Satoshi Nakamoto to Start Writing a Book
An interesting message has recently been posted on the Nakamoto Family Foundation website, announcing that Satoshi Nakamoto, the Bitcoin founder, and creator of the Bitcoin Whitepaper, will be writing a book. The website states that a two-part series of books detailing the creation of Bitcoin is currently in the works.
Among this, an excerpt of one of the books has also been provided. The website explains the intention behind this: “Announcing the first excerpt to a literary work consisting of two parts. The excerpt is provided. I wanted to include it as a brief glimpse of history. Even for those that can’t read the full book, I wanted to make this available to everyone. 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. Or as much of it. I’m still saving most for the books, the best parts hopefully. It’s currently just a possibility for now. In the meantime the excerpt is included“.
What does the excerpt tell us?
In the 21-page excerpt, the author of the text gives us numerous details about Bitcoin, regarding its creation, and some details about the ideologies behind it. On the first page, Satoshi Nakamoto explains that the computer scientist David Chaum was a big inspiration for the cryptocurrency through his paper “Untraceable Electronic Cash.” Nakamoto states that the paper showed him and his peers that “anonymous transactions were possible“.
The document also gives us insights into the naming practices of certain techniques and concepts. The Satoshi Nakamoto states that the blockchain was initially called the “Timechain” and forks were called “branch points“. Both these terms were changed to make the idea of cryptocurrency easier to understand.
Satoshi Nakamoto also speaks honestly about the flaws and setbacks of Bitcoin. He notes that initially he and others had plans for Bitcoin to function as a “decentralized eBay that no one controlled“, but unfortunately his decision to choose different types of cryptographic tools meant that it was not possible. There were also major concerns about the fact that Bitcoin’s transactions are non-reversible. This is something which is still the case, and which has not been fixed for most cryptocurrencies in general. With that said, some people do not consider this to be a flaw, as non-reversible transactions mean that malicious chargebacks are impossible.
The excerpt contains numerous other important, never heard before, details such as who Satoshi Nakamoto’s inspirations were and his stance on attacks to the Bitcoin network.
The document has too much valuable information to fully discuss in just one article.
Satoshi Nakamoto’s cryptographic puzzle
On the Nakamoto Family Foundation website, a link to a puzzle has been posted. The website states that “Names to both [of the two books] are in this puzzle to solve“. To solve the puzzle, the website informs users of the instructions:
“Convert letters to numbers“
“Numbers like 1 represent the letter B, it is in mixed order“
“Title of book broken into two parts is revealed at the end“
Satoshi Nakamoto further notes that the puzzle is “ridiculously easy for anyone to solve, regardless of age“.
The revelation that Satoshi Nakamoto is producing a book has brought excitement to the cryptocurrency community, but for now many are staying skeptical. People are concerned that this is the doing of somebody else because Satoshi Nakamoto has not signed the excerpt or the web page with his own cryptographic key. Hopefully, if this is the real author, a PGP key will be signed on one of the final versions of the books.