On this day in 2009, Satoshi Nakamoto mined the first block of Bitcoin. Buried deep within the coinbase parameter was a hex-encoded string that decoded to a stark headline from The Times:
“Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks.”
It was a timestamp, but it was also a mission statement. It signaled the shift from opaque centralized finance to a system defined by absolute mathematical transparency.
Yet, nearly two decades later, I still hear people challenge the “vagueness” of blockchain.
My response is always the same: Read the “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System” whitepaper.
It is only 9 pages long.
It’s not vague; it is a masterclass in transparency. If you read it, you understand that the “vagueness” exists only in the commentary, not the code.
The same logic applies to the current wave of AI skepticism.
I constantly see posts mocking LLMs because a chatbot couldn’t solve a simple math problem or hallucinated a fact. “It’s broken,” they say.
My response? Read the “Attention Is All You Need” whitepaper.
If you understand the architecture, you understand that these models are probabilistic next-token predictors, not deterministic calculators. When you ask a language model to do strict arithmetic, you are essentially asking a creative writer to do your accounting.
It comes down to this:
🔹 Bitcoin is the right tool for trustless, transparent value transfer.
🔹 LLMs are the right tool for pattern matching, summarization, and generation.
The tools aren’t broken. We just have to stop trying to use a screwdriver to hammer in a nail.
M.Y. Lessons Learnt 