✨ 15 facts about the #Bitcoin White Paper on its 15th birthday.
1) The White Paper is Only 9 Pages Long
At 9 pages and 2,736 words, the #Bitcoin white paper is shorter than the Magna Carta (3,550 words) and the Constitution (4,543 words), but longer than the Bill of Rights (652 words).
When it comes to history, it's the message that matters
2) The White Paper Was Published Exactly 490 Years After Martin Luther's 95 Theses
Both documents would spark societal reformations, Martin Luther's work leading to the separation of church and state, and Satoshi Nakamoto's #Bitcoin paper separating money and state.
3) The White Paper was widely critiqued when released
Objections included that #Bitcoin :
• Used too much electricity (debunked)
• Would struggle to scale to a sufficient size (relevant)
• Was too inflationary (lol)
4) The Word Bitcoin Only Appears Twice in the Paper
It’s widely believed Satoshi named #Bitcoin fairly late in the process, and there is evidence he may have even wanted to call it “Electronic Cash” or “Netcoin.”
5) Satoshi Wrote Code Before He Wrote the Paper
In his early emails, Satoshi mentions he'd been working on #Bitcoin 's code for 2 years when the paper was released, writing:
"I actually did this kind of backwards. I had to write all the code before I could convince myself."
6) The White Paper Doesn’t Include the Word Blockchain or Cryptocurrency
Though popular buzzwords today, ones that have been abused to fund a variety of failed attempts to exploit his work, the term “blockchain” and “cryptocurrency” were never used in the #Bitcoin paper at all.
7) The Most Common Word in the White Paper is Block
Blocks are a bedrock of the network, so it’s no surprise Satoshi uses the term often in the paper.
Other terms that are mentioned often include – nodes (38), proof-of-work (18), and incentive (7).
8) 10 People Are Cited in the Bitcoin White Paper
The most often cited are Stuart Haber and W. Scott Stornetta, who are acknowledged for introducing the concept of a blockchain.
@adam3us of @Blockstream is the only cryptographer mentioned who still works on #Bitcoin .
9) Parts of the Paper Are No Longer Relevant
Indeed, so much has changed over the years that the Bitcoin developers keep something of an official list of the inconsistencies and inaccuracies in the Bitcoin white paper. https://gist.github.com/harding/dabea3d83c695e6b937bf090eddf2bb3
10) The White Paper Is Hosted on Many Websites Around the World
Released under the MIT License, anyone can freely share Satoshi’s work. The paper is now hosted on a variety of websites including those owned by the U.S. Government and financial giants like @ blocks.
11) The White Paper Is No Longer Available In the UK
Due to an unfortunate lawsuit by someone claiming to be Bitcoin’s inventor, residents of the United Kingdom (UK) can no longer access the document as of 2021.
12) The White Paper Was Embedded on Every Mac Computer, But Was Later Removed
In a viral post from earlier this year, it was revealed someone had successfully hidden the Bitcoin white paper inside every copy of MacOS shipped since 2017.
It has since been removed by Apple.
13) Twitter Creator Jack Dorsey Once Called the White Paper ‘Poetry’
The comments underscore why Dorsey has committed Block to becoming a Bitcoin services company, and why he believes that #Bitcoin will reduce the cost of transactions for millions around the globe.
14) Kraken Put the White Paper on an F1 Race car
The latest stunt that put the Bitcoin white paper in the headlines was completed in March, when crypto exchange firm @ krakenfx put its full text on the nosecone of the Formula 1 racer it sponsors.
15) The White Paper Has Been Cited Over 4,000 Times
According to SemanticsScholar, the Bitcoin white paper has been cited in over 4,000 academic papers.
Doubtless, that number will only continue to rise as more people recognize and advance Satoshi’s groundbreaking work.
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