Did a Young Satoshi Nakamoto Make this Forum Post a Decade Before Bitcoin?

The link between Satoshi Nakamoto and the cypherpunks runs deep. Some of the ideological roots of Bitcoin and the cryptocurrency space can be traced back to this group. There is much we still don’t know. However, a recent post may shed further light on these connections — and rumors are swirling that that post was made by Satoshi Nakamoto.

A Decade Before Bitcoin

An interesting finding was shared on r/Bitcoin recently. User u/cryptologyx alleges that a 1999 forum post by an anonymous cypherpunk member could be Satoshi. If true, this would be a full decade before the Bitcoin whitepaper was even written. In a forum post on electronic cash, users are speculating whether or not it could someday replace banking.

Real ecash would be something which is really bearer, the value should lie solely in the instrument.

However the closest you can get in software is blind ecash -- yes the server being shutdown could revoke the value of your cash -- but the server can't discriminate and single out a single user because of the blinding -- it has to revoke all value at once.  And this is probably as good as it gets for ecash.

You can find the exact post links here and come to your own conclusions.  However, some in the comments cast doubt that this was even Satoshi at all. One user u/sktchymunter had an altogether different take: that this is probably Nick Szabo. It’s a strange coincidence, but Szabo was known for using the word ‘intractable,’ which this cypherpunk member coincidentally uses repeatedly. Again, it’s all just speculation. We have no way of knowing, but it’s nonetheless interesting to read these forum posts about ‘ecash’ long before Bitcoin and gives us a bit of insight on the origins and conception of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.

The Satoshi Mystery Lives On

Satoshi’s identity continues to remain elusive, but that hasn’t stopped the many frauds from claiming to be the creator of Bitcoin over the years. It might be best that Nakamoto’s true identity is kept a secret. The more interesting question, however, is how Satoshi came to determine some of the core parts of Bitcoin’s ecosystem that we now take for granted. Why did he choose 21M as the max BTC supply, for example? Others have pointed out that the halving events coincide with U.S. presidential elections, although this may just be a coincidence. By digging deep into the treasure trove of the cypherpunk forums and messages, we may uncover many of these secrets. For now, we only have a few of the pieces.