The mysterious inventor of bitcoin, nicknamed Satoshi Nakamoto, could prove to be the biggest threat to the largest crypto currency.
This is at least supported by Coinbase, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the pipeline market, and Satoshi Nakamoto cites cryptocurrencies as one of the biggest risks to bitcoin.
The name hides the person -or a group- who created bitcoin in 2009 and owns 1.1 million bitcoins with a total value of around $50 billion. These cryptocurrencies were one of the first to be created, they had zero value then and since then they have not “moved”, i.e. they have not been traded and are one of the biggest “mysteries” of bitcoin.
On May 20, 2020, a transaction with 40 bitcoins created in 2009 was recorded, which was initially attributed to Satoshi Nakamoto, but some security experts disputed the “paternity” of the transaction by the founder of bitcoin, noting that although the specific currencies were created the first months of 2009, their creation code did not have the same features as Satoshi Nakamoto’s code.
Coinbase says that this large amount of bitcoin belonging to the -or- inventors of bitcoin could destabilize the price of the crypto currency or create other problems by destabilising it once its identity is known or sold.
Satoshi Nakamoto published a dissertation in 2008 describing the algorithm that ensures the operation of bitcoin, entitled “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System” and in 2009 created the first bitcoins that had zero value at the time.
In 2016, an Australian tech businessman, Craig Wright, claimed the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto, saying he would provide evidence to prove it, but to date has not done so, while he himself had been accused of forgery with which he had stolen billions worth of bitcoin from one of his partners.
The mystery surrounding the inventor of bitcoin has also fuelled various conspiracy theories that are hidden behind secret services to secret organisations.
The bitcoin algorithm is based on the existence of a network of standalone computers, in which “runs” the software that allows the recording and confirmation of bitcoin transactions in an encrypted, hither to inviolable network called blockchain. Anyone who can use their computer to join this network and as a “reward” for their participation gets new bitcoins which are automatically created by the system, through this process called “mining”.
This system ensures that transactions are reliable, they cannot be “hacked” without a central organisation, company, or authority behind which secures and controls the digital currency.
The algorithm predicts that a total of up to 21 million bitcoins will be generated and to date about 18 million have been generated.