It’s bitcoin white paper day.
On October 31, 2008, a person or group of people using the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto sent a 9-page paper to a cryptographers mailing list, outlining a “peer-to-peer electronic cash system” called bitcoin BTCUSD,
In January 2009, amid the aftermath of a worldwide financial crisis, Nakamoto launched the Bitcoin network.
In the 14 years since that day, bitcoin’s value rose from zero to a peak of $68,990 last November and hovered above $20,000 on Monday, according to CoinDesk data. The cryptocurrency currently has a market capitalization of over $390 billion. It also inspired the creation of more than 20,000 different cryptocurrencies currently in circulation, while bitcoin remains the largest by market capitalization.
Nakamoto’s identity remains a mystery. The entity ceased activity in 2011 after posting on message boards and exchanging emails with other developers during the first two years of bitcoin’s invention.
Over the years, several people have been rumored to be Nakamoto, including early bitcoin contributor Hal Finney, cryptographer Nick Szabo, physicist Dorian Nakamoto and even Tesla CEO Elon Musk, all of whom denied the claims.
An Australian computer scientist Craig Wright has publicly claimed to be Nakamoto, but has yet to provide any concrete evidence to prove it. The Bitcoin community soon rejected the claim. Wright did not immediately respond to a request for comment for this article.
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The identity of Nakamoto remains important to the bitcoin community, not only because of his reputation, but also because he owns approximately 1 million bitcoins, which were valued at over $20 billion on Monday. If the coins were sold in large chunks, they could put significant pressure on the price of bitcoin.
Today, bitcoin is mostly seen as an alternative investment, with its price trading mostly in line with technology stocks in recent years. The cryptocurrency has lost more than 55% so far this year, as persistent US inflation and a slowing global economy point to a bleak macroeconomic outlook. Still, bitcoin supporters hope that the cryptocurrency, with a fixed supply of 21 million coins, can be seen as a store of value or even a haven in the future.
See: Gold and bitcoin were designated as safe havens. Both cases fall apart
In recent years, bitcoin has witnessed increasing adoption, most recently, with financial heavyweights such as BlockRock, BNY Mellon, Fidelity and Apollo offering relevant services.
Meanwhile, regulators have been keeping a closer eye on the cryptocurrency, focusing on consumer protection, financial stability, illicit finance, economic competitiveness and the environmental costs of bitcoin mining, among other issues.
