Digital Currency in 1970/11: What Was Happening in Crypto Before It Existed

When we talk about digital currency, a form of money that exists only in electronic form and is managed through decentralized systems. Also known as cryptocurrency, it didn't exist in November 1970. But the foundations—ideas about trust, decentralization, and digital value—were already being tested in labs, academic papers, and government projects. This isn't just history. It's the root of every blockchain, wallet, and airdrop you interact with today.

Back then, no one was trading Bitcoin. No one had heard of Ethereum. But researchers like David Chaum were working on electronic cash, a system allowing anonymous digital payments without relying on banks. This concept directly influenced later technologies like Monero and Zcash. Meanwhile, the U.S. government was experimenting with secure communication protocols, early forms of encryption that would later become the backbone of blockchain security. These weren't flashy tools. They were quiet, complex, and mostly ignored. But without them, you couldn't verify a transaction today without a middleman.

There were no exchanges in 1970. No one was tracking airdrops because there was nothing to airdrop. But the need for a system that didn't rely on centralized control was growing. Universities were exploring how to send data reliably across networks—something that would become the internet. And that network? It became the highway for digital money. The idea that money could be programmed, tracked, and transferred without a bank wasn't science fiction. It was a slow-burning idea, tested in academic journals and military contracts. By the time Bitcoin launched in 2009, it wasn't a surprise. It was the result of decades of quiet work.

What you'll find in this archive isn't news. It's silence. No posts. No guides. No coin reviews. That’s the point. This month, the digital currency world didn’t exist yet. But the people who would build it were already thinking, writing, and coding. The tools, the problems, the solutions—they were all being shaped in the background. What you’re looking at now isn’t empty. It’s the calm before the storm. And everything that came after? It started right here, in the gaps between the years.