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The idea of smart contracts is actually older than Bitcoin, Nick Szabo wrote about it in 1997. http://nakamotoinstitute.org/formalizing-securing-relationships/

by shpx 9y ago

The idea of smart contracts is actually older than Bitcoin, Nick Szabo wrote about it in 1997. http://nakamotoinstitute.org/formalizing-securing-relationships/ http://nakamotoinstitute.org/formalizing-securing-relationsh... Abstract: Smart contracts combine protocols with user interfaces to formalize and secure relationships over computer networks. Objectives and principles for the design of these systems are derived from legal principles, economic theory, and theories of reliable and secure protocols. Similarities and differences between smart contracts and traditional business procedures based on written contracts, controls, and static forms are discussed. By using cryptographic and other security mechanisms, we can secure many algorithmically specifiable relationships from breach by principals, and from eavesdropping or malicious interference by third parties, up to considerations of time, user interface, and completeness of the algorithmic specification. This article discusses protocols with application in important contracting areas, including credit, content rights management, payment systems, and contracts with bearer.

sillysaurus3 9y ago
Was there any consensus on whether Szabo is Nakamoto? He seems to be on the short list of people who had both the brains and the talent to pull off Bitcoin.
- tylersmith 9y ago
  There's certainly no consensus on it. Many people think he is but probably not a majority.
- brndnmtthws 9y ago
  He's just one of several candidates[1], although I think the late Hal Finney is more likely to be Satoshi. Another theory is that the Satoshi persona was created by a group of individuals (cypherpunks) who were involved in the early Bitcoin community, including Hal Finney and Nick Szabo. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satoshi_Nakamoto#Possible_identities https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satoshi_Nakamoto#Possible_iden...
  - nugget 9y ago
    Given how hard it is for any group of people to keep a secret, I've always thought it much more likely to be a single individual.
    - eternalban 9y ago
      The fact that intelligence services employing armies of people exist worldwide should be sufficient to disabuse you of that meme.
  - brndnmtthws 9y ago
    And for those curious about Hal Finney, here's a fascinating post he wrote before his death: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=155054.0 https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=155054.0
    - vernon99 9y ago
      Except he didn't completely die, he was actually cryo-preserved. Although you can look at it in multiple ways.
      - smitherfield 9y ago
        All available evidence suggests that cryonics is likely pseudoscience in theory and certainly pseudoscience in practice. Irreversible brain damage occurs within seconds (and total brain death within minutes) of oxygen deprivation, and freezing cell tissue in water ice permanently destroys it.
        DiThi 9y ago
        We don't really know. Cryonics avoid ice formation with cryoprotectants or via vitrification. And assuming there _is_ brain damage, in theory it's still possible to recover as long as the _information_ of the brain hasn't been destroyed. It's akin to having the mainboard and the read head of a hard disk destroyed, but having the plates intact.
- macroexchange 9y ago
  Szabo reposted this blog post [1] on December 27, 2008 The Bitcoin genesis block was created Jan 4, 2009 [2] At that time there was about say 3 people in the world interested in these ideas. Make your judgement and consider the probabilities for P(Szabo = Satoshi) and P(Szabo != Satoshi). I think if you read up on all the articles and convince yourself. In [3] Szabo said there is a lot similarities with Bitcoin and Bitgold, and he talked about the differences in interviews. [1] http://unenumerated.blogspot.com/2005/12/bit-gold.html http://unenumerated.blogspot.com/2005/12/bit-gold.html [2] https://blockexplorer.com/block/000000000019d6689c085ae165831e934ff763ae46a2a6c172b3f1b60a8ce26f https://blockexplorer.com/block/000000000019d6689c085ae16583... [3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_yUeuKu7L4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_yUeuKu7L4
macroexchange 9y ago
Bitcoin has smart contracts. That's what people usually don't understand about ETH - its much more of an extension of Bitcoin and ColoredCoins than most people can ever realize. In fact this article shows exactly in what way this extension came up. Ethereum's history in two steps: 1) try to generalise Mastercoin 2) the same on its own blockchain. Grasping the internals of Bitcoin and its smart contracts capabilities is almost an requirement to understand ETH. Actually its very similar to going from assembly to a higher level language. I worked on a Bitcoin project which in a strange turn of events led to Nick Szabo becoming an advisor there. But the limitations of Bitcoin are so large that all the attempts failed - Counterparty and Mastercoin were clearly never as succesfull as ETH for very good reasons.
- CryptoPunk 9y ago
  Just to add: Mastercoin isn't the Bitcoin protocol. It uses Bitcoin as a data layer, but has an independent contracting system that doesn't interface with Bitcoin script.

