Tag: satoshi nakamoto

Bitcoin Association Bestows First-Ever Satoshi Nakamoto Scholarship to PhD Student

Bitcoin Association, a leading global organization for Bitcoin business, has revealed its first-ever Satoshi Nakamoto scholarship to a second year Cambridge University PhD student undertaking human genomics. 

Robin Kohze is the beneficiary of the scholarship after he successfully took part in a series of blockchain competitions, whereby he emerged second at Bitcoin Association’s 2nd Bitcoin SV Hackathon.

Boosting Technological Advancements via Education

The Satoshi Nakamoto Scholarship has been developed to propel technological development and study of real-world blockchain applications made possible by Bitcoin SV (BSV), a cryptocurrency created as a result of Bitcoin Cash hard fork. 

Kohze has developed HIVE, a decentralized protocol, that seeks to connect content scattered across the web. It also aims at changing the media landscape by incorporating a molecular dynamic inspired incentive network that enables individuals across the globe to add information. 

The graph database generated is directly maintained and stored in the Bitcoin SV blockchain for maximal transparency and interoperability. 

Jimmy Nguyen, Bitcoin Association’s founding president, acknowledged: “As part of our organization’s mission, we want to support the next generation of great Bitcoin thinkers and developers. Robin Kohze is an exceptionally talented mind who understands Bitcoin’s technical capabilities to transform data interactions, and we are thrilled to award him our first ever Satoshi Nakamoto Scholarship. We look forward to his HIVE project being realized to create real-world value, and also appreciate his work to educate fellow Cambridge students about the Satoshi Vision for Bitcoin.”

On the other hand, Kohze asserted: “Exceptional times require extraordinary – and sometimes daring ideas. A decade after the creation of the Bitcoin protocol by Satoshi Nakamoto, we stand on the brink of a global paradigm shift towards yet unseen frictionless global cooperation. With HIVE, I utilize the original Bitcoin protocol to implement a novel combination of game theoretical rule-sets to reconnect diverging perspectives in an increasingly polarised media landscape. I feel deeply honored to receive the first Satoshi Nakamoto Scholarship that enables the research and development of the HIVE protocol and thank the Bitcoin Association as well as all the many committed developers around the Bitcoin SV ecosystem to make those endeavors possible.”

The Satoshi Nakamoto Scholarship will aid Kohze in developing HIVE into a fully functioning platform that supports both iOS and Android applications.

Image via Shutterstock

Bitcoin Halving: Everything You Need to Know in 5 Minutes

Bitcoin Halving: What and Why

In May 2020, Bitcoin is expected to experience its third halving in history. Bitcoin halving refers to the halving of Bitcoin block rewards, which occurs once every 210,000 blocks created (approximately every 4 years). Block reward refers to the amount of Bitcoin received by miners after they successfully validate a new block.

The rationale of Bitcoin halving stems from the currency design of Bitcoin. In the email thread between Satoshi Nakamoto and Mike Hearn, Nakamoto suggested that the total supply of Bitcoin is capped at 21 million. This is opposite to the inflationary nature of fiat currencies in which their supply is controlled by central banks.

Figure 1: Snapshot of Bitcoin Network Source: Bitcoinblockhalf.com, Data as of May 7 2020

It is expected that all Bitcoins will be mined approximately by the year 2140 based on the following protocol design of Bitcoin:

1)     The target of 10-minute block intervals;

2)   Bitcoin halving mechanism; and

3)    Block reward starts with 50 and reaches 0 after continuous halving events.

Figure 2: Bitcoin Inflation vs TimeSource: Bitcoinblockhalf.com

When Bitcoins in circulation reach its maximum supply, miners will no longer receive block rewards and only receive transaction fees from users as rewards. It is noteworthy that Bitcoin’s maximum supply can be changed if the changes are approved by the economic majority.

