Satoshi Nakamoto’s early collaborator Martii ‘Sirius’ Malmi has revealed his entire email correspondence with the Bitcoin creator.
The new email, which has sparked an ongoing lawsuit in the UK, is the most significant addition yet to the canon of what we know about the anonymous creator of Bitcoin.
The most important new findings are:
Email #1: Satoshi’s Bitcoin Scaling Assumptions
When asked how Bitcoin could scale in the future, Satoshi theorized that the network could have up to 100,000 nodes.
Here he enters into calculations that evaluate the economics of bandwidth costs for nodes (read: miners) when propagating transactions across the network, the economic costs that will be incurred, and how they can be delivered cost-effectively to users.
He also discusses implementations where users pay a fee and hints at the possibility that the fees required to confirm transactions will become market driven due to the processing capacity of the network.
All in all, this is some interesting napkin math, but to those who have read Satoshi’s entire Bitcoin forum post, it’s out of the ordinary.
There, Satoshi often spoke about his vision for how the network could become bigger, and it is notable that many of his ideas have not been proven viable based on subsequent development work.
Email #2: Bitcoin does not waste energy
He didn’t want to watch the massive increase in Bitcoin mining using stranded resources, but as it turns out, Satoshi knew the network was green.
One of the first criticisms Satoshi was lobbied against for his new creation was that he spent time on forums addressing the idea that Bitcoin mining is wasteful, and in particular that not holding a currency like Bitcoin would be an even bigger waste. He said it would be.
But here he expands on the idea in more detail and in a more vivid and descriptive way than we’ve seen before.
Email #3: Satoshi for timestamps
Today, there remains a heated debate as to whether Bitcoin is money or may have other secondary uses.
In this email exchange, Satoshi appears to provide insight into the debate, mentioning his belief that blockchain can be used as a distributed timestamp server. This is similar to what happened in Guatemala, which used blockchain to certify controversial elections in recent years.
Email #4: Satoshi talks about DigiCash
Satoshi explains the differences as follows: #Bitcoin There’s also DigiCash, David Chaum’s failed cryptocurrency.
This is notable because Chaum’s work had a profound influence on cypherpunks, including Hal Finney. He specifically discusses the differences in the privacy properties of the two models and points out that, unlike Chaum’s plan, it does not support an offline model, requiring all participants to be online to use the system.
He also explains Bitcoin’s finite supply limit.
Email #5: Satoshi was concerned about Bitcoin promotion.
Satoshi was concerned about the legal risks of launching it. #BitcoinHe noted that it was “inconvenient” to explicitly label it as an investment.
memo: Here we can see that he did not come up with the term “cryptocurrency” on his own.
Email #6: Satoshi is tired of Bitcoin
By July 2009, Satoshi had grown tired of Bitcoin, saying he “needed a break.” Here he also explains Hal’s absence from work. He also mentioned that he had spent 18 months developing Bitcoin at that point.
He also asks Malmi if he has any ideas for applications where people can actually use Bitcoin.
Email #7: Bitcoin, a way to make money for free
Satoshi discussing methods #Bitcoin It may be adopted. What’s noteworthy is that it highlights how easy it is to earn Bitcoin, considering that you can mine it on your computer. He also hypothesizes how the nature of Bitcoin market transactions will evolve, discusses how skeptical people are about Bitcoin’s value, and says he is confident that increasing mining difficulty will prove Bitcoin’s scarcity to people.
In terms of acquiring BTC, it’s very different from how we think about BTC today, but it shows a bit of prescience about how people will mentally value it in the future.
Email #8: The Rise of a Mysterious Bitcoin Donor
In June 2010, someone offered to donate $2,000 to Satoshi. #Bitcoin work. In particular, he had the donor send it to Martti’s address. He was also careful to convey that donor privacy would be respected.
Email #9: Satoshi was a fan of free deals.
Although it was already known, Satoshi was very adamant that early adopters would consider it. #Bitcoin “free.” Here he discusses removing transaction fees from the UX of early software.
It’s interesting that his reasoning was to obscure this feature from users, but at the same time acknowledge the need for this feature in the distant future.
Email #10: Satoshi devoted himself to Bitcoin work
Satoshi worked #Bitcoin On Christmas Day. There are some interesting implications to consider regarding his personal life.
Email #11: Bitcoin, a web currency for currency trading?
satoshi saw #Bitcoin It is utilized as a way to trade other internet currencies such as Liberty Reserve. He also discusses the potential of a market selling Bitcoin gift cards. This market has become an important market for Bitcoin today.
memo: Liberty Reserve was later closed by the United States.
Email #12: Satoshi’s first disappearance
Satoshi received a mysterious vacation. #Bitcoin Here he talks about this with Martti, but the details are particularly lacking.
Email #13: Satoshi realized that Bitcoin is not anonymous.
It was Satoshi who removed the statement that Bitcoin was “anonymous” from http://Bitcoin.org. He was worried about making Bitcoin sound “weird.” This echoes his sentiments after Wikileaks announced it was accepting Bitcoin for donations.
Email #14: Satoshi praises his student
Satoshi, worth noting given the historical revisionism surrounding this issue, spoke very highly of Gavin Andresen. In it, he praises Gavin and calls the other man an “idiot.”
EMAIL #15: Satoshi Says Sayonara
I finally have a copy of an email Satoshi sent to another developer before his name was removed from the project website. As they say, Satoshi has never mentioned any intention to step away from the project.
Overall, while it doesn’t reveal any substantive new information, the emails do provide a new angle on Satoshi’s interactions with others involved in the project before his departure.