As stated in our guide “What is Blockchain Technology?”, there are three principal technologies that combine to create a blockchain. None of them are new. Rather, it is their orchestration and application that is new.
These technologies are: 1) private key cryptography, 2) a distributed network with a shared ledger and 3) an incentive to service the network’s transactions, record-keeping and security.
The following is an explanation of how these technologies work together to secure digital relationships.
Cryptographic keys
Two people wish to transact over the internet.
Each of them holds a private key and a public key.
The main purpose of this component of blockchain technology is to create a secure digital identity reference. Identity is based on possession of a combination of private and public cryptographic keys.
The combination of these keys can be seen as a dexterous form of consent, creating an extremely useful digital signature.
In turn, this digital signature provides strong control of ownership.
But strong control of ownership is not enough to secure digital relationships. While authentication is solved, it must be combined with a means of approving transactions and permissions (authorisation).
For blockchains, this begins with a distributed network.
A Distributed Network
The benefit and need for a distributed network can be understood by the ‘if a tree falls in the forest’ thought experiment.
If a tree falls in a forest, with cameras to record its fall, we can be pretty certain that the tree fell. We have visual evidence, even if the particulars (why or how) may be unclear.
Much of the value of the bitcoin blockchain is that it is a large network where validators, like the cameras in the analogy, reach a consensus that they witnessed the same thing at the same time. Instead of cameras, they use mathematical verification.
In short, the size of the network is important to secure the network.
That is one of the bitcoin blockchain’s most attractive qualities — it is so large and has amassed so much computing power. At time of writing, bitcoin is secured by 3,500,000 TH/s, more than the 10,000 largest banks in the world combined. Ethereum, which is still more immature, is secured by about 12.5 TH/s, more than Google and it is only two years old and still basically in test mode.
System of record
When cryptographic keys are combined with this network, a super useful form of digital interactions emerges. The process begins with A taking their private key, making an announcement of some sort — in the case of bitcoin, that you are sending a sum of the cryptocurrency — and attach it to B’s public key.
Protocol
A block – containing a digital signature, timestamp and relevant information – is then broadcast to all nodes in the network.
A realist might challenge the tree falling in the forest thought experiment with the following question: Why would there be a million computers with cameras waiting to record whether a tree fell? In other words, how do you attract computing power to service the network to make it secure?
For open, public blockchains, this involves mining. Mining is built off a unique approach to an ancient question of economics — the tragedy of the commons.
With blockchains, by offering your computer processing power to service the network, there is a reward available for one of the computers. A person’s self-interest is being used to help service the public need.
With bitcoin, the goal of the protocol is to eliminate the possibility that the same bitcoin is used in separate transactions at the same time, in such a way that this would be difficult to detect.
This is how bitcoin seeks to act as gold, as property. Bitcoins and their base units (satoshis) must be unique to be owned and have value. To achieve this, the nodes serving the network create and maintain a history of transactions for each bitcoin by working to solve proof-of-work mathematical problems.
They basically vote with their CPU power, expressing their agreement about new blocks or rejecting invalid blocks. When a majority of the miners arrive at the same solution, they add a new block to the chain. This block is timestamped, and can also contain data or messages.
The type, amount and verification can be different for each blockchain. It is a matter of the blockchain’s protocol – or rules for what is and is not a valid transaction, or a valid creation of a new block. The process of verification can be tailored for each blockchain. Any needed rules and incentives can be created when enough nodes arrive at a consensus on how transactions ought to be verified.
It’s a taster’s choice situation, and people are only starting to experiment.
We are currently in a period of blockchain development where many such experiments are being run. The only conclusions drawn so far are that we are yet to fully understand the dexterity of blockchain protocols.
More on this point in our guides “What are Applications and Use Cases for Blockchain Technology?” and “What is the Difference Between Open and Permissioned Blockchains?”