Implication of Past Bitcoin Halvings

Bitcoin block rewards started with 50 since its inception in 2009. Bitcoin experienced two halvings in 2012 and 2016 which the current block reward is 12.5 BTC. The block reward will be halved as 6.25 BTC after the third halving.

Figure 3: Bitcoin Halving ScheduleSource: Blockchain.News Data

What does Bitcoin halving mean for traders, miners and mining manufacturers?

Traders

The past Bitcoin halvings have been indicated as a positive signal to Bitcoin price. In theory, assuming Bitcoin demand stays constant, as each Bitcoin halving slows down the issuance of Bitcoin, Bitcoin in circulation will become scarcer over time and the scarcity drives up the Bitcoin price.

The Bitcoin community was unaware of the impact brought by the first Bitcoin halving in 2012, and the Bitcoin price rose almost 80x a year after (See Figure 4). The 2016 Bitcoin halving was highly anticipated by the community and the price rise was less substantial than the first halving.

Figure 4: Changes in Bitcoin Price after First Bitcoin HalvingSource: Fitzner Blockchain in Medium

Figure 5: Changes in Bitcoin Price after Second Bitcoin HalvingSource: Fitzner Blockchain in Medium

The impact of third Bitcoin halving on price is uncertain as it can be driven by the following factors (See Figure 6).

Figure 6: Possible Key Drivers on Bitcoin Price at 2020 Bitcoin HalvingSource: Blockgeeks, Blockchain.News Data

Miners

Miners will receive 50% less Bitcoin block rewards after each halving. From the previous Bitcoin halvings, Bitcoin hashrate and mining profitability resulted in an initial drop and recover after a few months (See Figures 7 and 8).

Figure 7: Bitcoin Halving on HashrateSource: Blockchain.com

Figure 8: Bitcoin Halving on Mining Profitability (USD Day for 1TH/S)Source: Bitinfocharts.com

The hash rate of Bitcoin hovers near all-time high (123.28m TH/S) and currently stands at 119.472m TH/S. Network difficulty increased 1.4% on May 5 and reached 16.105 t. For the third Bitcoin halving, Bitmex predicted that the hashrate may decline by 30-35% after the halving.

Figure 9: Total Hash Rate of Bitcoin ahead of 2020 Bitcoin HalvingSource: Blockchain.com

Mining Manufacturers

Mining manufacturers usually release new mining models ahead of Bitcoin halving, which improved efficiency enables miners to optimize their earnings. For example, Bitmain announced a new Antminer S19 and S19 pro in February. As the main competitor of Bitmain, Canaan Creative announced its Bitcoin miner Avalonminer A10 in late March.

Image via Shutterstock

Did Satoshi Nakamoto Move His Bitcoin Yesterday? No, But Craig Wright Shot Himself in the Foot

On Wednesday a Twitter bot reported that a Bitcoin transaction came from a wallet that possibly belonged to Satoshi Nakamoto, the anonymous creator of the network and author of the Bitcoin whitepaper.

The recorded movement came from an address containing coins that were mined barely a month after the launch of the Bitcoin mainnet in 2009, at this time it is suggested that only three people could have known about BTC, one of them being Satoshi.

Beyond the age of the wallet, there is really no indication that this movement was Nakamoto.

Not long after the Whale Alert bot tweeted, the Bitcoin network experienced a 7% sell-off. In a tweet of his own, Bitcoin software engineer Jameson Lopp dismissed the BTC transaction pointing to the script behind the account.

The “Patoshi Pattern” is the name given to the analysis used to determine which blocks were most likely mined by Nakomoto. According to the hash rate analysis, it is still possible but unlikely that the transaction was performed by Nakomoto himself.

Craig Wright Shoots Himself in the Foot

The always controversial Craig Wright, the instigator of the BSV fork, has denied moving the 40 BTC from one of the original Satoshi wallets despite listing the wallet among the 16,000 wallets he allegedly owns and has provided in a court document.

