Is the safety of bitcoin dependent on the creator of it being a trustworthy person? Or would it be safe to use even if it turned out the creator's day job was working at the NSA?
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2related: Does the creator of BitCoin hold a 'master' private key?, Do “the official bitcoin developers” control Bitcoin?, Who is Satoshi Nakamoto?, Have any cryptography experts vetted the bitcoin source code?– Murch ♦Mar 9, 2014 at 11:01
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These are 2 questions in one. 1st (is looking for him really justified?) is really primarily opinion-based. The 2nd (and 3rd, which is mostly a follow-up of 2nd) isn't and I believe is legit: with all the news-frenzy about who Nakamoto really is(are?), a lot of people would potentially ask the very same question(s), regarding how much Bitcoin depends or not on their trustworthiness, identity, alive status, etc. Might be worth to change the title to the 2nd question to make it more relevant.– Joe PinedaMar 9, 2014 at 19:51
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@JoePineda I've deleted what you described as the first question.– Andrew GrimmMar 16, 2014 at 21:51
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2 Answers
Is the safety of bitcoin dependent on the creator of it being a trustworthy person?
No, the safety of Bitcoin is not at all dependent on the identity of its creator.
The source code is public. The paper is public.
Or would it be safe to use even if it turned out the creator's day job was working at the NSA?
Again, the genesis of Bitcoin is unrelated to its current state or future state, except through the data of the blockchain.
answered Mar 9, 2014 at 3:41
He does own a LOT of bitcoins. If he chooses to dump them on the market for whatever nefarious motive, it would cause a major disruption.
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2And a) a potential lead to unmask him, b) a great opportunity to buy cheap. ;)– Murch ♦Mar 9, 2014 at 11:04
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he seems to own ~1/16 all bitcoins from some estimates... it would be possible to "dump" them (ie nearly "give them away" for free, quickly which would tend to be deflationary) but this is against the rational interests of anyone who wishes to maximize their own wealth.... it would be like dumping stocks.... is there any history of that such a thing being done other than during a panic?– vznMar 17, 2014 at 3:28
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@vzn - it's completely commonplace in markets (ie, such as the major world stock markets) that large players "dump" some of the instrument, for one sneaky reason or the other. it's completely ok, legal, normal and commonplace, particularly in short-term scenarios– FattieApr 17, 2020 at 11:51