Bitcoin, Not Blockchain (Part 1)

Image from Cryptoast

It is 2025, and people still think (sometimes are convinced) that “Blockchain” or “Blockchain technology” is the real invention behind Bitcoin. This so-called “underlying technology” — a decentralized ledger which is supposedly immutable, efficient, secure, and (just throw in any buzzword) is still being hyped as the thing that will revolutionize every aspect of our lives.

I have no issue with the Blockchain itself or think it is a scam, it works hand in hand with Bitcoin. What bothers me is the overemphasis on Blockchain while sidelining Bitcoin’s impact. Bitcoin is the real elephant in the room. Blockchain is simply a component of Bitcoin’s technology: the ledger that records all transactions. If you isolate this component, change some settings, add new features, or remove some, you end up with something entirely different — something unlikely to achieve the same result as Satoshi’s creation.

It is important to understand that (the) Blockchain is not the only technology on which the entire Bitcoin system (or any other crypto) is based. Bitcoin is the result of a combination of several interdependent technologies. Moreover, Satoshi Nakamoto never uses the term ‘Blockchain’ in his Whitepaper, and he does not present this technology as the basis of his creation.

Blockchain did not appear with Bitcoin. Satoshi uses the term “Timestamp Server” in the Whitepaper. [1] If we trace the origin of the concept itself, we can discover that this timestamping server method was first described in the early 1990s by cryptographers Haber and Stornetta. Their paper is cited in the Bitcoin Whitepaper references. [2]

Haber and Stornetta were trying to invent a system for timestamping digital documents, in this case, patent certificates, in order to verify their authenticity and ensure that the data could not be altered without this being apparent. [3]

To achieve this, they linked the patent certificate to a mathematical reference (hash) of the previous certificate, and so on, so that the slightest change in date or text would result in a change in the certificate and cause the mathematical link to be broken with those that followed, exposing the deception. Then, for reasons of efficiency, they came up with the idea of grouping certificates in packages or “blocks” that follow one another in time, thus creating an open register where each block represents a page. [4]

In the context of Bitcoin, this timestamping server, now known as the “Blockchain”, can be presented as a register of accounts on the Bitcoin network, listing all executed transactions. This register is organized into blocks in chronological order. Each block of information includes the digital fingerprint [5] of the previous block, so that the slightest modification in a past block mechanically modifies all the blocks following it.

Each new Bitcoin transaction is publicly announced on the network, transactions are grouped into blocks and each new block is propagated to all nodes, enabling all nodes to maintain a copy of the record of all past transactions. [6]

This ledger or the Bitcoin Blockchain simply allows all users, represented by the nodes, to check that no transaction [7] has occurred in the system. Among other things, this mechanism prevents double spending [8], which is essential to the Bitcoin protocol, but cannot function on its own.

Again Satoshi Nakamoto did not create the Blockchain.

When talking about Blockchain or Blockchain technology, it is important to specify which Blockchain we are talking about. Are we talking about the Blockchain, which is part of Satoshi Nakamoto’s invention, or something else?

One of the characteristics of the Bitcoin Blockchain is that it is public and open, allowing anyone to participate in the network, contribute to it, and observe the transactions that have been carried out (permissionless). Conversely, there are so-called private blockchains or consortiums, where permission is required to participate in the network (permissioned). How is the network set up? How is the ledger updated? How do participants reach a consensus? Does the system have its own native token? We must not think of this object in singular terms as something similar to each of its uses. There is not one Blockchain technology, but Blockchains or Blockchain protocols, each conditioned by different technologies, different protocols with their underlying parameters and intentions. [9] There may be as many different Blockchains as there are cryptocurrencies, yet not all Blockchains are necessarily equal or serve the same purpose.

[1] NAKAMOTO, Satoshi. Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System. 2008.

[2] MOREL, Loïc. Bitcoin vs Blockchain, où est l’innovation ? 2022.

[3] OBERHAUS, Daniel. The World’s Oldest Blockchain Has Been Hiding in the New York Times Since 1995. 2018.

[4] NEO, Chrysostome. Blockchain, la grande illusion. 2023.

[5] The digital fingerprint is in fact a hash. The header of a block is passed through a hash function, namely the SHA-256 cryptographic algorithm.

[6] BLACK, Jon. Je vous explique le Whitepaper de Bitcoin simplement. 2022.

[7] « For our purposes, the earliest transaction is the one that counts, so we don’t care about later attempts to double-spend. The only way to confirm the absence of a transaction is to be aware of all transactions. […] To accomplish this without a trusted party, transactions must be publicly announced [1], and we need a system for participants to agree on a single history of the order in which they were received. The payee needs proof that at the time of each transaction, the majority of nodes agreed it was the first received. » (NAKAMOTO, Satoshi. Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System. 2008.)

[8] MOREL, Loïc. Bitcoin vs Blockchain, où est l’innovation ? 2022.

[9] FAVIER, Jacques et TAKKAL BATAILLE, Adli. Bitcoin, la monnaie acéphale. 2017. p. 52.