The address, 17XiVVooLcdCUCMf9s4t4jTExacxwFS5uh was listed in a court document in the Kleiman vs Wright lawsuit.

Calvin Ayre, the BSV billionaire, tweeted that he had spoken with Craig Wright and he has denied moving the 40 BTC from the 11-year-old address.

Ayre’s revelation may prove tricky for Wright. Although Wright did provide the list of addresses he has insisted that he does not have access to the private keys. If he had moved the coins there would have been strong legal ramifications but consequently, by denying he moved BTC from a wallet he claims to own he has all but proven he is not Nakamoto and has provided false information to the courts.

Perhaps in the unlikely chance that Nakamoto did move the coins himself, it was his goal to expose this alleged con artist once and for all.  

Image via Shutterstock

Pablo Escobar’s Drug Runner Yasutaka Nakamoto "Could be" Satoshi Nakamoto

Who is Yasutaka Nakamoto?

Yasutaka Nakamoto was working for Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar to smuggle drugs to the United States from South America. 

Yasutaka Nakamoto was the brother of Dorian Satoshi Nakamoto, who was assumed as the original creator of Bitcoin, although he has long denied having anything to do with the cryptocurrency’s creation. 

Dubbed “The King of Cocaine,” Pablo Escobar remains the wealthiest criminal in history, with a net worth of $30 billion before his death. Escobar received help from Yasutaka Nakamoto to smuggle drugs as the latter was a high-ranking engineer for the Pacific West Airlines.

Yasutaka vanished from the public view in 1992 and allegedly resurfaced years later to create what is now known as Bitcoin, according to Olof Gustaffson, CEO of Escobar Inc, the Pablo Escobar-associated multinational holding company.

The story from Olof Gustaffson

Olof Gustaffson believes that Yasutaka had the technical knowledge of creating Bitcoin, as he has had extensive experience with microprocessors and semiconductors. 

Yasutaka Nakamoto faced an assassination attempt from Escobar, as an article from the Los Angeles Times from 1992 mentioned that Nakamoto, who worked for Hughes Aircraft Co, found a pipe-bomb in his care while he was parked at work.

Escobar Inc. has ties to the crypto world

Roberto Escobar, brother of the drug kingpin Pablo Escobar has launched a fork of the Bitcoin blockchain, known as “Dietbitcoin,” in 2019, which later on relocated to Ethereum’s ERC-20 standard. 

Roberto Escobar claimed that he has encountered a US government agent posing as Satoshi Nakamoto, which he reached the conclusion that the US government created Bitcoin. He further believes that the US government will one day crash the market completely by selling all of Nakamoto’s Bitcoins. 

Escobar’s launch of Dietbitcoin also came with a book, titled “Pablo Escobar’s Dietbitcoin: The True Story by Roberto Escobar.” In his book, he wrote, “I can tell you with one-hundred percent certainty, one-thousand percent certainty, one-hundred-million percent certainty that the American Government is going to ruin it all because they are behind Bitcoin.”

However, these claims remain highly skeptical as Roberto Escobar has once claimed he could cure HIV with his knowledge of horses, not to mention, the brother of a drug lord. 

Escobar vs. Craig Wright

Craig Wright has self-proclaimed that he is Satoshi Nakamoto since 2019 when he first staked his claim with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for Bitcoin’s naming rights. 

Before Craig Wright made his claim, the Escobar family owned Bitcoin’s trademark, according to official documents from the USPTO. Gustafsson’s company, Coin Legal Ltd. lost control of the Bitcoin trademark after its failure to respond to Wright’s claim in the fixed six-month period.

Although the Escobar family lost its rights in 2019, the latest filings with the USPTO show that Bitcoin’s naming rights are back under the control of Coin Legal Ltd, further indicating that Craig Wright is not Satoshi Nakamoto. 

Upcoming Movie Storyline Focuses on Anonymous Bitcoin Creator Satoshi Nakamoto

Decrypted, a movie speculated to be released by December 1, 2020, focuses on Satoshi Nakamoto’s persona as part of their story outline.

