Cryptocurrency is currently the hot topic in mainstream culture. The financial industry has experienced an incredibly boom thanks to the new market, and a lot of folks are researching the pros and cons of investing in crypto. And though quite a few are aware of crypto’s existence, many don’t know where the market came from.
Certainly, most people involved with crypto are aware that Bitcoin was the first one to drop. Today, it is also the most popular and most successful crypto. Businesses that deal with cryptocurrency, like online casinos, e-shops, and even land-based establishments, almost certainly will accept Bitcoin, as it is what most people know.
iGaming is especially fond of Bitcoin, and cryptocurrency in general. So much so, that there are crypto casinos that deal exclusively with the digital coin. Some of the best Canadian crypto casinos, of course, operate with Bitcoin. But, where did Bitcoin come from?
The Emergence of Bitcoin
Bitcoin was created by the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto. To this day, Bitcoin’s creator remains anonymous. Nobody knows whether the name belongs to a person, a group, or what their gender, race, or ethnicity is. Though the name “Satoshi Nakamoto” is Japanese, many have made arguments that it is just a moniker adopted by a westerner.
In 2008, Satoshi Nakamoto became a prominent participant on various internet forums, in part because he released a white paper titled Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System. Within the pages of this work, Nakamoto espouses the benefits of decentralized currency and talks about how the internet could be used to create such a currency.
Just a year later, Nakamoto would release Bitcoin, and mine the first ever block himself. In the years to come, Satoshi Nakamoto would be incredibly active on the Bitcoin forums. They discussed mining, blockchains, and the potential uses for Bitcoin in the future. However, over time, Nakamoto’s activity saw a decline. Why this is remains a mystery, though many have speculated on the reasons.
Why Satoshi Nakamoto Disappeared?
A prominent theory for Nakamoto’s disappearance is that they were overwhelmed by Bitcoin’s success. The crypto’s popularity led to many fans and investors speculating on the creator’s identity. To this day, nobody knows whether Nakamoto’s identity has been revealed or not. But, that has not stopped people from continuously speculating. For somebody who wished to remain anonymous, the constant speculation on their identity might cause stress.
Another pretty big theory is that Satoshi Nakamoto was never a person. The name was chosen by a group of people who worked together in order to create Bitcoin. Once Bitcoin gained immense success, the group decided to disband, and therefore, the account which they all had access to simply stopped posting. This theory was famously espoused by another icon in tech and computer science, John McAffee.
There is also the fact that many believe Satoshi Nakamoto is not a fan of the way cryptocurrency has been handled by the mainstream. News reports come out daily talking about controversies surrounding crypto, and as its creator, Nakamoto may feel embarrassed or simply disappointed.
Who Was Satoshi Nakamoto?
As we said, once Bitcoin became a household name, many began to speculate as to the identity of the coin’s creator. However, to this day, Nakamoto’s identity has not been revealed. But, many have speculated, and have come up with answers. In this section, we will look at all of the people believed to be Nakamoto, and discuss the evidence for and against.
- Dorian Nakamoto
Dorian Nakamoto is a Japanese-American California resident, whose birth name is Satoshi. In a 2014 article published by Newsweek, the journalist identifies Dorian as Satoshi Nakamoto, and gives several reasons for the belief.
Nakamoto worked as a systems engineer and knew a lot about the tech that would make Bitcoin possible. His daughter made mentions that her father runs a business “not under the government’s thumb,” and Nakamoto was also a staunch libertarian, something Satoshi Nakamoto talked about a lot.
However, there were a few discrepancies with the article, that some readers caught on to. For one, in a brief interview with Dorian Nakamoto, his words are twisted and taken out of context, to make it seem like he said something he didn’t say. After the article dropped, Satoshi Nakamoto himself left a message saying “I am not Dorian Nakamoto.”
- Hal Finney
Those who’ve followed Bitcoin for a long time, may already be familiar with the name Hal Finney. Finney was an early Bitcoin contributor, and the first recipient of Bitcoin. He has published a few papers, and a journalist named Andy Greenberg linked his writings to Nakamoto’s.
However, Finney has made it no secret that he has been contributing to and supporting Nakamoto and Bitcoin. In an interview, he admitted that he had ghostwritten a few of Nakamoto’s articles, which explains why his writings match some of Nakamoto’s, but not all. It is unlikely that Finney was the mysterious Bitcoin creator.
- Nick Szabo
In 2013, blogger Skye Grey made a connection between Nick Szabo’s writings and those of Satoshi Nakamoto. Nick Szabo was an advocate for decentralized currency, and even wrote a paper on “Bit Gold.” Bit Gold is one of Bitcoin’s biggest inspirations, and Satoshi Nakamoto has referenced it several times.
Nick Szabo operated mainly in the 1990s, and was known to go under a lot of pseudonyms. There is also the matter of the similarity in names between Bit Gold and Bitcoin. Not to mention, the initial Bit Gold article does describe the currency’s functionality in a manner similar to Bitcoin. Some may even say that Bitcoin represents an evolution of Bit Gold, into a proper form of currency.
However, Satoshi Nakamoto has made several references to Nick Szabo and his work. So, it is no secret that the Bitcoin creator was heavily inspired by Szabo. The similarities between the two could simply be attributed to that. On top of that, Szabo himself has said that he is not Satoshi Nakamoto, but that he is used to the comparisons.
Final Say
The mystery of Satoshi Nakamoto remains unresolved, and at this point, very few people are even interested in the man’s identity anymore. Bitcoin has grown past its creator to dominate pop culture. Regardless, Nakamoto has remained anonymous, even in today’s information age.
