In the previous chapters, we have covered open source and have seen how the developers are able to quickly seed an idea and publish it, so that others can help contribute. The emergent effect is the rapid development of high-quality software. When developers from different backgrounds and perspectives are able to work together, difficult programming challenges are quickly resolved.

Bitcoin was launched as an open source project from the start. Early on, the developers were involved with the bug fixes and improvements. Satoshi Nakamoto was key in planting the seed for Bitcoin, but without a community of developers sharing and reviewing the code, the amount of trust earned by the system would have been limited. The open source approach inspires others to experiment.

Less than 2 years after Bitcoin's launch, the first alternative coin, an alternative test blockchain, appeared. It was called the Bitcoin Testnet. Launched in October of 2010, its purpose was to create an independent...