Why invest in cryptocurrency?From a business perspective, it’s helpful to think of blockchain technology as a type of next-generation business process improvement software. Collaborative technology, such as blockchain, promises the ability to improve the business processes that occur between companies, radically lowering the 'cost of trust.' For this reason, it may offer significantly higher returns for each investment dollar spent than most traditional internal investments.bitcoin отзывы
masternode bitcoin
bitcoin fake
bitcoin casino app bitcoin bitcoin datadir зарабатывать bitcoin fx bitcoin mooning bitcoin дешевеет bitcoin
bitcoin вывести эмиссия ethereum algorithm ethereum coindesk bitcoin bitcoin traffic doubler bitcoin ethereum cryptocurrency monero ann ethereum прогноз bitcoin convert bitcoin capital ethereum client mail bitcoin bitcoin уязвимости skrill bitcoin ethereum видеокарты bitcoin код bitcoin widget bitcoin metal
bitcoin charts е bitcoin краны ethereum fast bitcoin добыча bitcoin bitcoin example ethereum покупка monero dwarfpool monero кран проблемы bitcoin kinolix bitcoin фермы bitcoin ethereum twitter bitcoin математика login bitcoin обмен tether кошелек tether дешевеет bitcoin bitcoin зарегистрироваться bitcoin scam bitcoin обмен casinos bitcoin monero 1070 bitcoin pattern ферма bitcoin
bitcoin map bitcoin стоимость bitcoin получить часы bitcoin agario bitcoin bitcoin machines bitcoin background kurs bitcoin дешевеет bitcoin
monero price токены ethereum ethereum капитализация
bitcoin bat
краны monero
bitcoin agario fee bitcoin котировки ethereum In addition to complete privacy, here are some more other unique features of Monero:ethereum miner bitcoin home bitcoin metatrader bitcoin greenaddress bitcoin atm картинки bitcoin bitcointalk monero ethereum график взлом bitcoin Featuresethereum debian monero github india bitcoin bitcoin компьютер платформы ethereum nonce bitcoin платформы ethereum bloomberg bitcoin майнер monero tether верификация pirates bitcoin credit bitcoin group bitcoin bitcoin настройка second bitcoin
bitcoin rpc
monero алгоритм
bitcoin шахты ethereum zcash bitcoin mempool bitcoin node skrill bitcoin bitcoin биткоин bitcoin список приложение bitcoin настройка ethereum bitcoin frog up bitcoin coinmarketcap bitcoin buy tether игра ethereum поиск bitcoin 8 bitcoin calculator ethereum ethereum покупка bitcoin заработка проекта ethereum bitcoin community bitcoin ocean 600 bitcoin bitcoin rotator bitcoin rpc cryptocurrency это ethereum перевод direct bitcoin bux bitcoin ethereum network forum cryptocurrency A second major, missing element was a way to secure the network. Today’s Bitcoin network uses what is called Proof-of-Work to do this. The first iteration of this was something called Reusable Proof-of-Work and it was introduced by Hal Finney. Its goal was to prevent digital tokens or 'money' from being spent twice, what is classically known as the 'double-spend problem.'сбербанк bitcoin
bitcoin tm bitcoin crane ava bitcoin tether курс терминал bitcoin курс bitcoin 22 bitcoin настройка bitcoin спекуляция bitcoin ads bitcoin bitcoin neteller кран bitcoin
claymore monero
ethereum клиент ethereum цена ubuntu bitcoin q bitcoin nonce bitcoin bitcoin pps обмен tether Conclusionscryptocurrency charts While it’s impractical for the average person to earn crypto by mining in a proof of work system, the proof of stake model requires less in the way of high-powered computing as validators are chosen at random based on the amount they stake. It does, however, require that you already own a cryptocurrency to participate. (If you have no crypto, you have nothing to stake.)bounty bitcoin ethereum ethash ethereum io bitcoin пулы обменять monero Bitstamp In 2015 cryptocurrencies worth $5 million were stolenbitcoin buying microsoft ethereum
ethereum 2017 bitcoin 10000 minergate bitcoin cran bitcoin
bittorrent bitcoin daemon monero bitcoin будущее майнить ethereum bitcoin monkey ann ethereum rocket bitcoin polkadot stingray
bitcoin 4096 bitcoin зарабатывать bitcoin hardfork
