In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, the mysterious Satoshi
Nakamoto published a revolutionary white paper that described a simple
peer-to-peer electronic cash system that would later become Bitcoin, laying the
foundations for the technical innovation known as the blockchain. In the decade
since its publication, the nascent technology behind cryptocurrency has become
recognised holding the same transformative potential of the printing press or
the internet, set to impact our sense of identity and provenance as much as
finance. It has disrupted traditional financial markets with a spectacular
explosion in value, paved the way for thousands of similar digital currencies
and laid the groundwork for a decentralised future of the web. But what does it
mean for everyday life?
The White Paper returns to the document that started it all, taking
Nakamoto’s text as a Rosetta Stone to decode the meaning of blockchain for
contemporary society. This guide to the innovative technology shows how it
holds up a mirror to our understanding of the world, both timeless and
mutating: from the archetypal origin story, to concepts of trust and value, and
the changing shapes of power and privacy.
In an acute and definitive Introduction, James Bridle, leading
technologist, artist and author of New Dark Age, charts the rise of blockchain
from its roots in clandestine online cultures. Delving into the first
conversations between initial members of the Bitcoin community - a disparate
group of cyber ideologues ranging from right-wing Libertarians to radical Web
2.0 utopian, Bridle shows how they shed light on the cryptographic imagination
that points towards the future of the Bitcoin dream. Through the lens of
encryption as philosophy and practice, Bridle examines the continuing debates
around the meaning of money, democratic values and security in an era of
surveillance capitalism.
Fully annotated
with key secondary texts, The White Paper presents new perspectives on the
radical paper.