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Bitcoin was invented by Satoshi Nakamoto, an enigmatic figure about whom almost nothing is known. Fifteen years ago, Satoshi brought the idea of an electronic cash system into being with the help of a small cast of oddballs. This week, some of those early collaboratorsnow crypto-celebrities in their own righttook to the witness box of a London courtroom. They had come to testify against an alleged imposter.

Since 2016, Australian computer scientist Craig Wright has claimed to be Satoshi. The claim is widely disputed, yet Wright has wielded it in a series of lawsuits against developers and others in pursuit of establishing intellectual property rights over Bitcoin. The stakes are high: If Wright succeeds, he could prevent developers from working on the Bitcoin codebase and dictate the terms of use for the system.

Earlier this month, a trial began in the UK High Court, the purpose of which is to challenge Wrights claim to being the creator of Bitcoin. The case was filed by a consortium of crypto firms called the Crypto Open Patent Alliance, which is asking the court to declare that Wright is not Satoshi, thereby limiting his ability to found further litigation on the claim. COPA claims that Wright has fabricated his evidence and repeatedly changed his story as new inconsistencies come to light. It called on the early bitcoiners to help prove it.

Among those who testified were Adam Back, Mike Hearn, Martti Malmi, and Zooko Wilcox-OHearn, each of whom contributed to the early development of Bitcoin in their own way. With the exception of Hearn, who had a polished manner and dressed sharply, the witnesses had the air of technologists: softly spoken and somewhat awkward, but quietly authoritative. Earlier in the trial, Wright had faced a grueling seven-day cross-examination, in which he rejected hundreds of claims of forgery and misrepresentation. The evidence supplied by the bitcoiners, COPA hoped, would help dismantle his story.

In 2008, when Satoshi was finalizing the design of the Bitcoin system, they pitched the concept to a niche online community of cryptographers. Discussions about Bitcoin spilled into fringes of the web occupied by anarchists and libertarians, who relished the idea of a monetary system divorced from the state.

From these two realms, a misfit band of supporters came together to assist Satoshi. They shared a belief, as Back described it in court, in technology as a tool for positive change. Some volunteered their advice, others their code, and others their labor. After Satoshi disappeared, in 2011, they carried Bitcoin forward.

The figures called upon by COPA to testify each made a distinct mark on Bitcoin. Back created a precursor technology called Hashcash (although Wright disputes its relevance) and corresponded with Satoshi as the Bitcoin creator drafted the white paper. Satoshi tasked Malmi with curating Bitcoin.org, which hosted educational materials. Hearn was one of the earliest contributors to the Bitcoin codebase. And Wilcox-OHearn was among the first to blog about Bitcoin, spreading the gospel. As Bitcoin grew, these early collaborators became themselves revered in crypto circles for their place in Bitcoin lore.

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Bitcoin Royalty Descends on the Satoshi Nakamoto Trial - WIRED

Bitcoins pseudonymous creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, is currently the 26th richest human being on the planet based on the amount of BTC he is presumed to have owned.

Nakamoto famously holds a little over $1 million Bitcoin in a wallet that has been dormant for more than a decade, which is also the primary reason many believe he may have died.

Based on Bitcoins $54,000 price, his holdings are worth roughly $50 billion as of Feb. 26.

Meanwhile, some estimates suggest that Nakamoto holds 1.1 million BTC, which would push him closer to $60 billion.

The surge in Bitcoins price to near-all-time highs has caused some to speculate whether the richest person in the world could be an anonymous, unknown person.

For Nakamoto to overtake the likes of Bernard Arnault and Elon Musk, Bitcoin would have to increase nearly 4x from its current price of $55,000 or 3x from its previous all-time high of $69,000.

Preston Pysh, co-founder of TIP, observed the possibility in an X post, writing:

Itll be interesting if the wealthiest person in the world is unknown [ie. Satoshi Nakamoto]. At about $212k per Bitcoin, it happens.

