Tag Archives: Satoshi Nakamoto

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What Early Mining Patterns Tell Us About The Motives Of Bitcoin’s Inventor

Patoshi Bitcoin Mining

The debate about Bitcoin’s inventor, known as Satoshi Nakamoto but otherwise shrouded in mystery, has raged for years. As Bitcoin continues to rise in value, this unknown inventor is presumed to have become a very rich individual indeed. When Satoshi invented Bitcoin, was he driven to profit, mining and hoarding early Bitcoin aiming to accumulate great wealth?

In 2013 first Sergio Demian Lerner presented his research on the early mining patterns Satoshi is presumed to have taken, it revealed around 1 million BTC (now worth around $10bn) hoarded by the creator. For many who see Bitcoin as an anti-establishment currency with an equalizing power, to attribute such vast wealth to Bitcoin’s creator is anathema, undermining the main narrative around Bitcoin and Nakamoto’s original motives. If Nakamoto is as driven by capitalist economics as the nearest banker, is Bitcoin fundamentally different from traditional currencies after all?

Nakamoto’s defenders argued that these 1 million missing Bitcoin were simply forgotten by early miners, and the inventor himself had no such hoard. Indeed, even researching these Bitcoin was taboo. Yet Lerner was unsatisfied with this answer. That’s why he has spent the last seven years unravelling the mining techniques used to unearth these early Bitcoin. What these techniques reveal is that Satoshi (if that is who mined them, Lerner refers to this individual as “Patoshi” to emphasize that we can’t truly know) seems to have been protecting the security of the network rather than pursuing profit after all. The reputation of Bitcoin, and its mysterious inventor, remains intact.

Early Mining Techniques

In order to learn more about the missing Bitcoin – and the individual who mined them – Lerner decided to remine the first 18,000 Bitcoin blocks to see what it revealed. He assumed that these blocks would have been mined with software that was similar, if not identical, to that which came with the first Bitcoin release. This public code was how early miners set about Bitcoins first blocks. The “Patoshi” pattern of how these Bitcoin were mined could ultimately reveal something about the motives of Bitcoin’s inventor, assuming Nakamoto and Patoshi are one and the same.

Through remining these early blocks, Lerner came to a startling discovery. Patoshi’s software was in fact nothing like the software being used by other early Bitcoin miners. Was this Nakamoto giving himself a leg up in the early gold rush of Bitcoin mining? The difference in the mining patterns of the public software and Patoshi’s processes became the keystone of Lerner’s research. Two theories stood out. Firstly, that Patoshi was using an early version of today’s pooled mining processes by combining multiple CPUs. The second theory – seemingly borne out in Lerner’s research – is that Patoshi was multi-threading.

Patoshi’s Multi-Threading

Multi-threading is a hashing technique using intensive computer processing to sweep for multiple nonces (the cryptographic element that Bitcoin miners are searching for) at once, rather than on an individual basis. By rescanning the early blocks, Lerner was able to assess which nonces Patoshi discovered, thus revealing the patterns by which Bitcoin’s inventor was mining blocks. Ultimately, Lerner has demonstrated that Patoshi/Nakamoto was generally finding higher-value nonces thanks to the multi-threading technique, and not because they had superior processing power, but because they had a better process for using their CPU.

Ideology Before Profit

Lerner’s meticulous analysis of the early mining patterns attributed to Bitcoin’s founder reveal that each time Patoshi mined a new block, his miner was turned off for a short interval. If Nakamoto was driven by profit, this is contradictory behaviour as it gives the rest of the community an opportunity to unearth new blocks. Lerner posits that Nakamoto wanted to see fair competition amongst early miners, and distribute Bitcoin equally at the start of the network.

At the same time, Patoshi’s multi-threading would have allowed them to uncover new blocks when they were not being mined by other early users, thus enabling the network to continue ticking over. These patterns have led Lerner to argue forcefully that the security of the network – and not profit – was Nakamoto’s motivation for their early mining patterns.

Still Unknown

It remains an assumption that Patoshi and Nakamoto are one and the same, and the identity of this individual is still unknown. But Lerner’s research strongly indicates that profit was not an early motivator of the Patoshi pattern.


Kristin Herman is a tech enthusiast and a project manager at
Essayroo.com and Boomessays.com online writing services. When she takes a break from the screen she likes to curl up with a good book, albeit one about cryptotrends and digital landscapes!

