on the crypto
How did the name of a cryptocurrency come about? Let's find out how the names of the 3 cryptocurrencies in the world by market capitalization were born.
Bitcoin - Electronic Money
Bitcoin, the world's first cryptocurrency by market capitalization, has almost by itself changed the face of the modern financial system. With a market capitalization of over $ 800 billion, Bitcoin tops the rankings and has a market share of 41,36%. Buying BitcoinsMoreover, today it is really very simple.
The first use of the word bitcoin dates back to 2008, months before the network became operational on January 3, 2009. In August, bitcoin.org was registered as a domain name signaling the first use of the term and on October 31 the Bitcoin whitepaper is been released to an encryption mailing list.
At first glance, bitcoin is a compound of the word bit and money. Bit in computer terms refers to the smallest unit of data and Satoshi seemed to be the perfect title for the creation of his digital currency. The addition of the word "currency" made bitcoin loosely translated as electronic money.
On the other hand, Bitcoin may have been baptized in reference to bitgold, a decentralized digital currency designed by Nick Szabo in 1996. Although bitgold never materialized, it has often been called the "direct precursor of the Bitcoin architecture".
Ethereum - The Element
Ethereum entered the scene with a bang and quickly climbed the rankings to take second place. It currently trades at $ 3.446 and has a market capitalization of $ 405 billion. Ethereum was named after its founder, Vitalik Buterin, after "science fiction elements" he discovered from Wikipedia.
Vitalik Buterin opted for Ethereum after sifting through the list of all items. The Russian-Canadian programmer chose Ethereum because it contained the word "ether" and also because it "sounded good".
Ether was the term for the hypothetical medium that allowed light waves to move in space and Buterin's big idea was that Ethereum was the medium on which to build and run applications. The name fit his idea as a round peg in a round hole.
Cardano - The Polymath
Cardano recently set a new all-time high of $ 3,10 which has cemented its place as the third largest cryptocurrency in the markets. Founded by Charles Hoskinson, the project is named after an Italian scholar called Gerolamo Cardano who lived between 1501-1576.
Gerolamo Cardano had a wide range of interests including chemistry, physics, mathematics and medicine. He is credited for the systematic use of negative numbers and for the invention of the combination lock.
Additionally, the native ADA token is named after Ada Lovelace, an English mathematician famous for her work on Charles Babbage's analytic engine. The Cardano network continues to name the stages of its development according to famous people such as Byron, Shelley, Basho, Voltaire and Goguen.
