00:00Part 1. Origins
00:02In the early days of the internet, digital transactions were typically handled through
00:08centralized servers. This meant that there was always a middleman involved in any transaction,
00:14whether it was a bank, credit card company, or other financial institution. This wasn't
00:20necessarily a bad thing, as these institutions provided a level of security and trust that was
00:27necessary for online transactions. However, it did create a single point of failure that could be
00:34exploited by hackers or other malicious actors. In response, several cryptographers and computer
00:42scientists began exploring ways to create a digital currency that would not be relying on
00:48centralized servers. One of the most notable attempts was the creation of eCash by David
00:55Chalm in 1997. A-Cash was a digital currency that used cryptography to prevent double spending.
01:03However, it required users to download and install software onto their computers,
01:10which made it less than ideal for mass adoption. Another early attempt at creating a decentralized
01:16digital currency was B-Money, which was proposed by Wiesel in 1998. B-Money was designed to be
01:24anonymous and resistant to censorship, but it was never fully developed. In 2008, however,
01:31everything changed. That year, the world's financial system was thrown into chaos by the
01:38collapse of the housing market in the United States. This led to the bankruptcy of several
01:44major financial institutions and triggered a global recession.
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