Here at Bitcoinist we try to present you with the most comprehensive selection of relevant news stories in the crypto-verse. But sometimes great articles appear that don’t quite fit into our news cycle. So here is a small selection of some of the best pieces *not* on Bitcoinist this year, as suggested on Twitter.
1. Planting Bitcoin
Who doesn’t love a good origin story? But if you have superhero fatigue from all the Marvel movies, check out Dan Held’s origin story of Bitcoin. In it he draws parallels between the birth of Bitcoin and planting a tree.
It’s a fantastic read and becomes available as a short-story e-book in early 2019.
2. How Bitcoin Functions As Property Law
An explanation of Bitcoin as analogous to real-estate contracts, written by a law professor, may not sound particularly accessible. But this paper by Eric D. Chason gives a great insight into the workings of Bitcoin.
He describes transactions as ‘deeds’ we must verify, and explains time-stamping with the example of Satoshi Nakamoto updating his will.
3. and 4. The Workings Of Proof-of-Work
Bitcoin, Chance and Randomness
Hugo Nguyen’s article explores the importance of randomness to Bitcoin and its role as the ‘Proof’ in Proof-of-Work
Proof-of-Work Is A Decentralised Clock
Gregory Trubetskoy’s blog post explains how the blockchain utilizes PoW, simply as a distributed decentralized clock. Gregory describes the other functions of Proof-of-Work as essentially red herrings and poses the suggestion that a better name might be Proof-of-Time.
5. Invalid Blocks Need Not Apply
This HackerNoon article by StopAndDecrypt should help us to all sleep easier in our beds at night. In looking at security, it explains why Bitcoin is an “impenetrable fortress of validation.”
6. Unpacking Bitcoin’s Social Contract
Hasu’s article explains how social contracts work with regards to fiat money, and how Satoshi Nakamoto used technology to implement this in a new improved way.
7. The Three Economic Eras Of Bitcoin
Okay, while not technically published this year, you may have missed this article from December 2017. Rusty Russell examines the past, present, and future of Bitcoin, as laid out in its mathematics and consensus rules.
The ghost of Bitcoin-past, with its negligible fees, noble aims, and a dearth of respectable uses, may now seem like a fairy tale. Christmas-future, when Bitcoin economics are dominated by fees, rather than block rewards, is still about ten years away.
But when it comes to Christmas-presents, you can still stuff my stocking with bitcoin, thank you very much.
What other articles would you recommend? Share them below!
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