15th Anniversary: How Bitcoin Security Grew into One of the First Russian-Language Crypto Media

July 31 marks the 15th anniversary. Project founder Ivan Tikhonov recalls how the Bitcoin website came to be, why a forum emerged alongside it, how the team survived a blockade, how mining differed in the early years, and what challenges crypto media faces today.

First came the website, then the forum

The story began not with the forum, although many remember it. The website was the first to appear: it published materials for beginners about what Bitcoin is, how mining works, and how to start getting acquainted with this new technology.

The forum was launched later. It quickly became a place where Russian-speaking cryptocurrency enthusiasts gathered. This was before the mass rise of messengers, so the forum served as the main platform for communication.

• Owners of major services discussed the launch and development of cryptocurrency projects.
• Miners shared experiences regarding hardware, settings, and mining.
• Developers tackled technical questions and network structures.
• Traders monitored the market and cryptocurrency exchanges.
• Ordinary users sought clear answers and help at the start.

The project then developed in stages: first, a website with basic explanations, then a forum as a living gathering point for the community, followed by offline meetings, growth of the editorial team, a move from one domain to another, and the launch of practical services for those who were no longer just reading about cryptocurrencies but working with them in practice.

The story of the first offline meeting is also important, but it happened after the website was launched. In 2013, people who had previously only known each other through the forum gathered at a bar in St. Petersburg. Some traveled from other cities to finally meet their interlocutors in person.

It was at that meeting that Ivan Tikhonov met the future first editor-in-chief. It became clear that the project could regularly produce news of decent quality, rather than just relying on individual notes and discussions. Thus began the growth of the editorial team.

Why Bitcoin Security Became

Until 2015, the main domain of the project was . The abbreviation BTCsec stood for Bitcoin Security. Initially, it was intended that the site would primarily discuss safe storage of bitcoins and protection of transactions involving them.

Plans changed due to the situation surrounding cryptocurrencies in Russia. In 2014, a lawsuit by the prosecutor's office was satisfied in defense of an indefinite circle of persons. It claimed that the dissemination of information about Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies was illegal. Not only was , but also , along with several other domains, blocked.

At first, the team simply noticed that the website had stopped opening. It was only later that they managed to piece together the entire chain of events and understand why this happened. Suing the prosecutor's office over cryptocurrency issues was not easy and, to put it mildly, was alarming. But the team believed their position was correct, restored the deadlines for appeals, and began to contest the decision.

The process took about six months. While it was unclear how long the trials would last, the project decided to move to a new domain. Additionally, it was inconvenient to pronounce, people often made mistakes in spelling, and such typos could not be corrected in printed publications. Thus, the transition to became not just a forced step, but a long-overdue one.

In the end, the first domain was successfully defended. According to Ivan Tikhonov, if this had not happened, it could have remained blocked in Russia since 2015, possibly even to this day.

When Posts Were Paid in Bitcoins

In the early years, Bitcoin was used in the project not only as a topic for publications but also as a payment method. There were no restrictions on such payments at that time, so if an author wanted to receive rewards in BTC, it was not a problem.

The reward system changed as the community grew:

• Useful posts on the forum: 1 BTC once a week for a significant contribution to discussions.
• Spreading information about Bitcoin on other forums: 3 BTC for a post that remained on the platform for at least a week.
• Extended initiatives involving exchanges, pools, and other market players: up to 12 BTC for a single post.

The main condition was simple: the publication had to stay on the platform for at least a week. This turned out to be not always easy. Some forum administrators labeled materials about Bitcoin and mining instructions as fraud and quickly deleted such messages. At the same time, there were no limits on the number of paid posts.

Gradually, an editorial work began to form around this random but very active community. The project was no longer satisfied with individual messages on the forum: the audience needed news, analytics, and clear explanations of how cryptocurrency and related services were developing.

From this, an editorial model grew: regularly releasing news, analyzing market events, explaining technologies in simple terms, and monitoring how cryptocurrency intersects with services, finance, and regulation.

Mining, ASIC, and Ethereum's Transition to Staking

For Ivan Tikhonov, mining became the first practical entry point into cryptocurrencies. When he first saw a description of Bitcoin mining, he suspected it might be a clever way to spread trojans. But the source code was open, and that changed his attitude.

