Page 24 of The Atlas Maneuver

The idea?

A limited amount would lead to greater demand, which would lead to higher value. Just like gold. Reflexive. A bitcoin today was worth a little less than forty thousand euros.

Things had come a long way.

For the first year and a half of its existence only seven people mined for coins. But word of mouth spread, aided by the bank’s covert publicity campaign about open-source software, available to all, where wealth could be found, and more joined in.

The first bitcoin transaction happened on May 22, 2010, inside an online chat forum when a man in Jacksonville, Florida, offered to pay ten thousand bitcoin for two large, delivered Papa John’s pizzas. Someone on another continent accepted the offer, called the local Papa John’s, bought the two pizzas, had them delivered. In exchange,that person received ten thousand bitcoin. At the time the pizzas cost $25, while ten thousand bitcoin were worth around $41. That day had evolved into crypto folklore as Pizza Day, not because of the transaction itself, but more the price. Today, those same ten thousand bitcoin would be worth around four hundred million euros.

And it all started right here.

In this room.

“Katie, it can be done,” Kelly Austin said to her.

They were enjoying lunch. Just the two of them. When alone they were Katie and Kelly. Friends. Colleagues. A lot had happened over the past few weeks. Revolutionary things. And thanks to them the world was about to change.

“I’ve worked it all through,” Kelly said. “It’s ready to go. We can do this.”

Four months ago they’d been secretly briefed by the CIA. America was in the midst of the worst economic disaster since the Great Depression of 1929. A perfect storm had formed from risky investments by banks into questionable home mortgages, fueled by an overall drop in real estate prices, compounded by an inability of large lending institutions to cover the losses. It started in 2007 and now, by August 2008, had spread across the globe like a fire burning out of control. A worldwide recession loomed, threatening nearly every economy with a full-scale depression. She agreed, something had to be done.

But she wanted to know, “Are you sure this is the solution?”

“It’s what they asked for.”

The CIA had been specific in their wants and desires. An alternative financial system needed to be created. One independent of government control. Private. Easy to operate. Widely accessible. Peer-to-peer. But under CIA control.

“Blockchain is revolutionary,” Kelly said. “This is the answer. It builds onto itself, keeps itself honest, and just grows, one block at a time. It’s a central source of truth. Unflinching. Incorruptible. And the best part is no one else has it. We’ll be the first.I’ve tested it over and over. It’s totally hackproof and can become exactly what the CIA wants.”

“If they are to be believed,” she said. “It had better work or the world may be without any viable financial systems.”

“It will work.”

“I want to hear every detail before I give the okay,” she said to Kelly. “It’s important I understand what you created. But I’m curious. Have you thought of a name?”

“Bitcoin.”

Short, clever, and self-explanatory.

The perfect label.

And it caught on. In a big way.

On January 3, 2009, they anonymously released the source code. In the Genesis block Kelly embedded the text from that day’sLondon Timescover story titledCHANCELLOR ON THE BRINK OF SECOND BAILOUT FOR BANKS. First, they wanted the world to know that the program was new and real, then second they wanted to highlight the instability caused by the world’s fractional-reserve banking system, alerting everyone that bitcoin was free from any central bank manipulation. Since everything needed a creator they invented the name Satoshi Nakamoto. No credit would ever be given to Kelly Austin. That wasn’t possible. Nothing could be traced back to the bank or the CIA. Then they watched as financial freedom spread around the world one block at a time.

Kelly had been so dedicated. Loyal.

And smart.

Brilliant, actually.

With degrees in applied mathematics and computer science. One of those rare intellects that came along only so often. And she’d been right. Blockchain was a central truth. It changed the world. As had bitcoin. But things were about to change again. And this time Kelly Austin was the enemy.

Her phone dinged.

She checked the text message.

DEPOSIT MADE.