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bitcoin craig wright 1

Does Gavin Andreseen “agree” Craig Wright is the real Satoshi Nakamoto?

Australian computer scientist Craig Wright revealed he is the real Satoshi Nakamoto, the man who invented Bitcoin back in 2008. 
Wright announced this huge news at the most important news journals of the world, including BBC, GQ, and the Economist.





He explained: 
“These are the blocks used to send 10 bitcoins to Hal Finney in January as the first bitcoin transaction.”

Gavin Andresen confirms this thesis: Wright is Satoshi

The most popular Bitcoin developer Gavin Andresen published a post where he explained he is convinced by the Wright’s announcement.

He wrote:

“I was flown to London to meet Dr. Wright a couple of weeks ago, after an initial email conversation convinced me that there was a very good chance he was the same person I’d communicated with in 2010 and early 2011. After spending time with him I am convinced beyond a reasonable doubt: Craig Wright is Satoshi.”

Craigh Wright is a trend on Twitter

Everyone is talking about this shocking news on Twitter. In fact, Craigh Wright quickly became a worldwide trend.


And we cannot avoid asking ourselves how this revelation will affect bitcoin.

Is the mystery solved?

In the latest hours, we found that probably the Andreseen’s account is been hacked so he never wrote the post where he confirmed the Satoshi Nakamoto identity.

Also, the signature Craig used to prove his Bitcoin invention is a fake.

Peter Todd wrote on Twitter:

Peter Todd

FYI, @gavinandresen‘s commit access just got removed – Core team members are concerned that he may have been hacked.

This article has been updated on May 2, 2016 3:45 CEST.

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Amelia Tomasicchio
What is Mining Infographic HolyTransaction

Infographic: What is Bitcoin Mining?

What is Bitcoin mining infographic HolyTransaction

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Fork Infographic HT Final

Infographic: What is the Block Size debate, and will it lead to a hard fork?

Block Size debate infographic HolyTransaction

 

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Identit HT

Does Satoshi’s Identity Matter?

satoshi identity

We all love a good mystery.

There is something to be said for not knowing such a key aspect of a subject for which you otherwise retain a passionate foundation of knowledge.  Whether you’re a distinguished cryptographer, or a small business owner who has just begun to use this strange new currency, we each share a level playing field when considering just how little we know about the person or group who started everything; the cipher known only as Satoshi Nakamoto.
Every few months, some new article rehashes the question of Bitcoins cultural identity crisis. The most recent of these is a New York Times article, written by Nathaniel Popper, which you can read HERE. If you enjoy reflecting on Bitcoins mysterious origins, I would not dissuade you from reading it. Before you give yourself over to the call of Bitcoin’s greatest enigma however, lets take a moment to examine why the identity of its founder is inconsequential to its continued success and acceptance.

SATOSHI DID NOT WORK ON BITCOIN AS WE KNOW IT

In the 5 years since he last contributed to the Bitcoin project, Core Developers have rewritten the Bitcoin Source code so extensively, that almost nothing remains of Satoshi’s original work. Bitcoin has now been growing longer without Satoshi than with him. While he was surely a visionary, Mr. Nakamoto was not necessarily a master engineer.  He relied closely on the company of people who were active within an already existing group of hobbyists and practitioners. It is many of these same people, such as Wladimir J. van der Laan, and Gavin Andresen, who have worked on Bitcoin’s Core Development from it’s earliest days. Dear losses have been suffered, with respect to the late Hal Finney, but Bitcoin’s developmental continuity remains nearly the same now as it was at its advent in 2009.

THE IDEA FOR DIGITAL CURRENCY HAS BEEN AROUND FOR DECADES

Be mindful, when romanticizing the world of innovation, is that it rarely matters who thought of an idea first. Credit goes to the person who builds and creates; who acts on their profound intentions, bringing them forth into reality. Satoshi Nakamoto deserves credit for giving digital currency it’s substantive form, but not necessarily as its progenitor. He built heavily on the shoulders of giants, and his respect for those who came before him may be partially responsible for his decision to remain anonymous. Eight separate sources are referenced at the conclusion of the Bitcoin white paper. Most important among this list are Wei Dei and Adam Back, both forbearers to the concepts of a cryptographically secured currency ledger and the proof-of-work algorithm, respectively. Correspondence between Satoshi and several of the people who’s ideas are referenced in the paper are publicly available online. Satoshi treats each of them with reverence, as should anyone benefitting from modern blockchain technology.

