(July 1)A cryptic message posted this Friday on a website that is possibly linked to Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonym of the person who released the original white paper on Bitcoin in 2008 indicates the bitcoin founder may write a book setting the record straight.
Satoshi Nakamoto
The WIkipedia entry on Nakamoto says: "Satoshi Nakamoto is the name used by the unknown person or people who developed bitcoin, authored the bitcoin white paper, created and deployed bitcoin's original reference implementation. As part of the implementation, they also devised the first blockchain database. In the process they were the first to solve the double-spending problem for digital currency using a peer-to-peer network. They were active in the development of bitcoin up until December 2010."
In a profile Nakamoto claimed to be living in Japan and to be born on April 5 1975. However, evidence has led many to concentrate on several computer science and cryptography experts of non-Japanese descent living in the US and a number of European countries. However Nakamoto's identity remains a mystery and the pseudonym could even refer to a group. The white paper was released back in 2008.
Nakamoto was the original sole miner of bitcoin and was awarded bitcoin for mining at the genesis block and subsequently for 10 days. These coins have remained unspent since mid-January 2009. Public bitcoin transactions logs show that Nakamoto's known address contains about one million bitcoins. Of course at the time they were worth virtually nothing but in 2017 at the peak price of bitcoin they were worth over $19 billion. They are worth much less now but Nakamoto would still be a billionaire. Nakamoto is keeping his coins through thick and thin indicating he is not interested in simply cashing out and becoming a billionaire.
The cryptic message
The site, possibly linked to Nakamoto details what it calls the" "first excerpt to a literary work consisting of two parts" that promises to be "a short story if you will, with some of the most brought up questions and answers. I wanted the people and the facts to be known.""
The post even includes a cryptogram which is supposed to reveal names related to the title of the book. The answer to the cryptogram seems to be "honne and tatamae" a Japanese expression that describes the contrast between a person's true feelings and desires and the behavior and opinions one expresses in public.
Bloomberg could not independently verify the authenticity of the post or the excerpt. The site could be hacked or someone could simply be perpetrating a fake news scam.
Passages on the beginning of bitcoin
The author refers to people who were connected to the early development of bitcoin. He also refers to the "first" genesis block which is a bit strange since it seems to imply there was more than the one that Nakamoto released in early 2009. The author also claims that Nakomoto got involved in the cyberpunk movement that spawned bitcoin as a 14-year old.
At one point the author says: "I’m going to take a moment here to explain something. I know that some of you might be reading this or hearing about it for the first time, might not know, so I should state it publicly, although by now it is assumed, but has never been publicly stated before, so I will make it official. Satoshi Nakamoto is not a real name. Specifically, not a legal name. It is primarily the essence of thoughts and reason."
The first line of the excerpt is "It was inevitable". The book should it appear will probably have lots of buyers whether it be a hoax or the genuine article.
Previously published in Digital Journal
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