The Revolution That Opened an Account 31 October 2008 — 18 years since the Bitcoin white paper was published* On 31 October 2008, someone calling himself Satoshi Nakamoto sent a short document to a cryptography mailing list. Its title was modest: Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System. The idea was simple: two people should be able to exchange money without relying on a bank or another trusted institution between them. Humanity recognised the opportunity. And promptly began building new institutions around it. Crypto exchanges appeared. People opened accounts, entrusted strangers with passwords, deposited their money and relaxed because the website contained the word *security*. Soon decentralisation had acquired customer support, compliance departments and lengthy Terms and Conditions. Then an exchange was hacked, collapsed, misplaced billions, or discovered that arithmetic was merely one possible interpretation of accounting. At that point, owners of money designed to eliminate intermediaries became unexpectedly eager to speak to one. Preferably a competent one. Bitcoin, meanwhile, continued doing what it had been designed to do. The rest of us simply rebuilt the arrangement it was supposed to make unnecessary — only with hoodies instead of suits and more talk about trustlessness. More on this in: Crypto Faith — The Myth of Digital Salvation.