IT IS BETTER THAT WE DON’T KNOW

Bitcoin’s popularity has soared with an unprecedented rapidity since 2009. This is due in part to the laser-like focus on the actual breakthrough of digital currency, rather than on its creators.  When the world talks about Tesla, or Apple, attention is duly paid to their beguiling leadership and business practices. When the world talks about Bitcoin however, it talks about the technology. There are no distractions from charismatic faces, humbly shrugging aside their praise and deflecting admonition. It is impossible to shy away from a broad technological discussion when debating the merits of Bitcoin, which has led to intense passion from those in the know, and a fervent education for the people within their circles. Bitcoin is succeeding because of its community. There is no company, there is no face. There is only technology and people. In this respect, anonymity may have been Satoshi’s greatest gift to the world.
Riddles are great fun. They give us something to talk about when there is nothing else to say. They supply the news media with an excuse to write about us every couple of months, and reignite the worlds still-cautious fascination with our intriguing little society. Satoshi Nakamoto is Bitcoins own personal D.B. Cooper. He is often what people gravitate towards first in conversation, once they find out that you are a part of this world; a real life conspiracy theory, ripe for speculation. It’s exciting, and thrilling, and scary to some. Most importantly though, it’s a sublime tool by which we can embolden fresh minds to deeper conversation and understanding about this revolutionary technology that will continue to change the world for decades to come. For that, we say Thank you, Satoshi. Thank you for the sacrifice of your anonymity. Where ever you are now, be happy.

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Nick Szabo (Bitcoin founder Satoshi Nakamoto?) Breaks his Silence with a Tweet

Nick Szabo, the author of bitgold, the most complete conceptualization of a decentralized currency prior
to bitcoin, the person who coined the term smart contracts in 1993, and
believed by many to be Satoshi himself, published a one line blog post
today which simply contained a link to his twitter account.
The last known public communication from Nick Szabo was in November
2013, almost seven months ago, leaving many to wonder whether he would
ever post again. The seven months silence seems to have followed
increasing attention on Nick Szabo after numerous suggestions that he might be Satoshi.
In April 2014, researches from Aston University’s Centre for Forensic
Linguistics claimed that forensic analysis of Bitcoin’s White Paper
suggests that Nick Szabo was the author of the paper.
Nick however has categorically denied
that he is Satoshi and many argue that it is highly unlikely that he is
the author of the white paper. Nick seems to have been focused on
bitgold, writing a blog post about bitgold two months after Satoshi
announced bitcoin.
Furthermore, there are unconfirmed reports that he attended Princeton Bitcoin conference with Gavin Andresen in March 2014 as well as an unconfirmed job post stating that Nick was working with Vaurum on smart contracts.  Neither Vaurum, nor Nick, have yet replied to requests for comments.
Little is currently known about Nick Szabo. There are no known
pictures of him, no verifiable details of his age, location, profession
or education. Previously, in a Wikipedia article, it was claimed that he
was a law professor at George Washington University, but reporters claim
that after contacting the University they found no record of a person
named Nick Szabo ever being a professor at that university, although
there was one record of a person having studied at that university under
that name. The name therefore might be a pseudonym, a pen name.

Nick Szabo Highlights the Dangers of Centralized Currencies

Nick’s latest tweet is a
retweet of a statement by Proton Mail complaining that their PayPal
account had been frozen, blocking access to $275,000 of funds. In a
statement in their blog Proton Mail details what happened:
“When we pressed the PayPal representative on the phone for further
details, he questioned whether ProtonMail is legal and if we have government approval to encrypt emails.”

 

This highlights the problem with centralized currencies and
intermediaries as emphasized by both Nick Szabo in his blog post and
Satoshi in his announcement on bitcointalk. We need to trust that our
accounts will not be blocked, our funds will not be tampered, our
government will not arbitrarily take funds, or that our banks will not
bankrupt our country as they did in Greece and Cyprus.
With bitcoin, we
need no such trust. There is no authority that can block our private
keys to interact with our public keys, so accessing our wealth and using
it in whatever way we alone see fit.

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Satoshi