Not really sure that Bitcoin involves "no major intellectual breakthroughs".
Perhaps no breakthroughs for independent parts (Satoshi did not create a new cryptographic function, for example) but the placement of known parts into a working system is in itself an intellectual breakthrough.
I don't understand how the author can say that Bitcoin is in no way an intellectual breakthrough. Perhaps I misunderstood the article.
Maybe the author misses the creative and novel system that Satoshi built just because the bricks are not all brand new. Even Bill Gates called Bitcoin a techno tour de force.
Exactly: Saying that the blockchain was not an intellectual breakthrough is like saying the lightbulb wasn't an intellectual breakthrough because it relied on the invention of electrical wires.
Perhaps no breakthroughs for independent parts (Satoshi did not create a new cryptographic function, for example) but the placement of known parts into a working system is in itself an intellectual breakthrough.
I don't understand how the author can say that Bitcoin is in no way an intellectual breakthrough. Perhaps I misunderstood the article.
Maybe the author misses the creative and novel system that Satoshi built just because the bricks are not all brand new. Even Bill Gates called Bitcoin a techno tour de force.