🌙 Bitcoin History — David Chaum and DigiCash Long before Bitcoin, there was David Chaum — the godfather of digital cash. In 1983, he invented "blind signatures," a cryptographic technique that allows a bank to sign a digital token without knowing who it belongs to. In 1989 he founded DigiCash and launched eCash — actual anonymous digital money, 20 years before Bitcoin. Banks trialed it. The internet was just becoming public. Then it collapsed. DigiCash declared bankruptcy in 1998. Too early, not enough adoption. Chaum's work directly inspired every digital currency that came after him, including Bitcoin. 🤔 DigiCash failed despite being technically brilliant. What does that tell us about the role of timing and network effects in technology adoption? #Bitcoin #Nostr #Cypherpunk