Bitcoin was invented in 2009 by the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto. It is decentralized, meaning it’s not controlled by any person or entity.
Introduction to Bitcoin
Bitcoin is a digital currency that was designed to challenge historical norms regarding the way money is issued and the means by which transactions are conducted online. The core principle that makes Bitcoin so revolutionary is its embrace of decentralization — on both the technical and operational level. Bitcoin does not have a CEO or a central banker at its helm and, in fact, is not controlled by any single person or entity. Nonetheless, Bitcoin was created by someone and is governed by a variety of community stakeholders through a system that is referred to as rough consensus.
Who Invented Bitcoin and Why?
Bitcoin was invented by a person or group of people using the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto. Nakamoto, whose real identity has never been uncovered, announced that they were working on a “new electronic cash system that’s fully peer-to-peer, with no trusted third party” on The Cryptography Mailing List in October 2008.
Nakamoto’s decision to reveal Bitcoin to this mailing list suggests something important about the project’s origins — many of the cryptographers on the list had previously discussed a form of electronic money that was private, secured by cryptography, and not controlled by a centralized entity. However, previous attempts to create such a currency were thwarted by a common obstacle known as the double-spending problem: the challenge of ensuring that digital coins could not be spent twice without relying on a trusted intermediary.
Physical cash is difficult to spend twice, because using it to purchase goods requires handing it over to the merchant. Likewise, governments heavily police counterfeiting operations. Digital files, however, are easily copied. So the cryptographers were stumped — how can you prevent the copying of digital coins without a bank, company, or government acting as the counterfeit police? Instead of a trusted third party, cypherpunk Satoshi Nakamoto solved this problem by creating a decentralized system that relies on cryptography to produce proof that coins have only been spent once. In other words, Satoshi’s attempt at electronic cash wasn’t the first digital currency project — and the Bitcoin whitepaper notes his indebtedness to cryptographers such as Wei Dai and Adam Back — but it was the first and most successful decentralized example.
What Happened to Bitcoin Inventor Satoshi Nakamoto?
Satoshi withdrew from Bitcoin in 2010, telling former contributing developer Gavin Andresen that they had “moved on to other projects,” and was never heard from again. The mystery surrounding their identity has inspired many journalists and amateur sleuths to try to uncover their identity. Many have analyzed linguistic tendencies, scoured forum posts, pored over code releases to determine time zones, and scrutinized messages for hints about this mysterious character’s life. Some researchers concluded that Bitcoin inventor Satoshi Nakamoto was almost certainly a pseudonym, and that their use of British English likely made them British or a citizen of a British Commonwealth nation.
Who Controls Bitcoin?
Bitcoin is not controlled by any single group or person. Instead, it is governed by multiple stakeholders — including developers, miners, and users. Developers write the code that makes Bitcoin run; miners validate transactions; and users put the software to work by trading, transacting, holding, and more. These stakeholders collectively govern Bitcoin through a process called rough consensus. Rough consensus means that discussion about the development of Bitcoin takes place informally at conferences and meetups and in mailing lists, forums, and social media platforms, and that anyone can participate.
Eventually, changes are proposed as software updates, written by developers. Bitcoin development is done collaboratively and openly, and any developer can contribute. When software updates are released, those running the Bitcoin software can choose whether to accept the change and update their software, or to reject it and continue running their current version. Bitcoin developers strive to make software updates “backwards compatible,” meaning that the software will continue to work even if users do not update to the latest version.
In the instance that there is widespread disagreement on the adoption of new proposals, Bitcoin has been known to fork. A fork is when the nodes that support a blockchain network split into two different networks with two separate native digital assets. The creation of Bitcoin Cash (BCH) in 2017 is perhaps the most notable example of this phenomenon.
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FAQs
Bitcoin was invented by a person or group of people using the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto. Nakamoto, whose real identity has never been uncovered, announced that they were working on a “new electronic cash system that's fully peer-to-peer, with no trusted third party” on The Cryptography Mailing List in October 2008.
Who is the real inventor of Bitcoin? ›
Satoshi Nakamoto is the name used by the presumed pseudonymous person or persons who developed Bitcoin, authored the Bitcoin white paper, and created and deployed Bitcoin's original reference implementation.
What did Satoshi Nakamoto say about Bitcoin? ›
At best, Satoshi wrote, Bitcoin can be pseudonymous if people take the appropriate precautions (like never reusing key pairs) and being careful not to link Bitcoin transactions to their real-world identities. He also worried it made Bitcoin sound "shady."
