Loads of juicy details about the beginnings of cryptocurrency just came to light thanks to Martti Malmi, one of Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto’s earliest partners. He dropped a whopping 120 pages of email exchanges between them on GitHub on February 23rd. Let’s take a look at this Satoshi Nakamoto Emails in more detail.
The showdown between the Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA) and the guy who thinks he’s the brains behind Bitcoin, Craig Wright, probably won’t drop any major bombshells. But those emails supposedly from Bitcoin’s mysterious creator, Satoshi Nakamoto? They’ve given us quite the unexpected history lesson about this legendary cryptocurrency.
Adam Back, the cryptographer and cypherpunk extraordinaire, also known as the CEO and co-founder of Blockstream, had his moment in the spotlight as a witness in the UK High Court of Justice on Tuesday. Yep, it was all about the ongoing showdown between COPA and Wright.
And guess what? Alongside all the questioning, a bunch of emails from Satoshi to Back from back in ’08 and ’09 popped up in the court records. COPA didn’t keep it quiet – they spilled the beans to the press. And as expected, screenshots of these emails went viral, thanks to Pete Rizzo, the Bitcoin history guru and editor over at Bitcoin Magazine.
The emails seem to indicate that Back wasn’t the mastermind behind the Satoshi alias, despite some die-hard believers insisting he’s the genius behind Bitcoin. Back’s been pretty firm in shooting down those accusations.
A lot of folks in the Bitcoin world lean towards the late Hal Finney as the real Satoshi. After all, he was one of the first to get involved and even received the very first Bitcoin transaction. But hey, there’s also some evidence out there that throws a wrench in those theories.
What are the Satoshi Nakamoto Emails Details?
The whole email back-and-forth between Adam Back, the brain behind Hashcash, and Satoshi Nakamoto, the mastermind behind Bitcoin, has just been laid out for everyone to see. It hit the official court records in the UK this week.
In these five emails, you get the full scoop on Nakamoto and Back’s chat, diving into their cryptic world. Back’s talked about these emails before, dropping hints about what went down, like how he didn’t even read the white paper at first. But now, for the first time, you can read the whole shebang.
Adam Back, big shot in the crypto scene and head honcho at Blockstream, has long been suspected of being in on Bitcoin’s creation, but these emails might put a damper on that theory.
The vibe between the two in these emails? Totally chill and professional. Back’s pointing Nakamoto to some related papers, and Nakamoto’s making sure Back knows the unique sauce he added to Back’s earlier work.
Back cooked up Hashcash back in the ’90s to tackle email spam, making computers prove they did some serious number crunching before delivering messages. And guess what? That idea laid the groundwork for Bitcoin’s mining setup, where computers race to crack cryptographic puzzles and earn fresh bitcoins.
Oh, and it turns out Nakamoto wasn’t a stranger to dropping a line to Back. He shot him an email back in January 2009 when the Bitcoin software hit the scene.
Since these emails hit the spotlight this week, folks are back on the hunt to uncover who the real Satoshi Nakamoto is. And with other early collaborators sharing new emails, the mystery’s only getting thicker.
But, gotta admit, even with all this buzz, these emails don’t exactly spill the beans on the big mysteries behind Bitcoin.
Emails From Satoshi Nakamoto To Software developer Martti Malmi
My email correspondence with Satoshi in 2009-2011: https://t.co/jyoX8gXckp
The newest set of emails from the Bitcoin creator, spanning from February 5, 2009, to July 12, 2010, landed in the inbox of computer scientist and software whiz Martti Malmi, who was an early contributor to Bitcoin and went by the alias Sirius. Malmi took the hot seat to give his testimony in the COPA vs. Wright case on Wednesday.
At one point, Nakamoto dropped a line saying, “Sending cash in the mail may have its risks, but maybe it’s still the best anonymous option,” showing some love for the old-school way of protecting identities. “We can also ask for donations in BTC on the forum,” Nakamoto added, tossing in a suggestion to keep the crypto train rolling.
The back-and-forth between Nakamoto and Malmi got thrown into the mix as evidence while the UK court ponders over the contested identity of the Bitcoin creator. It’s been a whole saga since 2016, with Australian computer whiz Craig Wright boldly claiming to be the brains behind Bitcoin.
Thursday rolled around, and the court got its hands on the initial set of emails sent to cryptographer and cypherpunk Adam Back, these emails were part of the package alongside Back’s testimony. And guess what? They even mentioned computer scientist Hal Finney, the guy who got the very first Bitcoin transaction from Nakamoto. Some folks think Finney might just be the true Satoshi Nakamoto.
Just like before, the flood of emails, this time a hefty 120 pages long, made its way into the spotlight thanks to Pete Rizzo, the Bitcoin historian and editor of Bitcoin Magazine, who shared the news on Twitter.
Satoshi Nakamoto’s Views on Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency
When asked how #Bitcoin might scale in the future, Satoshi theorized the network would have a maximum of 100,000 nodes.
Here he goes into the calculation, and the economics of the network at scale.
Note: About 50,000 nodes run the software today pic.twitter.com/JWUnbhP09j
So, even though Bitcoin’s sitting pretty as the top dog in the crypto world with a trillion-dollar market cap, those emails that came to light spill some interesting beans. Turns out, Nakamoto wasn’t the one who came up with the term “cryptocurrency,” and he wasn’t all that gung-ho about pitching Bitcoin as an investment.
“Yeah, that’s a risky thing to say. You should scrap that bullet point,” Nakamoto advised Malmi. “It’s fine if they draw that conclusion themselves, but we shouldn’t push it that way.”
And you know how everyone talks about Bitcoin being all anonymous? Well, turns out Satoshi wasn’t too thrilled about that label either. He further stated that calling it anonymous seems a bit sketchy. People who want anonymity will find it without us shouting about it,” Nakamoto remarked. “I removed the word ‘anonymous’ and the sentence about ‘anonymity means’ – even though you put it very carefully. It’s a shame, but it had to go.
In one of the messages, Nakamoto laid out his thoughts on how Bitcoin could handle more users in the future, suggesting the network could handle up to 100,000 nodes. Having about 100,000 nodes churning out blocks would be a solid setup for the big leagues, Nakamoto said. Sending a transaction across the whole network twice would only chew up about $0.02 worth of bandwidth at today’s rates.
Just a heads up, Rizzo pointed out that right now, there are roughly 50,000 nodes running the Bitcoin software. Gives you some perspective on Nakamoto’s ideas, doesn’t it?
Who is Satoshi nakamoto?
Nakamoto’s true identity is still a big question mark in the crypto world, you know? But those emails that Malmi dropped on GitHub? They were originally part of some court drama in London where the Crypto Open Patent Alliance took on Craig Wright, who’s been claiming he’s Nakamoto.
Now, don’t get too excited expecting some bombshell that reveals Nakamoto’s real name. But for those who geek out over Bitcoin history, these emails are like gold. They’re packed with cool quotes and that unmistakable Nakamoto style – you know, that mix of straightforwardness and genius that we all love in the Bitcoin white paper.