At a price of $212,000, Nakamotos Bitcoin holdings would be worth $233.2 billion, allowing him to overtake Bernard Arnault and his familys net worth of $229.1 billion.

Further calculations show that BTC hitting $208,300 would be sufficient for Nakamoto to overtake the top spot on the list by a narrower margin. Meanwhile, Bitcoin would need to be worth $189,700 for Nakamoto to become richer than Musk in second place.

Meanwhile, Amazon founder and executive chairman Jeff Bezos third place would be usurped at $178,000, while Mark Zuckerbergs fourth place spot and Bill Gates seventh would be overtaken once BTC hits $154,200 and $115,900, respectively.

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Could Bitcoin's pseudonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto become richer than Elon Musk? - CryptoSlate

A litany of insights into the early days of cryptocurrency were recently revealed when Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamotos earliest collaborator, Martti Malmi, published 120 pages of email correspondences between the two on GitHub on Feb. 23.

The true identity of Nakamoto remains a point of conjecture throughout the greater cryptocurrency and blockchain community. However, the emails recently published on GitHub by Malmi were initially introduced as evidence in a London court case brought by the Crypto Open Patent Alliance against Craig Wright, who has claimed to be Nakamoto.

Based on Cointelegraphs cursory examination of the emails, there are no smoking guns or tell-tale revelations that would immediately shine a light on Satoshis true identity. But for historians and Bitcoin lore enthusiasts, the emails include many fantastic quotes and a general air of Satoshi-ness that same straightforward, simple-yet-comprehensive, no-nonsense style that permeates the Bitcoin white paper.

While its long been posited that Satoshi themselves came up with the term cryptocurrency, one email sent to Malmi on June 11, 2009, appears to poke a major hole in this theory.

Per Satoshi:

To Malmis credit, he responded that it sounds good and added that it sounded more interesting than digital P2P cash.

Malmis email correspondence also demonstrates Satoshis keen understanding of anonymity, what it meant and what the risks of misinformation could mean for Bitcoin.

As Satoshi wrote in one email:

The email continues to essentially predict the rise of blockchain forensics:

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Newly released Satoshi emails reveal a treasure trove of early Bitcoin lore - Cointelegraph

In a high-profile legal drama that has captured the attention of the finance and cryptocurrency industries, Craig Steven Wright, an Australian who claims to be Satoshi Nakamoto, the mysterious creator of bitcoin, faces a whirlwind of legal scrutiny and challenges. Accusations of forgery, fraud and intimidation tactics We come back to this in Cryptic Analysis, after this week's essential news.

Block 1: Key news

Chainlink joins forces with giant Telefnica

Chainlink Labs has team ed up with Telefnica, a world leader in telecommunications, to integrate its network of oracles into the GSMA Open Gateway initiative, which aims to improve Web3 security. This collaboration aims to protect users against the risk of SIM card piracy, by verifying recent SIM operations to prevent malicious transactions. At the same time, growing interest in decentralized finance (DeFi) and tokenization has boosted the value of the oracle sector, with Chainlink and its LINK token, which has risen by over 20% since the beginning of February, illustrating the positive impact of such initiatives on the value of associated digital assets.

Revolut : Towards the creation of a cryptocurrency platform?

Revolut, which has already been open to cryptocurrency investments for a number of years, is planning to launch a cryptocurrency exchange specifically designed for advanced traders. The initiative, currently in beta phase, promises in-depth analysis tools and low transaction fees, said to gravitate between 0 and 0.09%. Revolut's idea to create an exchange dedicated to crypto-assets dates back to November 2021.

Worldcoin: To the moon?

Worldcoin's WLD token, a project of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, has seen a spectacular rise of over 130% in one week, reaching a price of $5.85. This surge is attributed to the launch of Sora, OpenAI's innovative video AI model, which has heightened investor interest speculation in AI-related cryptocurrencies. On paper, Worldcoin combines an explosive cocktail of AI, blockchain, and biometric recognition, and offers WLD tokens as a reward for iris scanning. Despite regulatory challenges, the project aims to distribute WLD widely, with 3.4 million individuals having already participated.

