1

I'm confronted by someone who states that Satoshi Nakamoto never compared Bitcoin to gold in the monetary sense (not about mining).

However, I'm sure that I recall a quote from Satoshi stating Bitcoin is digital gold which was used several years ago in the debate of Bitcoin vs Bitcoin Cash as an argument that Bitcoin is a store of value and not a means of payment.

I'm failing to find it again. The only thing I found is about Bitcoin mining, but this isn't in the meaning I need to prove.

Improve this question
12
  • 1
    This elephant is Bitcoin and different users calling it different things: i.imgur.com/mKsF28k.png
    – user103136
    Sep 6, 2020 at 13:12
  • 2
    There is an allegedly complete collection of Satoshi's public writings at satoshi.nakamotoinstitute.org. The github repo has everything in json format which you could search for the word "gold". I got 66 hits which you should be able to go through fairly fast.
    – Nate Eldredge
    Sep 6, 2020 at 16:44
  • 1
    In pondering what the usefulness of Bitcoin might be, there are many interesting and pertinent considerations, but "What Satoshi intended" isn't really one of them. Perhaps his motivation and intent is of historical interest, but it does not change what Bitcoin is today. And anyways, arguments about 'store of value vs payments' are naïvely mutually exclusive.
    – chytrik
    Sep 8, 2020 at 22:24
  • 1
    Thats not a problem, people are free to have opinions about what Satoshi intended, but such opinions have no affect on what bitcoin is. Someone arguing that it "was never meant to be scarce" can simply be directed to the lines of code that defined the block subsidy in the original codebase. We don't need to read between the lines of Satoshi's writings on that point, scarcity was hard-coded in from day one. Whether that means Satoshi saw BTC as a gold equivalent (or not) doesn't change the reality of it being such a thing (or not).
    – chytrik
    Sep 8, 2020 at 22:38
  • 1
    @user2284570 I think that the questions you posed in your comment replies are great, but I mean to point out that the answer to them doesn't depend on what Satoshi intended, it instead depends on what the reality of Bitcoin is. And in the debate about what Bitcoin is, opinions about Satoshi's intent are rather inconsequential.
    – chytrik
    Sep 8, 2020 at 23:49

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
3

Where did Staoshi Nakamoto stated that bitcoin is gold or digital gold?

He didn't.

Not in any of his public writings.

an argument that Bitcoin is a store of value and not a meant of payment.

In his original whitepaper, Satoshi Nakamoto was very clear that they saw Bitcoin as a means of payment.

What is needed is an electronic payment system

The whitepaper does not mention the phrase "store of value". Since they were undoubtedly aware of this property of currencies, we must infer it was not of primary importance in the motivation for the design of Bitcoin.

So it would be surprising if there is any evidence available that would conclusively prove that Nakomoto completely changed their mind about this.

See also Breakdown of all Satoshi's Writings Proves Bitcoin not Built Primarily as Store of Value

Did Satoshi build Bitcoin to serve primarily as a store of value, or did he build it for making payments?

To answer this question, I went straight to the source. Thanks to the Satoshi Nakamoto Institute’s archives I was able to read every single thing Satoshi ever posted publicly. Comments from 260 forum threads, 63 emails, and his original source code.

After reviewing all of Satoshi’s writings, I can confidently state that Bitcoin was not purpose-built to first be a store of value. It was built for payments.

Improve this answer
3
  • This was of course in one of his comments. Not the paper. And the question is not about store of value but with the comparison to gold specifically.
    – user2284570
    Sep 6, 2020 at 16:38
  • @user2284570: The referenced article looks at the entirety of Nakamoto's public writing. The article includes some quotations where Nakamoto mentions gold. It is clear that nowhere does Nakamoto state that Bitcoin is gold or digital gold. Certainly not in any context that would support the notion that Nakamoto saw Bitcoin as a store of vale and not as a means of payment.
    – RedGrittyBrick
    Sep 6, 2020 at 16:57
  • Correct. But the quote I found years ago was misplaced since gold was money. That Satoshi designed Bitcoin for payment doesn t means he never compared Bitcoin to gold. I just wan t to tell the other party I m not wrong.
    – user2284570
    Sep 6, 2020 at 17:09

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.