== Alternative Chains, Currencies, and Applications
Bitcoin was the result of twenty years of research in distributed systems and currencies and brought a revolutionary new technology into the space: the de-centralized consensus mechanism based on Proof-Of-Work. This invention at the heart of bitcoin has ushered a wave of innovation in currencies, financial services, economics, distributed systems, voting systems, corporate governance, and contracts.
Bitcoin was the result of twenty years of research in distributed systems and currencies and brought a revolutionary new technology into the space: the decentralized consensus mechanism based on Proof-Of-Work. This invention at the heart of bitcoin has ushered a wave of innovation in currencies, financial services, economics, distributed systems, voting systems, corporate governance, and contracts.
In this chapter we'll examine the many offshoots of the bitcoin and blockchain inventions: the alternative chains, currencies, and applications built since the introduction of this technology in 2009. Mostly, we will look at _alt-coins_, which are digital currencies implemented using the same design pattern as bitcoin, but with a completely separate blockchain and network.
drusselloctal@gmail.com
10 years ago