Bitcoin was not the first digital currency. There were many attempts before (ecash, e-gold, pecunix, etc). But they were all under centralized control, and were crushed by regulation or even arrest and prosecution of the owners. This is a good summary of what happened to e-gold, and why cryptocurrencies must be decentralized in order to survive.
http://dgcmagazine.com/the-e-gold-story/
Bitcoin was not the first digital currency. There were many attempts before (ecash, e-gold, pecunix, etc). But they were all under centralized control, and were crushed by regulation or even arrest and prosecution of the owners. This is a good summary of what happened to e-gold, and why cryptocurrencies must be decentralized in order to survive.
http://dgcmagazine.com/the-e-gold-story/
http://dgcmagazine.com/the-e-gold-story/