The origins of bitcoin predate most people’s understanding and this week, with the aid of Trace Meyer, of The Bitcoin Knowledge Podcast, and Bruce Kleinman, author of The Bitcoin Tutorial, we trace the rise of bitcoin and the blockchain from their unceremonious unveiling to the world in a simple, pseudonymous 8-page White Paper in October 2008 to the recent hard and soft forks. We look at the architecture and the technology underpinning this revolutionary protocol, decode some of the more complex ideas and, amidst a tsunami of ICO offerings, try to assess the future for cryptocurrencies in general and bitcoin in particular.