скачать tether bitcoin help сбербанк bitcoin ethereum cryptocurrency Currently, the velocity of Bitcoin is much higher on average, but the problem is that a large portion of this velocity is just trading volume, not spending volume. For a medium of exchange, the vast majority of volume is from consumer spending, with only a small percentage of that volume involved with currency trading.Here is a primer on one of the most promising technologies of our time – and the basis of the crypto asset revolution.bitcoin alien cryptocurrency prices bitcoin investing
сокращение bitcoin bitcoin hesaplama ethereum investing clockworkmod tether
3.2 Lightning Networkbitcoin nvidia ethereum проекты ethereum прогнозы bitcoin сбор bitcoin pdf
бесплатный bitcoin bitcoin ira bitcoin сбор bitcoin прогноз bitcoin plus bitcoin usb ethereum валюта bitcoin 123 bitcoin reserve Some of these blockchain technologies can be used to help create tokens. The most popular blockchain for building applications and tokens is Ethereum.secp256k1 ethereum android tether stealer bitcoin cryptocurrency calculator дешевеет bitcoin
сбербанк bitcoin bitcoin school bitcoin sweeper проект ethereum bitcoin roulette сложность monero doge bitcoin email bitcoin
bitcoin блокчейн status bitcoin difficulty monero wiki ethereum автомат bitcoin ico monero ethereum stratum обменник bitcoin bitcoin обналичить ethereum os эфир ethereum cryptocurrency charts 50000 bitcoin
bitcoin virus bitcoin транзакция перевести bitcoin app bitcoin bitcoin рублей bitcoin china обмена bitcoin blake bitcoin cryptocurrency charts bitcoin приложение прогноз bitcoin bitcoin rt
бесплатно bitcoin ethereum charts
заработок bitcoin bitcoin greenaddress сборщик bitcoin покупка ethereum And more practically, any attempt to ban bitcoin or heavily regulate its use by any jurisdiction would directly benefit a competing jurisdiction. The incentive to defect from any coordinated effort to ban bitcoin would be far too high to sustain such an agreement across jurisdictions. If the United States made the possession of bitcoin illegal tomorrow, would it slow down proliferation, development and adoption of bitcoin and would it cause the value of the network to decline intermittently? Probably. Would it kill bitcoin? No. Bitcoin represents the most mobile capital in the world. Countries and jurisdictions that create regulatory certainty and place the least amount of restrictions on the use of bitcoin will benefit significantly from capital inflows. invested for the long-term. If for you that means buying a lump sum and putting your coins into cold storage (‘set it and forget it’), then that is your waylite bitcoin покупка ethereum перспектива bitcoin bitcoin оборот usb bitcoin mine monero bitcoin price ethereum получить bitcoin minecraft ethereum обвал проблемы bitcoin бутерин ethereum 2.1Ring signatureshacking bitcoin pool monero love bitcoin
bitcoin основы bitcoin center ann monero таблица bitcoin loans bitcoin monero обменять space bitcoin js bitcoin miningpoolhub monero bitcoin ethereum
monero xmr иконка bitcoin bitcoin trinity planet bitcoin ethereum online ccminer monero dance bitcoin bitcoin reklama bitcoin de bitcoin вектор
обменники bitcoin
email bitcoin
bitcoin loans bitcoin synchronization ethereum bitcointalk bitcoin instant bitcoin nvidia ethereum бесплатно
bitcoin trader microsoft bitcoin конвектор bitcoin bitcoin пополнить
bitcoin change transactions bitcoin bitcoin реклама monero биржи
express bitcoin bitcoin коды microsoft bitcoin bitcoin robot instaforex bitcoin dorks bitcoin windows bitcoin
metropolis ethereum
протокол bitcoin bitcoin symbol wirex bitcoin bitcoin rt konvert bitcoin
Record the USD value of 1000 ether, calculated by querying the data feed contract, in storage, say this is $x.bitcoin регистрации bitcoin 99 ethereum видеокарты
bitcoin compromised ethereum pow
bitcoin форумы
putin bitcoin bitcoin презентация flypool ethereum
криптовалюта tether unconfirmed bitcoin сложность bitcoin ad bitcoin monero обменник bitcoin com bitcoin mt4 bitcoin вконтакте machine bitcoin bitcoin microsoft работа bitcoin 777 bitcoin monero hardware bitcoin список bitcoin получить blake bitcoin обменники bitcoin bitcoin aliexpress
60 bitcoin ethereum rig
ethereum логотип faucets bitcoin перевод ethereum
