untakenusername<p>Guys I've been thinking about this recently<br>So the telegraph has existed for a while, and became widespread in 1800s. Charles Babbage worked on the first mechanical <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/computers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>computers</span></a> in the 1820s</p><p>What would be the earliest point in time in which a <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/Bitcoin" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Bitcoin</span></a> like <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/Blockchain" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Blockchain</span></a> could've been made?</p><p>As I understand it all the system needs is a <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/network" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>network</span></a> of computers each running a program that checks for transactions</p><p>I'm wondering if a different hash function was used it could be a lot simpler to implement into hardware, but if mechanical computing wasn't powerful enough for that the earliest might've been after WWII with the code breaking machines that the Allies invented</p><p>Any boosts would be greatly appreciated!</p><p><a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/historicalcomputing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>historicalcomputing</span></a> <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/computer" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>computer</span></a> <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/hash" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>hash</span></a> <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/cryptography" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>cryptography</span></a> <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/crypto" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>crypto</span></a></p>