Personal Finance Essentials
How Satoshi Invented Bitcoin
The Breakthrough
That Made Bitcoin Possible
Satoshi’s white paper describes how bitcoin would operate on something called a blockchain. As a result, most people credit the invention of blockchain to Satoshi Nakamoto. But Satoshi didn’t invent it. Scott Stornetta and Stuart Haber did. They met at Bell Labs, the research company created by the AT&T breakup in 1982. Scott holds a PhD in theoretical physics from Stanford; Stuart has a PhD in computer science from Columbia. They co-authored pioneering papers describing their concept in 1991 (receiving the 1992 Discover Award for Computer Software). Of the eight citations in Satoshi’s white paper, three reference Scott and Stu’s work.
So why does Satoshi get all the attention?
Because Satoshi solved the problem that prevented Scott and Stu’s idea from working.