The White Paper by Satoshi Nakamoto review – the future of cryptocurrency

Eight years ago, Visa, Mastercard and PayPal, which together make up more than 97% of the global market for payment services, cut off funding to WikiLeaks (you could still donate to the Ku Klux Klan, the English Defence League or Americans for Truth about Homosexuality). The blockade, backed by Republican senators, was political: WikiLeaks had published Chelsea Manning's material documenting US military drone strikes and civilian killings in Iraq; stopping inflowing cash silenced Julian Assange's outfit, albeit temporarily. Perhaps it was time for a cryptocurrency to stride from the proverbial phone booth, underpants over its tights, and save the day? After all, bitcoin's philosophy was that it would cut out the middleman, whether state functionary or corporate lackey, and realise a radical future in which, for instance, Afghan women, prohibited from opening bank accounts, might work and get paid in bitcoin. Certainly, in December 2010 there was much enthusiasm from cypherpunks for WikiLeaks to link to bitcoin on their website for donations.