In February 2011, Hal Finney, one of the early participants in the Bitcoin network, wrote an early explanation of how the network works:

• Bitcoin issuance is done through mining by solving mathematical problems

• The difficulty is adjusted to maintain an average of 10 minutes per block

• The block reward is halved every four years

• The total cap does not exceed 21 million Bitcoins

• Transfers are done via encryption keys and digital signatures

• Transactions are recorded in a distributed ledger that the network verifies

This early explanation shows that the fundamental principles of Bitcoin, from scarcity to decentralization, were clear from the beginning.