The year is 2008 and Bitcoin’s white paper, a document outlining the principles of the first decentralized digital currency, is published under a mysterious pseudonym called “Satoshi Nakamoto”. The pseudonym’s true identity remains a mystery and it is not known if it refers to a single creator or a group of creators.
Table of Contents
- Satoshi Nakamoto and the Creation of Bitcoin
- Bitcoin Whitepaper and the Blockchain System
- The Mysterious Identity and the last communication
- Impact, legacy and future of Bitcoin
Satoshi Nakamoto and the Creation of Bitcoin
On August 18, 2008 the first appearance of the name “Satoshi Nakamoto” was made on the registration of the domain “Bitcoin.org” followed by, on October 31 of the same year, the publication of the Bitcoin whitepaper titled “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System” detailing a new electronic payment system based on cryptographic proof instead of trust.
Bitcoin Whitepaper and the Blockchain System
A decentralized system where users could transact in a peer-to-peer fashion, directly with each other without intermediaries such as payment processors or banks was the proposition of the white paper written by Satoshi Nakamoto. Called blockchain, the system records transactions in a secure and transparent ledger that anyone in the network can view.
The name also is connected to the creation of the Bitcoin software and mining process, which generates new Bitcoins by solving complex mathematical equations, validating transactions and adding them to the blockchain. The genesis block, the first Bitcoin block, was also mined by him and is believed that Satoshi has accumulated a great amount of Bitcoin in the early days. The wallet used in the process is known as the “Satoshi Nakamoto wallet” and contains approximately 1 million Bitcoins, which in current market prices is billions of dollars.
The Mysterious Identity and the last communication
Despite the enormous success of Bitcoin and the immense value it has created, Satoshi Nakamoto remains unknown, all communication with other developers was made via emails and forums, never revealing the name’s true identity. In April 2011 Satoshi Nakamoto sent his final email to fellow developer Mike Hearn saying “I’ve moved on to other things. It’s in good hands with Gavin and everyone.”, suggesting Satoshi Nakamoto had stepped away from Bitcoin development and handed control to a prominent Bitcoin developer at the time named Gavin Andresen.
Satoshi Nakamoto has not been heard from ever since, despite all the interest around the name and the numerous attempts to reveal the true identity of the creator of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto remains unknown until this day.
Nick Szabo, the blockchain expert and computer scientist whose writings made him known as the “father” of Smart contracts and created “Bit Gold”, which is considered to be a precursor to Bitcoin, was one of the names suggested to be Satoshi Nakamoto. However Szabo denied these claims.
Impact, legacy and future of Bitcoin
Mysteries surrounding the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto is and probably will always be a subject of interest for people inside the space, apart from that his creation has generated enormous impact. Offering a decentralized way to transact and store value, Bitcoin has revolutionized the financial industry. Today there are a huge number of cryptocurrencies and blockchain projects thanks to Bitcoin popularity, all sparked by the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto’s work.
The true identity of the enigmatic figure of cryptocurrency and blockchain may never be known, some argue that this is an advantage for Bitcoin since it adds to the decentralization of the technology, either way Bitcoin will continue to influence and shape the future of technology and finance.
