The Bitcoin whitepaper, A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System, published by the mysterious and pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto, turned seventeen years old yesterday. Released on Oct. 31, 2008, amid the global financial crisis, the nine-page document laid the foundation for what would become the world’s first cryptocurrency. The whitepaper outlined a vision for a decentralized, peer-to-peer financial system built on cryptographic proof rather than trust in third-party intermediaries. Its goal was to eliminat ...