Apple’s Hidden Bitcoin White Paper is the latest in a long list of Easter eggs
The Bitcoin white paper has been hiding in plain sight on Apple computers.
Blogger Andy Baio recently revealed that an innocuous file, “simpledoc.pdf,” included as part of Apple’s MacOS operating system, contains a copy of the basic text of Bitcoin, written by pseudonymous founder Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008.
“While trying to fix my printer today, I discovered that a PDF copy of Satoshi Nakamoto’s Bitcoin White Paper was apparently shipped with every copy of macOS since Mojave in 2018.” Baio wrote on his Waxy blog, “I’ve asked over a dozen Mac-using friends to confirm, and it was there for every one of them.”
Although Baio uncovered the mysterious Easter egg on Satoshi Nakamoto’s alleged 48th birthday, April 5, 2023, it is not the first time it has been spotted. Twitter user Joshua Dickens, a former Apple product designer, first spotted the white paper lurking in MacOS in 2020, but his chirping didn’t get much of a party.
How to find Bitcoin White Paper on Apple computers
The Bitcoin whitepaper can be found on Apple computers running macOS Mojave or later by entering the following command in Terminal:
open /System/Library/Image\ Capture/Devices/VirtualScanner.app/Contents/Resources/simpledoc.pdf
Alternatively, using the Finder, navigate to Macintosh HD -> System -> Library -> Image Capture -> Devices, and open the Contents -> Resources folder, where you’ll find the file “simpledoc.pdf.”
The white paper appears to be used as a sample document for the Virtual Scanner II imaging device, with the Apple website MacRumors suggests that it might be a sample document for a system for transferring photos from iOS devices to Macs.
In his 2020 Twitter thread, Dickens highlighted another distinctive file, called cover.jpg, in the same folder. This has been confirmed to be a photograph taken by Thomas Hawk Warning alarm systemtaken at Treasure Island in San Francisco in 2008.
In 2021, a thread was created on the Apple forum to discuss these findings, but again they gained very little traction. One user even commented, “I find it hard to believe anyone cares.”
How did the Bitcoin White Paper end up on Apple computers?
The Bitcoin white paper, titled “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System,” outlines the thesis for a decentralized cash system based on a public ledger, essentially giving birth to Bitcoin and cryptocurrency in turn.
It is unclear why or how the Bitcoin white paper ended up on Apple systems. The company has a long history of including Easter eggs in its products, including references to “Star Wars” and “Lord of the Rings.” Earlier versions of the Macintosh operating system had hidden, playable versions of Tetris, Pong, and snake, and the MacOS and mobile application icons have always displayed hidden messages or meanings.
The Bitcoin white paper appears to be the first crypto-related Easter egg found buried in Apple software.
Baio himself speculated that the white paper could have been included as a joke by a “secret Bitcoin maxi” working at Apple, or simply included as a “convenient, lightweight multi-page PDF for testing purposes, never meant to be seen by end users.”
The inclusion on Apple computers is particularly surprising given that the company’s former App Store director Philip Shoemaker has claimed that the company “had a problem with crypto from day one.” Speaking earlier this year, Shoemaker shared Decrypt that Apple’s management considered cryptocurrency to be “a Ponzi scheme” and had maintained an arbitrarily harsh stance against crypto and NFTs.
Apple’s insistence on imposing a 30% App Store tax on crypto apps prompted many developers to protest the policy, with some calling for a boycott of iOS.
In a 2021 interview, Apple CEO Tim Cook said he owns some crypto, but that the company had no plans to invest in it as an asset class. “I think it’s reasonable to own it as part of a diversified portfolio,” Cook said.
Decrypt have contacted Apple for comment and will update this article if we hear back.
