The Origin of Bitcoin with Adam Back and Alex Gladstein

In this episode of Twitter Spaces hosted by Bitcoin Magazine, hosts P (@phjlljp) and CK (@ck_snarks) are joined by the legendary Adam Back (@adam3us) as well as Alex Gladstein (@gladstein) and Aaron Van Wirdum (@AaronVanW) to discuss Gladstein's recent piece in Bitcoin Magazine "The Quest For Digital Cash". Adam Back shares his unique perspective as someone who was a pioneer of early cypherpunk e-cash projects before Bitcoin and as someone who has made very meaningful contributions to Bitcoin. Their discussion explores the early cypherpunk days and how Bitcoin actually came to be, Adam's invention of hashcash and his communication with Satoshi, what he's currently doing at Blockstream and what he sees for the future of Bitcoin, and much more.

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0:00 Why the upcoming Bitcoin Conference will be the best one yet!
2:18 The earliest days on Bitcoin and the growth of the Cypherpunks List.
5:24 Bitcoin's roots in the world of privacy technology.
8:56 The atmosphere of excitement around electronic cash in the early 1990s.
13:26 How Bitcoin overcame some of the problems that Digicash faced.
18:31 The Cypherpunks' strategy to seize independent rights through the use of code.
21:44 Reflections on the US government's attempts to restrict and outlaw cryptography in the 1990s.
24:56 The decade that preceded the creation of Bitcoin.
31:29 The merging of security and privacy through the advent of Bitcoin.
35:22 Adam Back's memories of the email that led to his citation in the Bitcoin whitepaper.
38:41 Unpacking the tension between privacy and the size of transactions during the early days.
44:54 Comparing the current cultural moment with the atmosphere of the 1990s.
47:10 The different factions that came together to fight during the crypto wars.
49:11 Tracing the evolution of the technology of the blockchain.
54:03 Balancing the desire to 'fix central banking' with concerns about privacy.
57:53 The continual, incremental improvements to privacy in the Bitcoin space.
59:33 Blockstream's efforts to enable users to work on the blockchain from home.
1:03:58 Thoughts on some of the surprising and idiosyncratic features of Bitcoin that have grown in popularity.
1:10:05 Why it's difficult to improve Bitcoin and Adam Back's view on the most exciting technology in the space right now!
1:12:48 Possible increases in fees in the next decade.
1:16:54 Running full nodes and why this is important for the entire network.
1:19:17 Looking at the potential of governments to ban Bitcoin.
1:22:26 The constant learning that is occurring everywhere in relation to Bitcoin.
1:26:13 Possibilities for the future of hardware wallets.
1:28:28 Adam Back's personal views of smart contracts and their future.
1:33:32 The central importance of the algorithm's resilience.

The Origin of Bitcoin with Adam Back and Alex Gladstein
#bitcoin #hashcash #satoshi #cypherpunk