A Brief History of Blockchain

Abstract

This chapter reviews the history of blockchain from its ideation in the early 1990s to the widespread development efforts of private enterprise and governments two decades into the 21st century. The chapter covers the early developments in securing the digital record; the origins of the immutable, decentralized ledger; and trustless digital transactions. The key people in blockchain's development are addressed including the pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto, developer of the first cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, which became for a while synonymous with blockchain. The successes and failures of blockchain are covered in this history as well as its status and the problems that need to be solved for blockchain to have a global economic and cultural impact.