What steps, if any, did you take to coding up your b-money idea? If none, or very few, why did you go no further with it?
You had some early correspondence with Satoshi. What do you think his motivation behind Bitcoin was? Was it, simply, the challenge of making something work that nobody had made work before? Was it the potential riches? Was it altruistic or political, maybe—did he want to change the world?
In what ways do you think Bitcoin might change the world?
How much of a bubble do you think it is?
I sometimes wonder if Bitcoin was invented not so much to become the global reserve digital cash currency, but to prove to others that the technology can work. It was more gateway rather than final destination – do you have a view here?
1 - I didn’t take any steps to code up b-money. Part of it was because b-money wasn’t a complete practical design yet, but I didn’t continue to work on the design because I had actually grown somewhat disillusioned with cryptoanarchy by the time I finished writing up b-money, and I didn’t foresee that a system like it, once implemented, could attract so much attention and use beyond a small group of hardcore cypherpunks.
2 - It’s hard for me to tell, but I’d guess that it was probably a mixture of technical challenge and wanting to change the world.
3 and 4 - Don’t have much to say on these. Others have probably thought much more about these questions over the past months and years and are more qualified than I am to answer.
5 - I haven’t seen any indication of this. What makes you suspect it?
Thanks Wei. You efforts here is much appreciated and your place in heaven is assured.
In reply to your 5.
My suspicion is not based on any significant evidence. It’s just a thought that emerged in my head as I’ve followed the story. It’s a psychological thing, almost macho—people like to solve a problem that nobody else has been able to prove something to themselves (and others).
Also from his comment ‘we can win a major battle in the arms race and gain a new territory of freedom for several years’ I infer that he didn’t think it would last foreever .
Anyway THANK YOU WEI for taking the time to do this.
I sometimes wonder if Bitcoin was invented not so much to become the global reserve digital cash currency, but to prove to others that the technology can work. It was more gateway rather than final destination
Good morning Wei,
Thank you for doing this. It seems like an excellent solution.
My name’s Dominic Frisby. I’m an author from the UK, currently working on a book on Bitcoin (http://unbound.co.uk/books/bitcoin).
Here are some questions I’d like to ask.
What steps, if any, did you take to coding up your b-money idea? If none, or very few, why did you go no further with it?
You had some early correspondence with Satoshi. What do you think his motivation behind Bitcoin was? Was it, simply, the challenge of making something work that nobody had made work before? Was it the potential riches? Was it altruistic or political, maybe—did he want to change the world?
In what ways do you think Bitcoin might change the world?
How much of a bubble do you think it is?
I sometimes wonder if Bitcoin was invented not so much to become the global reserve digital cash currency, but to prove to others that the technology can work. It was more gateway rather than final destination – do you have a view here?
That’s more than enough to be going on with.
With kind regards
Dominic
1 - I didn’t take any steps to code up b-money. Part of it was because b-money wasn’t a complete practical design yet, but I didn’t continue to work on the design because I had actually grown somewhat disillusioned with cryptoanarchy by the time I finished writing up b-money, and I didn’t foresee that a system like it, once implemented, could attract so much attention and use beyond a small group of hardcore cypherpunks.
2 - It’s hard for me to tell, but I’d guess that it was probably a mixture of technical challenge and wanting to change the world.
3 and 4 - Don’t have much to say on these. Others have probably thought much more about these questions over the past months and years and are more qualified than I am to answer.
5 - I haven’t seen any indication of this. What makes you suspect it?
Thanks Wei. You efforts here is much appreciated and your place in heaven is assured.
In reply to your 5.
My suspicion is not based on any significant evidence. It’s just a thought that emerged in my head as I’ve followed the story. It’s a psychological thing, almost macho—people like to solve a problem that nobody else has been able to prove something to themselves (and others).
Also from his comment ‘we can win a major battle in the arms race and gain a new territory of freedom for several years’ I infer that he didn’t think it would last foreever .
Anyway THANK YOU WEI for taking the time to do this.
Dominic
Have you read Satoshi’s original emails?
about 70 million times.
Even more times than I’ve read the Lord of the Rings
I was asking a serious question.
Do you mean the ones on the cryptography mailing list or the ones to Wei Dai?
I’ve read them both.
Not the ones to Adam Back though