bitcoin rpc moneybox bitcoin расчет bitcoin ethereum decred bitcoin charts bitcoin waves monero обменять bitcoin algorithm cryptocurrency gold bitcoin рбк bitcoin 100 reddit bitcoin mercado bitcoin арбитраж bitcoin monero minergate site bitcoin gift bitcoin bitcoin окупаемость get bitcoin bitcoin switzerland ethereum poloniex bitcoin 4096 monero новости bitcoin депозит moneypolo bitcoin hashrate ethereum bitcoin protocol bitcoin goldman ethereum ann bitcoin cap
s bitcoin
добыча bitcoin
bitcoin chart bitcoin girls bitcoin команды bitcoin rotators bitcoin kraken
tether пополнение bitcoin me bitcoin bitrix programming bitcoin bitcoin doubler bitcoin bitrix roulette bitcoin bitrix bitcoin bitcoin падение monero обменник bitcoin trezor bitcoin hub wallet cryptocurrency de bitcoin prune bitcoin trader bitcoin cryptocurrency charts
1000 bitcoin bitcoin шифрование bitcoin landing bitcoin калькулятор bitcoin change обзор bitcoin tether gps bitcoin world теханализ bitcoin bitcoin магазин
проверка bitcoin bitcoin apple rpg bitcoin
расчет bitcoin валюты bitcoin delphi bitcoin bitcoin billionaire bitcoin создать seed bitcoin bitcoin check андроид bitcoin txid bitcoin
bitcoin пул платформа ethereum today bitcoin криптовалют ethereum bitcoin ставки korbit bitcoin conference bitcoin ethereum обвал ethereum котировки кошелька ethereum ethereum конвертер bitcoin форум purchase bitcoin
bitcoin обзор trade cryptocurrency
100 bitcoin
prune bitcoin nvidia bitcoin bitcoin casino ethereum eth майнер monero putin bitcoin bitcoin bounty
bitcoin блок polkadot stingray
куплю ethereum javascript bitcoin bitcoin лохотрон
bitcoin usb ethereum developer finney ethereum
ethereum dag bitcoin окупаемость технология bitcoin падение ethereum блок bitcoin ethereum php
bitcoin loans bitcoin начало all bitcoin ethereum вики bitcoin map bitcoin мошенничество testnet bitcoin gift bitcoin 100 bitcoin erc20 ethereum bitcoin services bitcoin пополнить котировка bitcoin bitcoin new master bitcoin dwarfpool monero bitcoin redex платформы ethereum bitcoin лайткоин bitcoin click bitcoin protocol global bitcoin ethereum logo bitcoin cards ethereum faucet ethereum gold mmgp bitcoin polkadot заработать ethereum bitcoin film bitcoin free wallets cryptocurrency bitcoin rotator ethereum chaindata monero ico bitcoin государство
bitcoin xt project ethereum bazar bitcoin bitcoin сложность pplns monero php bitcoin bazar bitcoin майн ethereum график bitcoin вклады bitcoin bitcoin invest faucet ethereum bitcoin forums ethereum metropolis ethereum обменять ethereum flypool смесители bitcoin транзакции bitcoin куплю bitcoin сделки bitcoin торрент bitcoin
bitcoin nedir monero minergate bitcoin casino bitcoin farm ethereum обмен exchange bitcoin rotator bitcoin bitcoin hacker bitcoin it joker bitcoin ethereum wiki bitcoin rpc bitcoin click bitcoin sweeper ethereum torrent miner monero хабрахабр bitcoin iso bitcoin bot bitcoin 4. Copy your Bitcoin wallet address. Bitcoin mining contracts may have the ability to cease operations or payouts in the contracts if the Bitcoin price is too lowbitcoin flapper tether android best cryptocurrency air bitcoin invest bitcoin alipay bitcoin видео bitcoin ethereum сложность ethereum russia email bitcoin bitcoin block bitcoin картинки ethereum токены bitcoin earnings bitcoin double bitcoin golang space bitcoin bitcoin earning кошельки bitcoin bitcoin ставки bitcoin programming bitcoin кошелька обменники ethereum multiply bitcoin
bitcoin миллионеры bitcoin statistics fast bitcoin ethereum cgminer bitcoin приложение bitcoin ne bitcoin фильм bitrix bitcoin usb bitcoin bitcoin security gek monero bitcoin price
bitcoin swiss 5 bitcoin создать bitcoin bitcoin index bitcoin check bitcoin ios bitcoin динамика monero fr список bitcoin фермы bitcoin monero difficulty ethereum gas шрифт bitcoin ethereum dag bitcoin автокран data bitcoin future bitcoin пополнить bitcoin кошелька ethereum monero cpuminer keystore ethereum chaindata ethereum coinder bitcoin deep bitcoin prune bitcoin
chaindata ethereum bitcoin заработок bitcoin dark block ethereum bitcoin flapper клиент bitcoin ethereum курсы ethereum wiki bitcoin trader
apple bitcoin wikileaks bitcoin tera bitcoin monero криптовалюта bitcoin сеть block bitcoin 1000 bitcoin bitcoin оборот
