No, Today Is Not Bitcoin’s Birthday

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Some things in Bitcoin are just not up for debate.

The plural of bitcoin is also bitcoin— not bitcoins. (One bitcoin, two bitcoin, three bitcoin…) Bits is a better sub-denomination than sats. (100 sats is actually one bit, like a 100 cents is one dollar; being a wholecoiner makes you the Bitcoin-equivalent of a millionaire, as that would mean you have a million bits.) And October 31st is not Bitcoin’s birthday.

Bitcoin’s birthday is January 3rd. It says so right there in block 0: 2009-01-03 19:15:05 GMT +1. On that day Bitcoin’s blockchain launched, with 50 newly generated coins issued to Satoshi Nakamoto's public key. (But from which Bitcoin’s creator cannot spend according to the protocol rules; since Satoshi was the only person who could have created the genesis block, that would have effectively constituted a 50 BTC pre-mine.)

Yes, Bitcoin was first proposed through Satoshi’s white paper on October 31, 2008. But you don’t celebrate your birthday on the day your mom told your dad she wanted to have a kid. Nor do you celebrate it on the day your parents conceived you, or on the day they announced you to the world via a gender reveal party.

You celebrate your birthday on the day you were born, and the same is true for Bitcoin. January 3rd.

Happy Bitcoin White Paper Day.

This article is a Take. Opinions expressed are entirely the author's and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.