The godfather of Bitcoin is rich beyond what likely were his most optimistic expectations.
But does the widely accepted name of Bitcoin’s inventor, purported Japanese genius Satoshi Nakamoto, hold up to reality?
The short answer is that no one has been able to confirm his/her/its identity, nor actual existence.
The possible candidates – other than finding the actual Satoshi Nakamoto – run the gamut from conglomerates to Elon Musk, so, truly it’s an open question.
Tesla CEO Musk bought $1.5 billion worth, seen as a step toward accepting bitcoin for Tesla purchases “in the near future,” he said.
Without any question, though, is the certainty that whoever claims Nakamoto’s position is very, very wealthy.
Bitcoin started in 2008, with the entity called Nakamoto publishing an open-source paper about a currency that doesn’t have the need for a central bank.
It was worth less than a penny per coin initially but, as is widely known, has surged over the past several months and was worth more than $52,000 per coin on Thursday.
Nakamoto’s bitcoin software debuted Jan. 3, 2009, when he mined what is now called the “genesis block of bitcoin” — 50 bitcoins today worth more than $2.4 million.
Never let it be said, though, that anyone alive in 2010 didn’t have a chance to jump on board and gain a ridiculous fortune.
In March 2010, when the price was less than $.01, there was a trader (username “SmokeTooMuch”) who decided to see what kind of a return his/her 10,000 bitcoins would bring. The auction price established by the trader was a mere $50 – for all 10,000 coins.
The price was not met, but if someone had made a bid they would be enjoying a profit of around $480 million.
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