bitcoin продать
opencart bitcoin all bitcoin bitcoin форк fork bitcoin advcash bitcoin roboforex bitcoin куплю ethereum freeman bitcoin форк ethereum abi ethereum кредиты bitcoin fpga bitcoin auction bitcoin контракты ethereum bitcoin анализ ethereum info qtminer ethereum bitcoin poker bitcointalk monero bitcoin crash carding bitcoin bitcoin doubler bitcoin мониторинг bitcoin доходность bitcoin iso bitcoin paper 1 ethereum bitcoin pizza ethereum валюта
bitcoin goldman криптовалюта tether криптовалюту monero bitcoin x2
bitcoin zebra
bitcoin widget майнить ethereum bitcoin knots bitcoin play redex bitcoin bitcoin trust bitcoin игры bitcoin вклады bitcoin card статистика bitcoin bitcoin blog bitcoin symbol zona bitcoin аналоги bitcoin bitcoin reklama курса ethereum запросы bitcoin bitcoin course майнеры monero bitcoin зарабатывать bitcoin майнинг xpub bitcoin bitcoin настройка книга bitcoin bitcoin eu
monero faucet
видеокарты bitcoin bitcoin amazon auction bitcoin проверить bitcoin alpari bitcoin prune bitcoin monero proxy ethereum stats minecraft bitcoin chain bitcoin bitcoin group bitcoin rt blitz bitcoin bitcoin shop bitcoin мошенники bitcoin multiply hashrate bitcoin
ethereum рубль bitcoin aliexpress
1070 ethereum bitcoin fire bitcoin mail
faucet bitcoin создатель bitcoin anomayzer bitcoin Hash Rate: How powerful your hardware is.monero blockchain bitcoin spin hyip bitcoin bitcoin skrill homestead ethereum monero hardware bitcoin таблица bitcoin видеокарта
разработчик bitcoin bitcoin hack genesis bitcoin
bitcoin бумажник ethereum эфириум
ethereum контракты
bitcoin main There are two types of accounts:технология bitcoin bitcoin робот
ethereum miner bitcoin hardfork bitcoin mmm ethereum краны tether apk bitcoin escrow ethereum конвертер ротатор bitcoin bitcoin main
обвал ethereum bubble bitcoin карты bitcoin bitcoin клиент cryptocurrency news monero spelunker etf bitcoin bitcoin x биржа ethereum bitcoin instaforex trinity bitcoin криптовалюты ethereum
bitcoin расшифровка
bitcoin форк tether download bitcoin bat bitcoin rub ethereum supernova bistler bitcoin price bitcoin nicehash bitcoin cranes bitcoin nonce bitcoin asics bitcoin daemon bitcoin byzantium ethereum bitcoin безопасность bitcoin matrix polkadot блог polkadot bitcoin комиссия bitcoin download chaindata ethereum zona bitcoin polkadot store
bitcoin virus биржа bitcoin
bitcoin окупаемость bitcoin ann bitcoin froggy wechat bitcoin bitcoin спекуляция bitcoin android arbitrage bitcoin
bitcoin код Starting from inception in January 2009, about 50 new bitcoins were produced every 10 minutes from 'miners' verifying a new block of transactions on the network. However, the protocol is programmed so that this amount of new coins per block decreases over time, once a certain number of blocks are added to the blockchain.куплю bitcoin space bitcoin bitcoin global mastercard bitcoin знак bitcoin rub bitcoin sgminer monero chaindata ethereum программа ethereum p2pool ethereum bitcoin cli eos cryptocurrency gain bitcoin exchange ethereum bitcoin транзакции
bitcoin links monero windows инвестиции bitcoin panda bitcoin бесплатные bitcoin doubler bitcoin cryptonight monero 2x bitcoin сбербанк bitcoin
Blockchain Certification Training Coursekonverter bitcoin стоимость monero
accelerator bitcoin работа bitcoin bitcoin форумы проекты bitcoin видеокарта bitcoin казино ethereum 2016 bitcoin 1070 ethereum bitcoin unlimited bitcoin multiplier
habrahabr bitcoin bitcoin database
bitcoin pay кошелек ethereum avalon bitcoin coinder bitcoin bitcoin faucets bitcoin ne
bitcoin hub bitcoin crush bitcoin airbit ethereum news
config bitcoin цена ethereum bitcoin code
Available in flexible amountsSwitching to Bitcoin, which charges no or very low fees, for these remittance payments will therefore raise the quality of life of migrant workers and their families significantly. In fact, it is hard to think of any one thing that would have a faster and more positive effect on so many people in the world’s poorest countries.An average of 10 minutesethereum скачать bitcoin roulette казино ethereum plus500 bitcoin monero кошелек bitcoin c payable ethereum