by shpx 9y ago

sillysaurus3 9y ago

Was there any consensus on whether Szabo is Nakamoto? He seems to be on the short list of people who had both the brains and the talent to pull off Bitcoin.

tylersmith 9y ago
There's certainly no consensus on it. Many people think he is but probably not a majority.
brndnmtthws 9y ago
He's just one of several candidates[1], although I think the late Hal Finney is more likely to be Satoshi. Another theory is that the Satoshi persona was created by a group of individuals (cypherpunks) who were involved in the early Bitcoin community, including Hal Finney and Nick Szabo. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satoshi_Nakamoto#Possible_identities https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satoshi_Nakamoto#Possible_iden...
- nugget 9y ago
  Given how hard it is for any group of people to keep a secret, I've always thought it much more likely to be a single individual.
  - eternalban 9y ago
    The fact that intelligence services employing armies of people exist worldwide should be sufficient to disabuse you of that meme.
- brndnmtthws 9y ago
  And for those curious about Hal Finney, here's a fascinating post he wrote before his death: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=155054.0 https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=155054.0
  - vernon99 9y ago
    Except he didn't completely die, he was actually cryo-preserved. Although you can look at it in multiple ways.
    - smitherfield 9y ago
      All available evidence suggests that cryonics is likely pseudoscience in theory and certainly pseudoscience in practice. Irreversible brain damage occurs within seconds (and total brain death within minutes) of oxygen deprivation, and freezing cell tissue in water ice permanently destroys it.
      - DiThi 9y ago
        We don't really know. Cryonics avoid ice formation with cryoprotectants or via vitrification. And assuming there _is_ brain damage, in theory it's still possible to recover as long as the _information_ of the brain hasn't been destroyed. It's akin to having the mainboard and the read head of a hard disk destroyed, but having the plates intact.
macroexchange 9y ago
Szabo reposted this blog post [1] on December 27, 2008 The Bitcoin genesis block was created Jan 4, 2009 [2] At that time there was about say 3 people in the world interested in these ideas. Make your judgement and consider the probabilities for P(Szabo = Satoshi) and P(Szabo != Satoshi). I think if you read up on all the articles and convince yourself. In [3] Szabo said there is a lot similarities with Bitcoin and Bitgold, and he talked about the differences in interviews. [1] http://unenumerated.blogspot.com/2005/12/bit-gold.html http://unenumerated.blogspot.com/2005/12/bit-gold.html [2] https://blockexplorer.com/block/000000000019d6689c085ae165831e934ff763ae46a2a6c172b3f1b60a8ce26f https://blockexplorer.com/block/000000000019d6689c085ae16583... [3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_yUeuKu7L4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_yUeuKu7L4

macroexchange 9y ago

Bitcoin has smart contracts. That's what people usually don't understand about ETH - its much more of an extension of Bitcoin and ColoredCoins than most people can ever realize. In fact this article shows exactly in what way this extension came up. Ethereum's history in two steps: 1) try to generalise Mastercoin 2) the same on its own blockchain. Grasping the internals of Bitcoin and its smart contracts capabilities is almost an requirement to understand ETH. Actually its very similar to going from assembly to a higher level language. I worked on a Bitcoin project which in a strange turn of events led to Nick Szabo becoming an advisor there. But the limitations of Bitcoin are so large that all the attempts failed - Counterparty and Mastercoin were clearly never as succesfull as ETH for very good reasons.

CryptoPunk 9y ago
Just to add: Mastercoin isn't the Bitcoin protocol. It uses Bitcoin as a data layer, but has an independent contracting system that doesn't interface with Bitcoin script.