BlackRock advertises its Bitcoin ETF

BlackRock has launched a new advertising campaign for its Bitcoin ETF, the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), highlighting the simplicity and efficiency of accessing Bitcoin in the same place as stocks and bonds, making investment management easier. The ad highlights the key advantage of a Bitcoin ETF, allowing investors to overcome asset custody constraints while engaging in technological innovation with the slogan "get your share of progress". IBIT continues to grow, with $5.52 billion in assets under management.

BlackRock

Block 2: Crypto analysis of the week

In an extensive cross-examination lasting almost 30 hours, Australian Craig Steven Wright, who claims to be the elusive Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto, came under intense scrutiny. M. Wright, a self-proclaimed expert in a variety of fields, including computer science, cryptography, law and mathematics, has been accused of making up facts,

Wright has a history of aggressively asserting his intellectual property over Bitcoin, taking legal action against the cryptocurrency's developers and users. As part of this, the non-profit Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA) filed a lawsuit in 2021 to thwart Wright's bullying tactics and confirm once and for all that he is not the inventor of Bitcoin as he claims.

COPA's lead counsel, Jonathan Hough, accused Mr. Wright of having committed nearly a decade of large-scale fraud since his appearance in the spotlight, including falsifying documents relating to Bitcoin's development and demonstrating a fundamental misunderstanding of the technology he claims to have created.

Nevertheless, many observers believe that Mr. Wright's courtroom performance, marked by inconsistencies and evasions, only served to further discredit him.

The trial, which is expected to continue until mid-March, revealed some bizarre and dubious moments on Mr. Wright's part, including his peculiar justifications for not providing concrete evidence of his identity as Satoshi and his apparent lack of basic programming knowledge.

Wright's behavior and assertions were met with skepticism, including his assertion that he had worked on several PhDs, notably in cryptography and computer science, while demonstrating a lack of understanding of fundamental coding concepts such as "Unsigned Integer", a subject that became particularly contentious during the trial.

In simple terms, these "unsigned integers" are mainly used to determine whether a data string will have a + or - prefix. And without going into too much detail, Mr. Wright was questioned by COPA's counsel about this system during the trial, but was unable to answer. The problem? As long-time cryptography advocate Michael Parenti points out, the "unsigned integers" feature was used over 500 times in Bitcoin's original source code. If Wright was in fact Satoshi, questioning these functions should have been routine.

In 2020, Wright published a blog entitled "As an Autistic Savant..." (in which he explained that he was unable to lie due to his self-diagnosed Asperger's syndrome. During the trial, he explained "lying is not something I do easily or well, and my behavior is not a mark of deception but rather normal for autistic people. I'm brutally honest, but also incredibly accurate".

More broadly, the main strategy of COPA's legal team was to force Wright to account for the hundreds of indications of falsification and manipulation found by an expert in forensic evidence in the e-mails, documents and computer files submitted as exhibits.

When asked by Judge Mellor on Wednesday to produce a single document relating to the first Bitcoin files that did not show signs of tampering, Wright replied that it was not available...

So, is Wright Satoshi or Faketoshi?

Block 3: Gainers & Losers

Crypto chart (Click to enlarge)

MarketScreener

Block 4: Things to read this week

Three technology micro-trends businesses need to know (Wired)

The baffling testimony of Craig Wright, self-proclaimed inventor of Bitcoin (Wired).

Is blockchain ready for Primetime? (Project Syndicate)

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Satoshi Nakamoto on trial: The Wright case - Marketscreener.com

Few questions in the world of cryptocurrency are as mysterious and long-lasting as the explanation for why Bitcoin has a maximum supply cap of 21 million tokens. Satoshi Nakamoto, the elusive founder of Bitcoin, provided clues through personal communication that offer insight into this critical choice. We will explore the insights from Nakamotos emails to understand the reasoning behind this interesting limit.