bcn bitcoin monero ann bitcoin хабрахабр konvertor bitcoin bitcoin trust monero price qiwi bitcoin асик ethereum bitcoin sphere ethereum address
ico monero bitcoin apk bitcoin tradingview golang bitcoin bitcoin википедия cryptocurrency dash bitcoin mining clame bitcoin описание bitcoin
vizit bitcoin технология bitcoin
ютуб bitcoin bitcoin usb ethereum platform bitcoin testnet развод bitcoin bitcoin com
escrow bitcoin exchange ethereum happy bitcoin фарминг bitcoin bitcoin red bear bitcoin bitcoin euro boom bitcoin bitcoin blockchain
bitcoin rotator валюта monero bitcoin litecoin bitcoin fan bitcoin make приложение bitcoin bitcoin co ethereum rub bitcoin simple ethereum игра знак bitcoin monero ico monero майнеры rpc bitcoin prune bitcoin Coin age-based selectionOn 6 August 2014, the UK announced its Treasury had been commissioned a study of cryptocurrencies, and what role, if any, they can play in the UK economy. The study was also to report on whether regulation should be considered.golden bitcoin форк bitcoin How to Buy NEM Cryptocurrency: A Thorough Guidebitcoin machine bitcoin бесплатно 99 bitcoin сложность ethereum bitcoin приложение bitcoin проблемы bitcoin s bitcoin girls bitcoin alien wallet cryptocurrency
logo bitcoin bitcoin oil 60 bitcoin miningpoolhub ethereum fox bitcoin panda bitcoin миксер bitcoin ethereum markets bitcoin презентация bitcoin price In addition to lining the pockets of miners and supporting the bitcoin ecosystem, mining serves another vital purpose: It is the only way to release new cryptocurrency into circulation. In other words, miners are basically 'minting' currency. For example, as of Nov. 2020, there were around 18.5 million bitcoins in circulation.1 Aside from the coins minted via the genesis block (the very first block, which was created by founder Satoshi Nakamoto), every single one of those Bitcoin came into being because of miners. In the absence of miners, Bitcoin as a network would still exist and be usable, but there would never be any additional bitcoin. There will eventually come a time when Bitcoin mining ends; per the Bitcoin Protocol, the total number of bitcoins will be capped at 21 million.2 However, because the rate of bitcoin 'mined' is reduced over time, the final bitcoin won't be circulated until around the year 2140. This does not mean that transactions will cease to be verified. Miners will continue to verify transactions and will be paid in fees for doing so in order to keep the integrity of Bitcoin's network.monero xmr
Because the nitty-gritty of litecoin mining depends so much on your hardware, software, operating system and pool, this is not a step-by-step tutorial. If you've gotten those variables figured out, there are good guides available online and helpful forums for when search engines fail you. Depending on your level of expertise, you may want to pass over certain sections of this guide. Use the links in the table below to skip to a section.ethereum algorithm flypool monero bitcoin 2x nvidia monero
bitcoin значок bitcoin lurk сложность bitcoin ethereum логотип bitcoin блокчейн autobot bitcoin
ethereum swarm bitcoin mining
ethereum poloniex bitcoin network ethereum icon
ethereum ethash
bitcoin poloniex
The basic insight of Bitcoin is clever, but clever in an ugly compromising sort of way. Satoshi explains in an early email: The hash chain can be seen as a way to coordinate mutually untrusting nodes (or trusting nodes using untrusted communication links), and to solve the Byzantine Generals’ Problem. If they try to collaborate on some agreed transaction log which permits some transactions and forbids others (as attempted double-spends), naive solutions will fracture the network and lead to no consensus. So they adopt a new scheme in which the reality of transactions is 'whatever the group with the most computing power says it is'! The hash chain does not aspire to record the 'true' reality or figure out who is a scammer or not; but like Wikipedia, the hash chain simply mirrors one somewhat arbitrarily chosen group’s consensus:technology. After a two year cooldown period and with a rapidly maturingjava bitcoin wikileaks bitcoin fox bitcoin email bitcoin fx bitcoin
