As a fair and proper warning to all of our readers, this latest piece is an opinion article put together by our staff. While we have done extensive online research and used our best judgement to separate fact from fiction, there may be portions of this article which the bitcoin and/or cryptocurrency community may not fully agree on. With that said, grab your tin-foil hats as we take a deep dive into the origins of Bitcoin and its fascinating connection with both the National Security Agency and the Central Intelligence Agency.
“Or the NSA itself decided to create Bitcoin. Things as big as megacorps and governments work against themselves all the time, I wouldn’t be too surprised if the NSA has some part in at least supporting it” – Vitalik Buterin – 05 June 2011
Block Zero
On January 3rd, 2009, the Blockchain and the popular cryptocurrency Bitcoin were publicly launched, in what is now one of the most intriguing combinations of currency and technology in our lifetime. With much of the Western world attempting to overcome the adverse effects of the Great Recession of the late 2000’s, Block Zero, also referred to as Bitcoin’s genesis block could not have come at a more opportune moment. Created by Satoshi Nakamoto (we’ll touch more on this individual in a bit), Bitcoin is a peer to peer electronic payment system that allows online payments to be sent from one party to another without the need of a third party intermediary, such as a bank. All transactions are logged onto the aforementioned Blockchain, a decentralized and immutable public ledger that functions using the computing power of various individuals around the world. At a time where subprime mortgages and government-backed bank bailouts were the norm in everyday conversation in the United States, a revolution was taking place behind closed doors to disrupt the seemingly shady financial industry. But did this revolution indirectly receive special assistance from the likes of the NSA and CIA?
Satoshi Nakamoto
Who is Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto? If you asked three different individuals in the blockchain/cryptocurrency ecosystem this very question, there is a good chance you end up with three separate answers. What many believe as fact however is the name, “Satoshi Nakamoto” is a pseudonym for the person or group of cryptographers who contributed to the early stages of the Bitcoin project. Researchers looking to uncover the identity of Satoshi found his work read as that of a native English speaker while occasionally using British-English terminology and spelling variations. Researchers also noticed that Satoshi would not post (which we assume is for rest) on the popular Cryptocurrency forum Bitcointalk between the hours of 6am - 11am UTC, which would lead us to believe he was living somewhere in the Americas.
The former CEO of Kaspersky Labs, Natayla Kaspersky mentioned in a presentation at ITMO University in Russia that “Satoshi” was a group of American cryptographers working to design “quick funding for U.S., British, and Canadian intelligence agencies in different countries”. Kaspersky implied covert agents would be able to sneak across the world and withdraw fiat currency at will without being identified and tracked by opposing government officials.
Satoshi vanished from the Bitcoin space in 2011 noting, “I’ve moved on to other things. It’s [the Bitcoin project] in good hands with Gavin [Andresen] and everyone.”. Before Satoshi left, he managed to mine about one million Bitcoin, or a little under 5% of the total Bitcoin supply of twenty-one million Bitcoin. With this amount of Bitcoin, Satoshi would be able to effectively flood the market and have the price drop to miniscule levels at any moment he wishes. Over the past 7 years however, the Bitcoin haven’t been touched and idly sit by in Satoshi’s wallet.
The NSA and CIA Connection
As previously mentioned, the creation of Bitcoin may have received some special assistance from the NSA and/or the CIA. Without delving too far down the rabbit hole, we have listed some brief points of interest on how/why US intelligence agencies might have contributed to the Bitcoin project:
• SHA256, the cryptographic hash function that can be used for mining and the creation of bitcoin wallet addresses was designed by the NSA. Might a team of NSA insiders pushed for this specific hash function already fully understanding its capabilities?
• Economic Espionage. The United States now has a tool to covertly transfer funds electronically anywhere across the world leaving behind very little physical evidence.
• While the Western world and the US Dollar suffered from the “Great Recession”, China and Russia grew much stronger economically. As a result, the worldwide strength of the Dollar fell from the highs of the previous decades. Could Bitcoin have been created as a temporary crutch for the US to maintain its status as the top economic superpower?
• Despite numerous individuals working with Satoshi Nakamoto, not one of them was unable to uncover any information regarding this mysterious character. If Satoshi was indeed a group of cryptology anarchists, the cohesion of privacy, intelligence and “keeping the story straight” by all project team members was immaculate….and perhaps even taught.
• Following a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request on the true identity of Satoshi Nakamoto, the CIA stated the “request has been rejected, with the agency stating it can neither confirm nor deny the existence of the requested documents.”. This is known as the “Glomar Response” is a tactic used to keep vital information undisclosed while also simultaneously not lying with the answer.
In Conclusion
While we at SAvant PR do not anticipate the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto or the day zero Bitcoin origins to be revealed anytime soon (if ever), the cryptocurrency community can continue to compile information which can push the consensus one way or the other. Along with the creation of the computer and internet, blockchain technology and digital currencies are one of the most significant inventions of the past few decades, allowing for continued advancements of our society as a whole. As we move forward into the future, we can only hope the positive use cases continue to outweigh the bad.
