A little history about the development of the cryptomarket. - Gistneuro/intro GitHub Wiki

A little history about the development of the cryptomarket.

Such concepts as virtual currency and token are not new at all. The first experiments have been carried out in 1980s – long before the advent of cryptocurrency in its modern sense. By definition, they were tokens representing the fiducial currencies with the possibility of exchange and used as payment means or loans.

American cryptographer David Chaum was one of the first who proposed to use the extension of the popular RSA encryption algorithm to create the so-called "Internet money" and introduced DigiCash to the world.

Despite the warm reception of the press and great interest of the business community, the company failed to enlist a large number of client banks in the USA, where the credit card market was well developed. European banks were more favorable to the idea, and some of them even began to offer a new service on the market, but at last it was not enough to ensure the market’s further growth.

In 1998, the company filed for bankruptcy and was sold by parts, including patents.