On Satoshi

Sumanth Neppalli
Sep 1, 2018 · 3 min read

I am deeply attracted to mythology and once I read about the history of BitCoin, its creator Satoshi Nakomoto became one of my most revered myth.

Mythology has an element of wonder and the promise of esoteric knowledge that draws people to it. The mystery of Satoshi, akin to every good myth, will never be deciphered in entirety. The only way Satoshi could have identified himself to the world was to write his name into the genesis block. However, Satoshi choose not to, and instead embedded a cryptic message:

The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks

That act defines Satoshi as someone who gave importance to the idea rather than the identity behind the creation. Even if someone signs with the Satoshi keys publicly, that will not change the fact that no amount of proof will ever be able to convince everybody a hundred percent. Satoshi will always remain an enigma, a controversial figure, a persona that will develop cults around him, and a myth that will span generations.

Proof of Work

The credential that establishes someone as real is the ability to supply CPU power.

Bitcoin is proof of work and Satoshi is no different. He identified humanity’s biggest challenge and worked at it relentlessly and thanklessly. People might like to believe that everything is accidental and if one scientist didn’t invent something, it would have been invented someplace else around the same time. I think of the future as a set of infinite possibilities and every thing that we choose to do prods us slightly towards a different timeline.

You have free will and that implies that you can affect everything around you. Satoshi will be the vision that could affect the whole world and lead it into a harmonious timeline that we might not have experienced any other way.

The steward

The first time I watched CSW’s speech at ‘The Future of Bitcoin’ conference, I knew I was witnessing history in the making. And similar to the style of Satoshi, that talk will go on to influence entire generations of dreamers. Dreamers who will always yearn for truth. Of understanding Bitcoin for what it is. Of admitting that they don’t know what they don’t.

As I pored over everything I could find about him, I read about a man who spent years working on the impossible problem of hard money. I read about a philosopher who understood the nature of humans better than they will ever understand it themselves. I read about an economist who understood that security is a function of economics. About an architect who designed global systems. About a lawyer who understood the fine line between privacy and translucency. About a professor who showed his students the reality of the world and forced them to look inward. About a person who risked his time, his wealth, his energy, his life, and his family’s life for a vision.

The only way I can express my gratitude is work. There is no other way that Satoshi would have wanted. And I will work. I will get to participate in this myth and I will be able to spread this story. And as long as the goal of sound money is not achieved, I will do everything I can to attain it. Not for the sake of others around me. But, for myself. To quench my own thirst. To answer my yearning to uncover the truth of this world.

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