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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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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.

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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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    And a) a potential lead to unmask him, b) a great opportunity to buy cheap. ;)
    – Murch ♦
    Mar 9 '14 at 11:04
  • 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?
    – vzn
    Mar 17 '14 at 3:28
  • @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
    – Fattie
    Apr 17 '20 at 11:51

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