Will we ever find out who Satoshi is? ›
Because Satoshi chose to be anonymous, it cannot be determined whether the person or group using the name has disappeared. As of February 2024, the true identity or identities of Satashi Nakamoto are unknown.
Who is the man claiming to be Satoshi Nakamoto? ›
Dr Wright, who is from Australia, has claimed to be Satoshi since 2016 - but his claims and evidence to back them up have long been questioned by cryptocurrency experts. He has been in and out of court for years in legal battles with individuals who challenged his story.
Who owns most Bitcoin? ›
So, who are the top holders of BTC? According to the Bitcoin research and analysis firm River Intelligence, Satoshi Nakamoto, the anonymous creator behind Bitcoin, is listed as the top BTC holder as of 2024. The company notes that Satoshi Nakamoto holds about 1.1m BTC tokens in about 22,000 different addresses.
Is the Bitcoin founder rich? ›
But there are some compelling theories for who Satoshi really is — and who might control the 1.1 million bitcoin in known Satoshi wallets. If Satoshi is alive and in control of his keys, then he has access to holdings worth around $70 billion at today's prices.
What is Satoshi Nakamoto last message? ›
The anonymous creator of Bitcoin (BTC), who pseudonymously called themself Satoshi Nakamoto, disappeared 13 years ago. On Dec. 12, 2010, Nakamoto posted his last message on the Bitcointalk forum, stating, “There's more work to do on [denial-of-service] DoS. “
What problem did Satoshi Nakamoto solve? ›
Satoshi Nakamoto – Bitcoin's creator – envisioned a worldwide digital currency backed by energy that could not be coerced by governments. In order to achieve his goal, Satoshi had to solve two major problems with the current economy: censorship and inflation.
What was the last thing Satoshi Nakamoto said? ›
Satoshi Nakamoto's last email stated that he had moved on to other things and that Bitcoin is in good hands. He paved the way for several blockchain development services that led to advancement in many businesses.
Elon Musk is not Satoshi Nakamoto as the bitcoin white paper has no memes. In past years, Musk has denied association with being the creator of Bitcoin through a tweet. Not true. A friend sent me part of a BTC a few years, but I don't know where it is.
Why is Satoshi hiding? ›
Privacy and Security Concerns: By remaining anonymous, Satoshi Nakamoto protected his personal privacy and reduced the risk of being targeted by hackers, criminals, or government authorities. Bitcoin was designed to be decentralized and resistant to censorship, and Nakamoto's anonymity helped maintain that ethos.
Is Putin the founder of Bitcoin? ›
Let's file this one under “wildly improbable but oh-so-juicy.” While Putin may possess many talents, cryptocurrency visionary likely isn't one of them. However, the conspiracy theory certainly highlights the enduring mystique of Satoshi Nakamoto and our fascination with the shadowy forces that shape the digital world.
Who owns the most Bitcoin after Satoshi? ›
Not including Satoshi, three bitcoin addresses contain more than 100,000 bitcoin each. The three addresses with the most bitcoin belong to Binance, Bitfinex, and another address, whose identity is unknown. These three addresses collectively own more than 564,902 bitcoin.
Who owns the most Bitcoin Satoshi? ›
The biggest Bitcoin owner in the world is Satoshi Nakamoto, the founder of the Bitcoin network. Bitcoin only has 21 million coins in existence and its founder holds up to 1.1 million coins, translating into over $70 billion given current prices.
How much is a Bitcoin owner worth? ›
Satoshi's Net Worth
Satoshi Nakamoto's net worth is $75.83 billion. We know that Satoshi mined the first bitcoin. He proved it by telling others in his email group that he would provide the following message in the genesis block and he did: The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks.
How long will it take to mine 1 Bitcoin? ›
The shortest amount of time it can take to mine at least 1 bitcoin is about 10 minutes. However, the actual time it can take you depends on several factors such as the hashing power of your mining hardware, the overall network hash rate, and the Bitcoin mining difficulty.
How many bitcoins are left? ›
Why should you know how many bitcoins exist and how many are left to mine? Limited Supply: Bitcoin has a maximum supply of 21 million coins, and as of March 2023, more than 19 million have been mined. Remaining bitcoins: There are approximately 1.5 million bitcoins left to be mined.
How many Bitcoin millionaires are there? ›
Key Takeaways. There are 88,200 crypto millionaires worldwide. 40,500 of these millionaires have amassed their fortune in Bitcoin (BTC). The number of global crypto owners reached 580 million by the end of 2023, according to Crypto.com.