In the evening after work, he sat down to figure out what Bitcoin was and how it worked. He only got up from the computer in the morning --- already with an understanding of the principles of the network, its operational logic, and the potential scale of the technology.

Then the experiments began: how to reassemble operations in the core, how to overclock graphics cards, what hardware to buy to increase mining. The mined bitcoins were then used, among other things, to pay for content on the forum.

Ivan Tikhonov stopped mining in 2013. By that time, ASICs had entered the market, and mining began to turn into an industrial industry, similar to what exists now. As a business, it did not particularly interest him, and the ideological side also changed.

Back in 2012, the computational power of the Bitcoin network exceeded the total power of all supercomputers in the world. After that, in his estimation, the question was no longer so much about the security of the network but about profit and the concentration of power among large miners.

Ivan Tikhonov perceived Ethereum's transition to PoS calmly. He notes that the principle of staking cannot be reduced to the formula "the richer get more." Validators risk their own stake, so attacking the network for free is impossible. Moreover, a successful attack would hurt the price, which is disadvantageous for the stakers themselves.

Why Bitcoin Develops Cautiously

Ivan Tikhonov assesses the state of the modern crypto industry without drama. Bitcoin is indeed developing slowly, but the reason is clear: the cost of mistakes has become too high.

Moreover, Bitcoin has already taken its niche. It is not expected to break speed records or have smart contracts in a Turing-complete language. Its value lies elsewhere, and that is why attempts to change the basic model often ended in forks.

Those who were dissatisfied with the direction of Bitcoin's development were free to launch their own versions. However, the current use of such forks shows that the majority of the market finds them less necessary than Bitcoin in its current form.

How Mining Calculators and Other Tools Came About

Tools for miners and traders were initially created not as a large public service, but for personal tasks. Ivan Tikhonov needed a calculator that could account for expenses, fees, equipment depreciation, and the expected increase in difficulty over the coming months.

Thus, the mining calculator was born, which quickly proved useful to other users as well. Later, when home mining effectively became a thing of the past, interest in it waned. However, at its peak, it was a sought-after tool for those calculating the economics of mining on their equipment.

Within the project, there were other utilities, including a block explorer. However, new teams emerged in the market that created similar services faster and more conveniently. In such cases, the in-house tools were discontinued to avoid maintaining them just for the sake of having them.

The team then increasingly focused on audience requests. Some users needed to forecast the next difficulty, others wanted to quickly understand what fee to set to avoid overpaying, while others wanted to know the price of TRON in USDT. This led to the creation of converters and other applied services.

Main Products and Services

• News portal: helps keep track of events in the crypto industry, market, technologies, and regulations.
• Analytics and explanatory materials: analyze how cryptocurrency and related services are developing.
• Forum: a platform for communication among miners, developers, traders, service owners, and users.
• Mining calculator: a tool for calculating expenses, fees, equipment depreciation, and difficulty changes.
• Block explorer and other utilities: internal applied services launched for practical user tasks.
• Converters: help quickly calculate prices and pairs like TRON to USDT.

The approach remains the same: if there is a clear demand from the audience for a new utility, we are ready to create such tools. In this sense, editorial products and applied services develop alongside each other, while Data and Marketing help better understand the real needs of users.

AI and New Challenges for Crypto Media

Artificial intelligence will significantly shake up all information projects, not just media about cryptocurrencies and fintech.

Websites will have to find additional value for readers; otherwise, maintaining large audiences will become more difficult.

Another challenge is the tightening of regulations. The recently passed law legalizing cryptocurrencies has brought not only rules but also a whole set of prohibitions. For example, it is now prohibited to freely write about buying an apartment in Dubai with bitcoins or to advertise the purchase of most cryptocurrencies even on legal platforms if such advertisements can be seen by unqualified investors.

For crypto media, this means a new stage. The main tasks are as follows:

• Maintain a clear language.
• Quickly explain complex processes.
• Consider legal restrictions.
• Remain useful to the audience.

Over 15 years, we have evolved from a website for Bitcoin Security enthusiasts to a media outlet that monitors the industry, market, technologies, and how cryptocurrency is changing the financial landscape. Key milestones include the launch of a forum, the first offline community meeting in 2013, the growth of the editorial team, domain protection after a blockade, and the development of services for miners and traders.