The movie: Decrypted

The story revolves around a National Security Agency team that captures Nakamoto and tortures him in an attempt to force him to cough up exclusive information on cryptocurrencies. They then plan on destroying these virtual currencies once and for all. IMDb describes the move, Decrypted as “an outrageous and provocative dark comedy.”

The mystery of Satoshi Nakamoto

Since the creation of Bitcoin in 2009, there have been numerous speculations circling on social platforms about Satoshi Nakamoto. The pseudonymous Bitcoin developer has been intent on keeping his identity secret, and it is not even known if he was of Japanese descent.

The upcoming movie Decrypted is projected to be released on December 1, 2020, though it may be pushed back due to COVID-19 complications.

Cryptocurrency popularity on the rise

Cryptocurrencies appear to be rising in popularity for movie storylines. King of the Jungle features Hollywood heartthrob Zac Efron, the story of a crypto-renegade John McAfee. The release date of the film is yet to be disclosed. Earlier movies revolving around the digital currency include Crypto, among others. There’s even a TV show referencing Bitcoin, such as Altered Carbon or Explained. 

Bitcoin Billionaires, the sequel to the award-winning movie The Social Network, depicts the story of the Winklevoss Brothers, and how they invested their Facebook settlement and became the first Bitcoin billionaires. 

Bitcoin's Future Looks Bright as Kanye West Decides to Run for President 2020

Kanye West dropped a bomb on social media on July 4—American Independence Day—and indicated his intentions to run for President in the 2020 US Elections. This is exciting news for Bitcoin (BTC), as Kanye has publicly expressed his support for the cryptocurrency.

On July 4, Kanye tweeted:

 “We must now realize the promise of America by trusting God, unifying our vision and building our future. I am running for president of the United States! #2020 vision.”

Kanye, one of the world’s most influential musicians has been very vocal on his support for Bitcoin and the crypto industry. He told TMZ that he would like to see the blockchain industry evolve. Kanye tweeted the word “decentralize” on his social media platform, advocating for Bitcoin usage and expressing his desire to see the BTC cryptocurrency replace traditional American dollar bills.

Elon Musk and Cryptocurrency

Backing Kanye West’s announced run for president is the eccentric billionaire and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who tweeted out in support of Kanye’s post. 

Elon Musk, one of the biggest names in the technology industry and the 31st richest in the world by Forbes (2020), is a friend of Kanye’s. Musk is quite influential in the crypto community and has on several occasions expressed his stance on cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin.

Elon Musk’s Views on Bitcoin

Musk has also expressed a distaste for the monetary policies of the Federal Reserve. He recently appeared on the Joe Rogan Experience Podcast and said that the way the US planned on handling the inflation caused by the coronavirus pandemic was inefficient, as their stimulus packages were not the best solution.

The SpaceX creator recognizes Bitcoin (BTC)’s advantages and thinks that BTC founder Satoshi Nakamoto’s whitepaper was “pretty clever.”  Musk also states that though crypto supporters may not want to hear this, Bitcoin may be a bridge between the black market and the legal economy. In his opinion, as cash is becoming increasingly hard to use, Bitcoin might take over in replacing it and in furthering the economy.

Adam Back Denies Being Bitcoin Creator, Claims No One Knows Satoshi Nakamoto's True Identity

On the latest episode of the Unchained podcast, David Chaum, the CEO of Elixxir and inventor of eCash, and Adam Back, the CEO of Blockstream and inventor of Hashcash, discussed their involvement in the digital currency before Bitcoin existed. Adam Back shares his thoughts on the biggest mystery behind Bitcoin and denies that he is the cryptocurrency’s creator. Back asserts that nobody knows Satoshi Nakamoto’s true identity.

Inside the Mind of Adam Back

Back reveals that he learned about Bitcoin in 2008 August, two months before the cryptocurrency’s white paper was published by its mysterious creator. He said that in August 2008, he got an email from Satoshi Nakamoto asking for the correct citation for Hashcash.

