The cryptocurrency community today will be celebrating the 10th anniversary of the release of a Bitcoin Whitepaper, the document authored by Satoshi Nakamoto that led not only to the establishment of bitcoin but the broader implementation of blockchain-based cryptocurrencies.

While not always popular in the broader tech community, 10 years on “bitcoin’s mark on this world is already profound,” Shiv Malik, head of strategy and communications at Streamr Network AG, told SiliconANGLE. “Without knowing it, Satoshi Nakamoto and the rest of the cypherpunks kickstarted an entire multibillion-dollar industry which we now call blockchain.”

Malik added that the distributed ledger, a novel form of recording millions of transactions between individuals without the need for banks, is “the most notable accounting revolution since the Venetians’ formalized double-entry bookkeeping in the late 1400s.”

Vlad Dramaliev, head of digital marketing of æternity also called bitcoin “one of the most exciting technological experiments of our time.”

“It established the foundations of an entire industry that is currently engaged in extensive R&D in the fields of cryptography, data security, privacy and self-sovereignty,” Dramaliev explained. “Perhaps most importantly, bitcoin has presented an alternative system of global governance, based on tangible economic incentives and decentralization.”

Bitcoin’s rise to dominance hasn’t been easy, said Angel Versetti, chief executive officer and co-founder of Ambrosus, because it drew the opposition of the traditional financial industry. But after failing to kill it, he said, traditional banks and other players have become its champion.

“Not only has this established bitcoin as a unique financial phenomenon and a new asset and a social construct, but it also showed the resilience and power of the underlying technology, blockchain, spurring countless transformative innovations using distributed ledgers, ranging far beyond the financial sector,” he said. He cited use cases such as identity management, data ownership, decentralized autonomous organizations and the digital commons.

A common theme among those in the industry is bitcoin’s role in popularizing blockchain technology.

“It’s impossible to look at the progress of the entire blockchain industry without recognizing the foundational role that bitcoin played,” said Daniel Peled, president of Orbs Ltd. “Every business use case, every major step forward on the infrastructure front is ultimately a credit to the initial starting point of bitcoin.”

The reason, he said, is that bitcoin proved that there is an application for blockchain and that it has tangible value, even if it’s volatile. “Because of this central role, it’s difficult to see any reality where the technology continues to progress and expand in importance while bitcoin doesn’t enjoy the benefits of this rise,” he said. “Even though the industry has expanded far beyond producing a digital currency, bitcoin was still the use case that established the legitimacy and potential of the entire blockchain enterprise.”

As a result, it’s not surprising that those in the industry see even better days ahead while still recognizing that there have been issues along the way.

“The rise in popularity of bitcoin – and consequently, other tokens – has also taught us about the shortcomings of particular digital currencies for particular purposes,” said Ken Lang, chief technology officer of Cosimo Ventures. “It has led to trends that try to solve for the governance and volatility problems with bitcoin and ethereum – for example, stablecoins – that show that the industry is maturing and attempting to solve its own problems over time.”

Patrick Mrozowski, founder of Crumbs, an app that allows people to turn spare change into cryptocurrency, said that he believes that “we are at the edge of adopting a fully decentralized ecosystem, and now is the time to bring the general public into the fray” so they can take control of their personal finances.

“No longer do we have to depend on (or trust) big banks who don’t always put individual needs above their own,” he said. “The true beauty of crypto lies in its ability to give power back to individuals who have been habitually neglected by traditional financial institutions — no matter demographic, socioeconomic status, or credit history, you have the ability to participate in the economic future. The next 10 years will bring more decentralization, better technology, but most importantly financial power to the people.”

Photo: normanack/Wikimedia Commons