The curtain lifts on Satoshi Nakamotos decision-making process through an email exchange with Martii Malmi, an early contributor to Bitcoins development. Nakamoto acknowledges that the choice of 21 million as Bitcoins supply cap was not randomly chosen but rather an educated guess. This figure was carefully selected to strike a balance between aligning Bitcoins pricing dynamics with established traditional currencies while adapting to future market uncertainties.

My choice for the number of coins and distribution schedule was an educated guess. It was a difficult choice, because once the network is going its locked in and were stuck with it. I wanted to pick something that would make prices similar to existing currencies, but without knowing the future, thats very hard. I ended up picking something in the middle Nakamoto

Nakamotos foresight extended beyond mere numerical selection. With a keen eye on scalability and global adoption, limiting Bitcoin to 21 million tokens was a strategic move. This limited supply, representing a fraction of global commerce, ensured that Bitcoin could maintain its value proposition in a changing economic environment.

At the core of Nakamotos correspondence is a vision of Bitcoin seamlessly integrating into the network of global commerce. The intent was for Bitcoins unit prices to eventually mirror those of traditional fiat currencies, fostering ease of adoption and interoperability. Nakamoto envisioned a future where 0.001 BTC could equate to 1 Euro, a concept that resonated with the goal of positioning Bitcoin as a viable currency alternative. It appears that Nakamotos forecast was slightly inaccurate. 0.001 BTC is now valued at 47.62 Euro, nearly 11 times their initial illustration.

To accommodate varying price scales, Nakamoto introduced the concept of granularity, enabling flexible adjustments to Bitcoins display units. This foresight ensured that as Bitcoin gained traction, its usability wouldnt be hindered by cumbersome decimal conversions, thereby enhancing its practicality in everyday transactions.

If Bitcoin remains a small niche, itll be worth less per unit than existing currencies. If you imagine it being used for some fraction of world commerce, then theres only going to be 21 million coins for the whole world, so it would be worth much more per unit. Values are 64-bit integers with 8 decimal places, so 1 coin is represented internally as 100000000. Theres plenty of granularity if typical prices become small. For example, if 0.001 is worth 1 Euro, then it might be easier to change where the decimal point is displayed, so if you had 1 Bitcoin its now displayed as 1000, and 0.001 is displayed as 1 Nakamoto

While Nakamoto provided insight into the rationale behind selecting 21 million as Bitcoins supply cap, the mechanics behind this figure remain an intriguing subject. One prevailing theory revolves around dissecting Bitcoins distribution model, particularly its block reward system.

By stipulating that new blocks be added to Bitcoins blockchain every 10 minutes on average, and that miner rewards halve every four years, Nakamoto unintentionally set the stage for the 21 million cap. Through mathematical speculation, enthusiasts on Stack Exchange have projected the maximum number of Bitcoins that can ever exist, arriving at the iconic figure of 21 million.

Calculate the number of blocks per four year cycle:

6 blocks per hour

* 24 hours per day

* 365 days per year

* 4 years per cycle

= 210,240

~= 210,000

Sum all the block reward sizes:

50 + 25 + 12.5 + 6.25 + 3.125 + = 100

Multiply the two:

210,000 * 100 = 21 million.

The unveiling of Satoshi Nakamotos emails reveals the complex network of decisions supporting Bitcoins limited supply. Every aspect, from strategic planning to mathematical luck, adds to the aura of the top cryptocurrency globally. As Bitcoin grows and makes its mark in the digital landscape, the importance of its capped supply limit showcases Nakamotos forward-thinking design. Although the origins of 21 million Bitcoin are uncertain, it is evident that its unchangeable supply cap is not merely a numerical threshold, but is essential to its lasting value in the evolving financial landscape.

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Why is Bitcoin Capped at 21 million? Satoshi Nakamoto's Emails Reveal - CoinGape