Back mentioned that he sent a couple of citations to the anonymous Bitcoin creator, citations from other papers like B-money, the electronic cash proposal published by cryptographer Wei Dai back in 1998.

Back said that he then got detailed information about Bitcoin while reading through the experiences of Hal Finney, the late computer scientist who sent the first Bitcoin transaction. Generally, Bitcoin pseudonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto mined the first 50 BTC around 3rd January 2009 and began the Bitcoin payment network. Not long after that, Hal Finney received the first BTC transaction after nine months. Finney had worked on cryptographic digital currencies – having met and worked with Nick Szabo and Wei Dai, the people recognized to have come up with the intellectual precursors to Bitcoin.

In 2019, Back said that Satoshi is most likely to be one person, contrary to the popular theory that multiple people invented Bitcoin. Back stated that he did not help Satoshi to create Bitcoin. He did not program anything nor participate in any programming task. He mentioned that Satoshi was the one who programmed Bitcoin before writing the white paper and made several revisions to the code.

Earlier this year, Adam Back himself emerged as a likely candidate to be Bitcoin’s mysterious inventor after a viral video called “Unmasking Satoshi Nakamoto” published by investigative popular YouTube channel “Barely Social” made waves within the crypto community.

Despite some strong and direct evidence like moving to Malta, C++ proficiency, and similarities between Back’s writing style with Satoshi’s style, as they both double space and spell their words in a British fashion, Back strongly denied that he is Satoshi.

In the podcast, Back highlighted that Bitcoin has some privacy limitations. He, therefore, suggested some improvements like enchanted privacy, which he would like to see in Bitcoin in the future. He proposed implementing confidential transactions that would help to obfuscate the size of Bitcoin transactions, but would still make them publicly auditable.  

Bitcoin’s Genesis Remains Shrouded in Mystery

Satoshi Nakamoto’s identity is one of the most compelling stories in technology. He launched the leading cryptocurrency with a white paper but disappeared just as the project was hitting its strides. In his last correspondence, he informed a Bitcoin developer that he had moved on to other things. The search for Bitcoin creator has a tinge of irony. It is an old-school mystery born in the digital age but threatens to make the whole concept of mystery obsolete.

Satoshi Nakamoto Will be the World’s Richest Person if Bitcoin Hits $181,000

Bitcoin (BTC) has started the week on a high after surging past the $58K mark.

The leading cryptocurrency is hovering around the $58,240 price at the time of writing, according to CoinMarketCap.

Crypto analyst Joseph Young has acknowledged that Satoshi Nakamoto will be the richest person globally if Bitcoin hits $181,000. 

Satoshi Nakamoto is the pseudonym used by the anonymous person who authored the BTC whitepaper and developed the Bitcoin network. It is speculated that Nakamoto owns nearly 1 million Bitcoins.

Presently, Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla Motors, and Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon, have been involved in a neck-to-neck battle for the spot of the world’s wealthiest person. Bezos has, however, emerged victorious with a net worth of $181 billion, followed by Musk with $160 billion, according to Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index. 

Bitcoin targets $60,000

BTC has set its eyes on the $60K level, according to crypto analyst Carl Martin. 

Bitcoin has surged higher based on Visa’s announcement that it will support the USDC stablecoin. The payment giant noted that its network will be made compatible with the USD Coin (USDC). Therefore, the USDC stablecoin will be integrated as a settlement currency for transactions on its network. 

With perpetual swaps open interest surging past $15 billion again, time will tell how Bitcoin shapes up going forward because it has been above the $50K mark for 22 days straight. 

In other news, the number of BTC retail holders is increasing, spurring bullish sentiment. On-chain cryptocurrency data analytics provider, Glassnode has revealed that the number of addresses holding at least 0.1 Bitcoins just reached an all-time high (ATH) of 3,223,643.

