#WalletConnect $WCT @WalletConnect

In 1998, Wei Dai described "b-money," an anonymous, distributed electronic cash system.[16] Shortly thereafter, Nick Szabo described bit gold.[17] Like bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies that would follow it, bit gold (not to be confused with the later gold-based exchange BitGold) was described as an electronic currency system that required users to complete a proof of work function with solutions being cryptographically put together and published.

In January 2009, bitcoin was created by pseudonymous developer Satoshi Nakamoto. It used SHA-256, a cryptographic hash function, in its proof-of-work scheme.[18][19] In April 2011, Namecoin was created as an attempt at forming a decentralized DNS. In October 2011, Litecoin was released, which used scrypt as its hash function instead of SHA-256. Peercoin, created in August 2012, used a hybrid of proof-of-work and proof-of-stake.[20]

Cryptocurrency has undergone several periods of growth and retraction, including several bubbles and market crashes, such as in 2011, 2013–2014/15, 2017–2018, and 2021–2023.[21][22]

On 6 August 2014, the UK announced its Treasury had commissioned a study of cryptocurrencies and what role, if any, they could play in the UK economy. The study was also to report on whether regulation should be considered.[23] Its final report was published in 2018,[24] and it issued a consultation on cryptoassets and stablecoins in January 2021.[25]