That is the $44 Billion Dollar Question.
Which is roughly the current market cap of Bitcoin as I type.
If you asked this question among a group of cryptocurrency enthusiasts, they will all likely look at you and say,
"Satoshi Nakamoto created Bitcoin, duh."
But, who the heck is Satoshi Nakamoto?
There are plenty of theories out there as to who this person, or groups of persons, is. For today, I am going to stick to a theory that makes the most sense to me.
*Keep in mind that this is all theory and opinions based upon things I have read and what makes the most sense to me.
When you think about it logically, it is pretty absurd that we don't even know who the creator is of a technology and coin that currently boasts a market cap of $44 billion dollars and has been around for almost 9 years. Plus this technology is considered possibly the most ground breaking since the internet.
Most people would like to put their signature on something like that.
What we know...
Satoshi Nakamoto is an anonymous individual (or group of individuals) that invented Bitcoin. He released an extremely technical white paper in late 2008 called "Bitcoin: A Peer to Peer Electronic Cash System".
Nakamoto mined the very first bitcoins and accumulated over a million coins in it's beginning stages. It is estimated that Nakamoto owns at least 7% of all bitcoins ever to be created. No new Bitcoins will be created after it's supply reaches 21 million coins.
If Bitcoin really is the future of money, like some people think, that would likely make Nakamoto one of the richest men to ever live, by owning over 7% of the entire money supply.
Satoshi Nakamoto isn't really a person at all.
In my opinion if Nakamoto really was some individual he would have come forward by now. That or someone would have figured out his true identity by now.
He hasn't, and they haven't.
Plus, the technology behind Bitcoin is truly masterful and is an engineering marvel. We are supposed to believe this was all cooked up in somebody's basement?
That seems like a stretch to me.
Especially when you consider this this...
Blockchains are often referred to as "Web 3.0", which means that they are considered as possibly the future of the internet, and that they will have as much effect on the world as the internet originally did.
Well guess where Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 came from?
And I am not talking about Al Gore...
Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 originated with the U.S. Government. They were born out of the U.S. Military's DARPAnet project (formerly known as ARPANET).
At the time, the Cold War had the United States searching for a communication network that could survive a nuclear attack. Thus the need for creating a time-sharing network of computers was born. This network is widely considered the precursor of today's internet.
So, you are telling me it took years and years of collaboration among computer scientists, researchers, and engineers to create the internet using the best tools the United States had to offer, and we are supposed to believe the next evolution to that was created by a single person in his basement?
That makes sense... (sarcasm font on)
So, if Satoshi Nakamoto isn't a real person, who is he?
This part should already be clear to you if you read the previous couple paragraphs.
In my opinion, the theory that fits the most facts and makes the most sense logically, is that Satoshi Nakamoto is basically the pen-name used for a group of people working for a government...
Governments have the incentive and the technological capabilities to create Bitcoin. Also, look at when Bitcoin was created. It was created in 2008 (released in 2009) in response to a major financial meltdown that originated in the United States.
Ok, but which government?
When deciding which government is the most likely to have created "Web 3.0", I think the most logical first place to look would be to look at the ones who created Web 1.0 and Web 2.0.
Which brings us to...
The United States Government.
*To be continued in Part 2 tomorrow
Sources:
https://www.livescience.com/42604-who-invented-the-internet.html
https://www.truthhawk.com/is-bitcoin-a-government-project/
Image Sources:
http://photified.ca/
http://topyaps.com/craig-wright-bitcoin-creator-satoshi-nakamoto
https://gsiexchange.com/blockchain-a-tool-for-government-control/
Follow me: @jrcornel