It, therefore, shows that the incessant sell-offs of Bitcoin by the market bears after attaining a price ATH above $60,000 has done little to deter the number of both new and old retail investors taking a position with the cryptocurrency.

Self-Acclaimed Bitcoin Inventor Craig Wright Vindicated in Kleiman Lawsuit

A federal jury in Miami has vindicated self-acclaimed Bitcoin (BTC) inventor Craig Wright in a lawsuit involving him and his late business partner, Dave Kleiman.

As reported by CNBC, Wright is meant to pay the sum of $100 million in compensatory damages to W&K Info Defense Research. The two men allegedly co-founded this company.

The lawsuit was filed by Dave Kleiman’s brother, Ira Kleiman who alleged that Craig Wright has usurped the majority of the intellectual property that was featured behind the early days of Blockchain technology. The funds under contention involved a 1.1 million BTC that was said to be mined by Satoshi Nakamoto, which the Kleiman estate wants a huge cut.

The jury granted the $100 million damages compensation, however, it cleared Craig Wright of all other charges, a position that the Australian entrepreneur said has shown that he is not a fraud. Wright noted that he has tried to reach a settlement with Ira Kleiman in the past, but he refused his offers.

“I feel remarkably happy and vindicated,” Wright said in the courtroom hallway after the verdict was announced. “I am not a fraud, and I never have been.” He added that he had offered Kleiman’s estate, represented by Dave’s brother Ira Kleiman, “12 million many years ago, which if he had taken that then in Bitcoin when bitcoin was $200, and he kept it – you can do the  math.”

The lawyers representing the Kleiman’s, Vel Freedman, said his team, too, was happy with the verdict: “We just won $100 million!”

Craig Wright has always maintained the stance that he is Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous developer credited to have published the Bitcoin whitepaper back in 2008. While Wright said he can prove his identity as Satoshi, many industry stakeholders have disputed the claims in part because some of the original coins attributed to early have not moved in years.

Who is Satoshi Nakamoto? Elon Musk's Latest Guess Comes as No Surprise

The identity of Satoshi Nakamoto, described as the creator of Bitcoin (BTC), remains one of the best-kept secrets in the nascent world of digital currencies to date.

While many have tried to guess who this personality is, others, including Australian Computer Scientist, Craig Wright has often claimed ownership of the intellectual property of the BTC protocol, a claim many do not believe.

As the game and quest to unmask Satoshi’s identity lingers, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has further lent his voice to the debate. While appearing on the Lex Fridman’s Podcast, Musk emphatically noted that Satoshi might just be Nick Szabo, a computer scientist, legal scholar, and cryptographer known for his research in digital contracts and digital currency. In explaining the reason for his pick, Elon Musk said;

“You can look at the evolution of ideas before the launch of bitcoin and see who wrote about those ideas. It seems as though Nick Szabo is probably, more than anyone else, responsible for the evolution of those ideas. He claims not to be Nakamoto, but I’m not sure that’s neither here nor there. But he seems to be the one more responsible for the ideas behind bitcoin than anyone else.”

Nick has long been linked to Bitcoin because of his early digital money work. While he himself has denied being the Satoshi everyone is looking for, his linguistic style is closely similar to those used in the Bitcoin whitepaper, as observed in a 2014 report by a team of linguists.

“The number of linguistic similarities between Szabo’s writing and the bitcoin whitepaper is uncanny,” the researchers said, adding that “none of the other possible authors was anywhere near as good of a match.”

A recently concluded legal battle between Craig Wright and the family of his late business partner, Dave Kleiman, would have given more insight into the truth behind Wright’s claims to be Satoshi Nakamoto. However, the jury did not dwell on the identity of Satoshi, and since Wright won, there was no need to split the 1.1 million BTC that was under contention per the lawsuit.

Until Satoshi Nakamoto is set to reveal himself, more guesses are likely to permeate the digital currency industry.

Exit mobile version