{"id":816937,"date":"2025-01-04T02:13:54","date_gmt":"2025-01-04T08:13:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/04\/world-on-the-brink-16-years-since-bitcoins-genesis-block\/"},"modified":"2025-01-04T02:13:54","modified_gmt":"2025-01-04T08:13:54","slug":"world-on-the-brink-16-years-since-bitcoins-genesis-block","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/04\/world-on-the-brink-16-years-since-bitcoins-genesis-block\/","title":{"rendered":"World on the brink, 16 years since Bitcoin\u2019s Genesis Block"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
    \n
  1. Homepage<\/a><\/li>\n
  2. > <\/li>\n
  3. News<\/a><\/li>\n
  4. > <\/li>\n
  5. Business<\/a><\/li>\n
  6. > <\/li>\n
  7. World on the brink, 16 years since Bitcoin\u2019s Genesis Block<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n

    Sixteen years ago today, something truly groundbreaking happened\u2014and no one noticed. Block #0, otherwhise known as \u201cGenesis Block\u201d of the Bitcoin network<\/a> was created. At the same time, the phrase \u201con the brink\u201d became an immutable part of Bitcoin\u2019s history, and somehow, it still feels appropriate in 2025.<\/p>\n

    It\u2019s remarkable to imagine how low-key this event must have felt at the time. Perhaps Satoshi Nakamoto himself felt something shift as he hit ENTER to run his program; maybe there was a sense of impending momentum and change, like a glitch in the Matrix. Or maybe he just stared silently at a screen as the code began to execute and proof of work<\/a> (PoW) on the mining machine\/s kicked in. Either way, the world went on about its business as normal that day in January 2009, and the full effects of Bitcoin would not be felt for a long time.<\/p>\n

    Arguably, we haven\u2019t even felt the full effects now, over a decade and a half after that moment. There\u2019s now roughly $3 trillion worth of market cap riding on the networks that began with Satoshi\u2019s push of a button. We say \u201cnetworks\u201d since there are now at least three separate blockchains that can trace<\/a> their lineage back to that moment on January 3, 2009. That total market cap is just the value of \u201cBitcoins\u201d themselves. Surely, the value Bitcoin<\/a> has since created in jobs, businesses, hype, and even legal drama is much higher than that figure.<\/p>\n

    We should also add the collective valuations of coin prices and economies in all other non-Bitcoin blockchains as well, because without Bitcoin, it\u2019s doubtful that any of them would have existed. No Ethereum, no Solana, no Litecoin or DOGE.<\/p>\n

    And yet, there\u2019s still only one \u201coriginal Bitcoin.\u201d BSV<\/a>, aka \u201cBitcoin Satoshi Vision,\u201d has that name because it\u2019s the only blockchain with Genesis Block heritage that still follows the rules Satoshi Nakamoto set for his network protocol when it began. A complex transaction that was incorporated into the Bitcoin network in 2009 is still valid on BSV today. BSV has unbounded scaling<\/a> with no limit on how large its transaction blocks can be or how much data a user can include in each transaction. Any information recorded on the blockchain is timestamped, immutable, and verifiable. Scaling completely on-chain, BSV still chugs away 16 years later with only a few minor hiccups.<\/p>\n

    In January 2009, there was no such thing as a Bitcoin \u201cticker symbol,\u201d and you could mine hundreds of coins without making a single cent. There was no BTC, BSV, or BCH<\/a> at that moment, and no one would buy one from you at any price.<\/p>\n

    Timestamps and times of crisis<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Satoshi, however, had at least an inkling that Bitcoin was something important at the time. It was probably far more than an inkling. According to Bitcoin lore, the Genesis Block needed to be constructed (i.e., hard-coded) to kick things off. It wasn\u2019t \u201cmined\u201d by PoW like every other block on the Bitcoin network since. But to act as an anchor for the network and its transaction database record, it still needed a stamp to prove it existed at a certain moment in time.<\/p>\n

    For that timestamp, Satoshi chose to embed a headline from The Times on the day Bitcoin began. \u201cChancellor on brink of second bailout for banks\u201d was the headline, and despite claims the headline was chosen almost randomly, it also kicked off a sentiment that would define Bitcoin\u2019s culture: it represented a new way of looking at finance and the government\u2019s role in it.<\/p>\n

    January 2009 was smack in the middle of what we now call the \u201cGlobal Financial Crisis,\u201d when it looked like the world\u2019s entire financial system was in danger of collapsing. The (U.K.) Chancellor\u2019s plan to bail out large financial institutions for a second time indicated that governments not only were prepared to use public funds to save the existing system but there was diminishing confidence that their actions would even work.<\/p>\n

    Sixteen years later, and it\u2019s still unclear whether those bailouts \u201cworked\u201d or not. The world may no longer face an imminent financial collapse<\/a> (maybe!), but it could be on the brink of something far worse. In 2009, the financial system confronted a lack of trust. In 2024, it\u2019s the world order itself. In France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States, and a handful of smaller countries, the governments themselves imploded\u2014in some cases by electoral defeat and in others by no-confidence motions.<\/p>\n

    At the same time, there are at least three geopolitical flashpoints with the potential to kick off the next World War<\/a>, and some of the major players seem hell-bent on making that happen. Truth and reality have become subjective experiences rather than something anyone can verify. In this environment, purveyors of propaganda, misinformation, and \u201cnarratives\u201d are having a ball.<\/p>\n

    Bitcoin celebrates the 16th anniversary of its Genesis Block with a renewed mission to save the world. And this time, it\u2019s not just money but all the information humans can record. That\u2019s a tough challenge. Bitcoin alone can\u2019t solve these problems but, at the very least, if the world can rediscover the importance of truth, we can use it as a tool to fix the mess we\u2019re in. That\u2019s not bad for something that started with the press of an ENTER key on a keyboard.<\/p>\n

    Watch: Bringing the Metanet to life with Teranode<\/p>\n