Bitcoin For Beginners…

$SirToshi
4 min readNov 15, 2023

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Bitcoin and its network can be defined as: “The foundation layer of all future digital technologies, secured and underpinned by economic principles.” — SirToshi

A digital network is either centrally controlled, or, it is economically competitive. There is no other way for a network to operate.

Bitcoin is the digital asset that economically sustains the worlds first ever commodity data network.

A commodity data network is a network that is “common” to everyone, which is a network where everyone owns and controls their own digital data content.

Unlike the internet, that we currently use, where all data is surrendered to the corporate server that it is uploaded to, when you upload your digital content to the Bitcoin network it is the uploader who retains control of it. This is because the network structure is made up of a group of globally distributed, economically competitive server networks called “nodes", & each upload carries with it a unique digital signature belonging to the uploader.

Nodes compete with one another to create blocks, which wins them the “block reward", and also the “block fee", which is the sum total of all Bitcoin attached as payment to the data/content being uploaded.

The block reward continues to get cut in half every 210,000 blocks (approximately 4yrs) until the reward is 0, whereas the block fee continues to rise as more & more people start to use the network. Once the block fee surpasses the block reward in value, the system them becomes economically self sustaining.

All the data uploaded on to the network is put through a hashing algorithm, called SHA256, so none of the node/server operators are able to see the information contained within the file. The file contains the digital signature belonging to the uploader which means responsibility & accountability for the information contained within the file lies with the individual uploading it, not with the node operators.

All data uploaded onto the network goes through the process of blockchain technology where each bit of data is linked, via hash numbers, to a previous bit of data that has been uploaded directly before it. This creates a chain of digital chunks/blocks of data, that are all connected, which means none of the data can be deleted unless the entire network gets taken down. The network, being globally distributed & economically competitive, makes this extremely difficult to achieve because global jurisdiction would be required. Therefore, this could only be achieved with a tyrannical one world government, or world dictatorship.

Digital content is uploaded on to the Bitcoin network by attaching a payment in Bitcoin to the data file. The Bitcoin node operators then compete to process the transaction & win the Bitcoin fee that is attached to the file. It is this incentive that keeps the network operational.

A commodity data network can only be achieved with 5 elements in place, at all times, which means no, one, single entity could ever be in control of it. These elements are as follows…

  1. Economic competition, in the form of a proof of work consensus mechanism.
  2. Common accountability, achieved through a chain of digital signatures.
  3. Locked protocol, so no one can change it & no one controls it.
  4. Unbounded scale, so limitations & restrictions could not be manufactured & the network not be manipulated.
  5. Fixed digital asset supply, so it cannot be either inflated or deflated.

Since anyone can make a commodity data network, what differentiates each one is its neutral size and growth. This is why the creator of the Bitcoin network released the Bitcoin white paper on 31st October 2008, to provide a common opportunity for anyone & everyone to start the network themselves. He then started the network himself on the 3rd January 2009, under a pseudonym, so that he didn’t have any influence over its neutral, organic growth.

This neutral, organic growth was intended to come to an end on 1st January 2020 when the network creator arranged for the “Satoshi coin’s” to be returned to him via bonded courier. The purpose of this was to bring an end to the period of speculation and bring huge amounts of value to the network by proving his identity.

This was achieved in a court case that was settled on the 6th December 2021 that concluded: “Dr Craig Wright did not owe half of 1.1 million bitcoins to the family of David Kleiman.” — IRA KLEIMAN, et al., Plaintiffs, v. CRAIG WRIGHT, Defendant. Nov 16, 2021. https://casetext.com/case/kleiman-v-wright-15

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/bitcoin-founder-craig-wright-fends-off-civil-suit-to-keep-crypto-fortune-6r7t7x92f https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/dec/07/australian-man-craig-wright-wins-us-court-battle-for-bitcoin-fortune-worth-billions

Since data can only be commoditised one way, there will only be one digital commodity, & the way to confirm that you are handling the one digital commodity is to ensure that all the Bitcoin legacy wallet addresses you are using start with the number 1.

The original protocol & genuine Bitcoin (the only chain of digital signatures still intact that extends right the way back to the Bitcoin genesis block) that still has legacy addresses beginning with the number 1, is now referred to as Bitcoin Satoshi Vision, or Bitcoin SV, & goes by the ticker symbol BSV.

To start your Bitcoin journey today head over to www.buybsv.live to purchase some Bitcoin (BSV) and check the price against other tokens ‘passing off’ as Bitcoin here: https://www.livecoinwatch.com/price/BitcoinSV-BSV

Follow the journey of Dr Craig Wright & the ongoing Bitcoin saga here: https://sirtoshi.medium.com/bitcoin-the-rise-rise-of-craig-wright-99460770351f

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