Mysteries of the beginning of Bitcoin: the history and mystery of Satoshi Nakamoto
It all started in 2008, when electronic money had already become a part of everyday life.
Credit and debit cards were accepted everywhere, even in small stores, and online shopping was gaining popularity. Aliexpress was still two years away, but digitalization already seemed inevitable. It seemed that electronic money would remain only in the form of credit cards and debit cards.
On October 31, 2008, a letter from a certain Satoshi Nakamoto appeared in a closed mailing list for cryptographers. It talked about a new global payment system, independent of banks and states, working on the principle of torrent networks - from one computer to another. The letter contained a link to the document "Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System." Professionals immediately realized that this was not a joke or a prank.
### Who is the author of Bitcoin?
The first Bitcoin mystery is the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto. The name sounds like a normal Japanese one, but it's not that simple. "Satoshi" (or more correctly "Satoshi") means "wise", and "Nakamoto" can be translated as "inside + base". Together - "Book Sage". This is more of a pseudonym than a real name.
On August 15, 2008, a patent for Bitcoin was registered, the authors of which are Neil King, Vladimir Oksman and Charles Bry. All three are associated with cryptography, but deny that they are the “collective Satoshi Nakamoto.”
In 2014, Newsweek magazine conducted an investigation and found a Japanese man named Dorian Prentice Satoshi Nakamoto. However, he stated that he had nothing to do with the creation of Bitcoin.
Another version suggests that under the pseudonym “Book Sage” is Nick Szabo, a lawyer and cryptologist who came up with ideas for decentralizing currency back in 1994. However, he did not acknowledge his authorship.
### Myths and conspiracy theories
The identity of Satoshi Nakamoto is still being sought to this day. This is not only a matter of curiosity: at the start, he mined about a million Bitcoins, which at today's rate is $65,818,000,000. He owns one in seventeen Bitcoins in existence and can cause inflation if he wants. This gives rise to conspiracy theories involving Freemasons, aliens and secret societies.
In the first block of Bitcoin there was a mysterious inscription: “Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks.” Conspiracy theory fans believe that in this way Satoshi predicted the collapse of the fiat monetary system and proclaimed a new era of cryptocurrencies.