The blockchain technology underlying BitCoin and other
cryptocurrencies was originally designed and conceived as an open
protocol that would not be owned by any one centralized entity,
whether government or private. Just like other foundational
protocols that were created in the early days of the internet
(email is based on POP, SMTP and IMAP, and websites rely on HTTP,
and file transfers use FTP and TCP/IP), no-one really owns
these protocols. No-one collects royalties or patent
licensing fees for the use of these protocols (...though some
patent assertion entities might argue otherwise).
Similarly, the peer-to-peer vision underlying "the
blockchain" was conceptually directed to maintaining the
integrity of peer-to-peer transactions that function outside the
realm of a centralized overseer such as a bank or government
registry. Where, traditionally, a bank served as the trusted
and verifiable record of a transaction, the use of blockchain
technology could provide
