On the twelfth anniversary of the Bitcoin white paper, we asked our team what crypto means to them and why they invest
The Bitcoin white paper was first shared with the public on October 31st, 2008. Twelve years ago, we learned how financial transactions could be securely decentralized, giving users greater freedom, autonomy, and privacy. This was during the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression of 1929, caused in part due to excessive risk taking from banks.
Distributed via the Cryptography Mailing List, a service run by a group of cypherpunks, Satoshi Nakamoto’s white paper explained that “commerce on the Internet has come to rely almost exclusively on financial institutions serving as trusted third parties to process electronic payments… [and] suffers from the inherent weaknesses of the trust based model.”
His solution to this problem was an “electronic payment system based on cryptographic proof instead of trust, allowing any two willing parties to transact directly with each other without the need for a trusted third party.” It was also a breakthrough solution to the double-spending problem for a digital currency.
The Bitcoin genesis block was mined on January 3, 2009, and with that, BTC and decentralized finance were born.
At OKCoin, Bitcoin represents our progress as a crypto industry, the significance of the open-source community, global accessibility, and our ability to create opportunity when the existing system presents shortfalls. We believe that bitcoin provides an opportunity for investment as well as currency and we’re proud to offer an easy global on/off ramp for bitcoin.
To celebrate the 12th anniversary of the Bitcoin white paper, we asked a few team members about their journey into the crypto industry which started with bitcoin; what excites them about the space and what assets they are most interested in.
What intrigued you most when you first joined crypto?
“What intrigued me most about crypto is the idea that software could create a more efficient and inclusive financial system, one where two people can transact with each other without a centralized trust system. The idea that we can build an alternative financial system and give people access to global markets without the same barriers to entry as traditional finance was game changing.” — Haider Rafique, Global Chief Marketing Officer
“When I first got into bitcoin back in 2013, what intrigued me most was this borderless, permissionless monetary experiment and all of the possibilities that it could open up. Having an international background and having worked in finance for years, I understood many of the pain points of our existing global financial system. Open finance, tokenized assets, DeFi, NFTs, and Lightning Network are all examples of what was dreamt of early on, and I can’t wait to see how the whole space continues to develop.” — Jason Lau, Chief Operating Officer
Why invest in crypto?
“Crypto will become mainstream, whether it’s specific assets, institutional adoption of blockchain technology, or adoption of decentralized governance models. Even beyond money, we’re seeing blockchain adoption reshape non-financial social behavior. As technological adoption increases, the price is bound to go up… Now is the time to get into BTC.” — Elaine Song
“Bitcoin has a limited supply, it’s a hedge to traditional markets, and it’s an asset that is ultimately the foundational layer of an entire asset class; cryptocurrency. For day traders, crypto is high volatility; high risk, high reward, and for investment, it represents exciting, emerging technologies.” — Haider Rafique
Which crypto assets are you most interested in?
“The assets I’m most interested in right now are BTC and governance tokens like COMP.” — Elaine Song
“BTC and ETH.” — Haider Rafique
“The asset I’m most interested in is bitcoin.” — Jason Lau
What is most exciting to you about crypto today?
“In addition to changes in financial products, crypto is showing us different models for society building and governance. Crypto by default is trustless, in the sense that you don’t have to trust a third party. But that doesn’t necessarily mean the ecosystem is devoid of trust — it’s simply redefining where we place our trust.
Current governance tokens have already engendered questions of what it means to have access to voting. This example is one of many iterations that you can start seeing real world applications of — from using blockchain to manage centralized voting to testing game theory and voting behaviour. From a currency perspective, the actual proliferation of crypto assets and interoperability blockchains means that money or currency can actually be agnostic, as long there is agreement or proof of value. Crypto is definitely a social revolution.” — Elaine Song
“The most exciting part of crypto is the adoption and acceptance curve that’s just constantly pointed up. If you step back and take a look at how far bitcoin, and crypto, has come since the early days, it’s incredible to think that we’ve gone from a fringe and often scorned geeky experiment to being a new asset class and the foundations of financial freedom and infrastructure.” — Jason Lau
To celebrate the white paper’s 12th anniversary, you can now buy bitcoin on OKCoin with the lowest fees and in under 2 minutes — even as a new customer. It’s not too late to start a position and dollar cost average over time. At OKCoin, we believe that bitcoin is still in its infancy, with significant upside opportunity for new investors and traders. OKCoin is licensed across the US.
