatively insensitive to the latest trends in these technical communities.

He saw that Mitchell Capol and John Gilmore had been discussing for several rounds, but neither of them gave the answer he wanted, so he urged impatiently: "Guys, you haven't told me yet, what is Bitcoin?" Can the things be accepted as donations to the Electronic Frontier Foundation?"

"I don't think there is a problem—Bitcoin is a robust and reliable electronic currency. It doesn't mean that if there is no one, there will be no one, or if there is a random increase in the number of things that have no meaning, its value is quite guaranteed." John Gilmore gave a clear attitude to Give your opinion.

Then, John Gilmore explained carefully to John Perry Barlow: "Unlike those electronic currencies with a central server/client architecture, the network that Bitcoin relies on is a decentralized P2P; as far as the entire system is concerned, , the currency is generated by a well-designed 'mining' process, without the control of those central banks for political considerations."

"Each bitcoin is essentially a mathematical equation solution of a cryptographic algorithm, which is equivalent to the unique serial number of real currency. Whoever masters the corresponding key gets the ownership. Its only connection with reality is, The cost of electricity for the computers that perform the calculations."

"Bitcoin keys and transaction processes are stored in the distributed database of the P2P network and endorsed by everyone. The first batch of 50 bitcoins was mined by Zheshi Nakamoto, and the corresponding initial block chain The database records the Merry_Christmas he left behind—Merry Christmas wishes.”

"As of now, even in the future, Bitcoin is definitely the most trustworthy and safe electronic currency!"

John Perry Barlow pointed to the core of the problem: "So, what is Bitcoin worth now? Is it really in circulation?"

"Of course!" John Gilmore expressed his strong interest between the lines, "Someone has successfully used 2500 bitcoins to buy a pizza worth 25 dollars-so, at this stage, the exchange rate of bitcoins to the US dollar is generally recognized as 100. :1."

"It is said that EA's Battle.net trading platform plans to support Bitcoin transactions."

"In addition, a new e-shopping website called Amazon has launched an online music and online book business, that is, the network server permanently stores the purchased CD and book copies for each account, which can be listened to and read at any time. ——Its attitude is very clear, supporting Bitcoin transactions.”

"100:1???" Mitchell Kapoor expressed his opinion to John Perry Barlow after making several question marks, "This Bitcoin is obviously promoted by someone secretly, and the risk is difficult to assess. It is better for the Outpost Foundation not to get involved, and to endorse such a precedent that has no legal reference."

John Perry Barlow figured out his own thoughts in such a short period of time, "I think this Bitcoin is very similar to futures in reality—perhaps, it can be regarded as a stock like a stock." Gift collection."

Mitchell Kapoor didn't insist on his objection any more - the Electronic Frontier Foundation had no money to play, and it was impossible for him to donate his wealth to it in a truly selfless way.

John Gilmore's interest is obviously not in whether the popular Electronic Frontier Foundation will become an endorser of Bitcoin.

He turned to eagerly said: "Now the 'mining' process of Bitcoin is fairly easy-guys, are you interested in getting involved?"

Although Mitchell Kapoor held a conservative view on the Electronic Frontier Foundation's acceptance of Bitcoin, this did not affect his investment intentions, and he immediately took out a sum of money without saying a word.

……

In recent years, in the IT field, the "mainstream" business forces have grown extremely fast; but those "non-mainstream" forces are also very active.

For example, the Free Software Foundation has attracted a large number of believers, and its momentum is growing day by day.

Now, there is another organization in the "outside" camp, that is, the Bitcoin Foundation established by Gavin Andresen entrusted by the Bitcoin community. Its headquarters is even set up in the political center of the United States - Hua government.

Gavin Andresen graduated from Princeton University, one of the eight Ivy League schools, in 1988. His main professional experience is that he once worked for a Silicon Valley graphics company; he is currently the chairman of the Bitcoin Foundation and also serves as the Chief Scientist of the Bitcoin Foundation.

For Bitcoin, the first decentralized electronic currency, the professional IT media showed a very strong interest, and the reporters who flocked here made the establishment ceremony of the fledgling Bitcoin Foundation not so shabby and deserted. .

In front of everyone, first of all, Gavin Andresen clearly stated the mission of the Bitcoin Foundation, which is to regulate, protect and promote the use of Bitcoin on a global scale.

Then, Gavin Andresen introduced some members of the Bitcoin Foundation, including several entrepreneurs who provide Bitcoin trading platform services.

When asked about the status quo of the application of Bitcoin, Gavin Andresen replied optimistically: "Although Bitcoin was born for a short time, like a baby in a swaddle, it was immediately embraced by Internet users. Favor."

"Needless to say, currency must be in circulation before we can talk about anything else - we are very pleased to see that Bitcoin has indeed started, even if the actual value of buying and selling is not high, it is recognized as having The most basic function of money."

Since some media focus on the information about Bitcoin itself, it is not difficult to imagine that there are also media concerned about Bitcoin-related gossip news.

So, some media asked right away: "Andresen, since you are the chairman of the Bitcoin Foundation, you should have met the inventor of Bitcoin—Zheshi Nakamoto, right?"

Gavin Andresen shrugged, "I think everyone should learn to understand one thing. That is, Bitcoin is a decentralized electronic currency; in its system, even the inventor with the greatest technological contribution, It's not the center either."

"I have communicated with Zheshi Nakamoto himself, but only on the Internet."

The reporter asked persistently: "What kind of person is Nakamoto Tetsushi? Is he the same person?"

"In the registration information of Zheshi Nakamoto on the Internet, the address is a book—then he should be alone." Gavin Andresen analyzed slowly: "My impression of him is that Knowledgeable and wise, fluent in English, and sometimes humorous and funny like a child—all in all, in the Bitcoin community, everyone gets along very happily, and is also very optimistic about the development goal of Bitcoin becoming an Internet currency?"

"Bitcoin has been very popular almost as soon as it was born, and you have been operating it in an orderly manner - I wonder if there are any behind-the-scenes forces pushing this?" The gossip finally revealed the most gimmicky conspiracy theory. .

Gavin Andresen replied disapprovingly: "In my opinion, this is an inevitable explosion phenomenon after the accumulation of technological development to a certain extent - just like the World Wide Web came into being after the Internet developed to a certain extent a few years ago, It is very popular; recently, P2P networks have stepped on the shoulders of their predecessors and spread rapidly."

"Electronic currency has been studied for many years, and the sudden arrival of P2P networks immediately allows decentralized solutions to seize the opportunity to emerge."

"What kind of forces behind the scenes do you associate with Bitcoin should be based on concerns that it may have an impact on the real monetary system."

“Actually, it’s ridiculous — Bitcoin is a decentralized currency, and no one person, force, country, can manipulate it.”

“Moreover, I have said that for a long time to come, the development goal of Bitcoin is to solve the problem of honest transactions on the Internet.”

"The only connection between it and the real financial system is that it may be used as a futures operation. But I am afraid that it is difficult to find enough room for profit."

(End of this chapter)