When Was Blockchain Invented – History of Blockchain

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When Was Blockchain Invented - History of Blockchain

Blockchain technology is quite popular nowadays; it is interesting to know how it all started. In our recent article, we covered the history of blockchain; in this article, we will know when was blockchain invented.

What is Blockchain Technology?


Blockchain has become the talk of the town, and it has been in the news after Bitcoin’s bull run. However, Blockchain isn’t limited to Bitcoin or cryptocurrency.

Blockchain is a technology in itself and has many real-life implications.

In simple terms, Blockchain is a decentralized way of storing information in an encrypted manner. Blockchain records are unchangeable; Hence, once recorded, it is practically impossible to change or edit data.

Read out our detailed article – What is Blockchain Technology

When Was Blockchain Invented?


Blockchain wasn’t invented in a day or by a single person. Various researchers and authors have contributed in their ways to develop blockchain technology. Blockchain invention dates back to 1979.

When was Blockchain invented - History of Blockchain

Pre-Blockchain Technologies


  1. In 1979, Ralph Merkle, a mathematician and computer scientist, described public key distribution and digital signatures in his Ph.D. thesis at Stanford University.
  2. Later, in 1991, Stuart Haber and W. Scott Stornetta published an article describing ‘How to Time-Stamp a Digital Document’; they explained how we could time-stamp a digital document to prevent forward-dating and back-dating.
  3. In 2000, Stefan Konst introduced cryptographically secured chains (the basis of today’s blockchain) in his white paper – ‘Secure Log Files Based on Cryptographically Concatenated Entries.’
  4. After four years, in 2004, Hal Finney, an American Software Developer, introduced reusable PoW (Proof-of-work), used in today’s Bitcoin.

All of them played a vital role in Blockchain development; however, the first blockchain came into existence in 2008.

Bitcoin – The First Blockchain


Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency based on Blockchain.

Satoshi Nakamoto is an unknown person or group of people who published a white paper in 2008 explaining how blockchain infrastructure will work with P2P transactions in a decentralized manner.

Later, in 2009, Nakamoto mined the first Bitcoin (a block of 50 bitcoins, known as Genesis block.) He released Bitcoin v0.1 as an open-source software at SourceForge.

This validated the Blockchain concept into reality.

However, in 2010, a hacker found a bug in Bitcoin’s code; they exploited the bug and created more than 184 Billion BTC. Nakamoto fixed that bug with its next version, but after that, Nakamoto walked away from the Bitcoin scene.

Today’s Blockchain


Now, there are thousands of businesses using blockchain technology, and governments of various countries are working on the development of blockchain technology. For example, the European Commission launched a Blockchain Observatory and Forum for working on Blockchain development.

To answer when was blockchain invented, blockchain came into existence in 2008, and before that, it was there as a theory. However, today’s Blockchain would be impossible without the extraordinary contributions of many researchers.

When Was Blockchain Invented – FAQs


#1. Who Invented Blockchain?


Blockchain as a technology is a contribution of many researchers, authors, etc. However, the first blockchain was developed by an anonymous person or group of people named Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008.

#2. When Did Blockchain Started?


Bitcoin is considered the first generation of Blockchain, Which was officially started in 2009 when Satoshi Nakamoto mined 50 bitcoins in the genesis block.

#3. Who Created the First Blockchain?


Satoshi Nakamoto, an anonymous person or a group, published a white paper explaining blockchain technology in 2008. Later, in 2009, created the first blockchain-based software, Bitcoin.

#4. Who First Proposed a Blockchain-like Protocol?


David Chaum, a cryptographer in 1982

He proposed the first blockchain-like protocol in his dissertation, ‘Computer Systems Established, Maintained, and Trusted by Mutually Suspicious Groups.’

#5. What is the History of Blockchain?


Blockchain’s history dates back to 1979, and there are various developments and significant events in the history of blockchain. We have published a detailed article on the history of blockchain as a timeline; check out: History of Blockchain.

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