October 2008, Nakamoto (group or individual) published a paper on Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System
"A purelypeer-to-peer version of electronic cash would allow online payments to be sent directly from one party to another without going through a financial institution"
What Makes it Possible
Computer Networks Protocols: TCP/IP
Mathematics and Cryptography
Digital Signature: Private - Public key pair
Cryptographic Hash Functions
sign with Private key, anyone can verify authenticity by using the corresponding Public key
maps data of arbitrary size to unique data of a fixed size, a.k.a. checksum, digest, digital fingerprint
Blockchain
Each peer has the ledger (database)
Transaction history is connected in an immutable chain
Ledger is advanced in a process called mining where peers take turns to make the next block based on mathematics
Why Care?
Each peer has the ledger (database)
Transaction history is connected in an immutable chain
data exchanges
supply chain
audit
proof of existence
state (value) layer of internet
trustless
distributes trust
minimized amount of trust needed
But Wait There is More
Smart Contracts
Smart Contracts Shared Ledger
Code that is guaranteed to perform as deployed, immutable.
Each peer has the ledger (database)
Why the Interest?
Smart Contracts
tokens
trustless agreements
agreements without a third party
digital identity
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ERC-20
Example: Token Contract
Code that is guaranteed to perform as deployed, immutable.
