Adam Back spoke to Satoshi Nakamoto about Bitcoin four months before its official launch on January 4, 2009.
A series of previously unpublished emails exchanged between cryptographer Adam Back, CEO of Blockstream, and the real Satoshi Nakamoto, creator of Bitcoin, were revealed last week as part of the ongoing trial between Craig Wright and the Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA).
The alliance, which includes MicroStrategy, Block, Satoshi Labs, Uniswap Foundation, and other prominent organizations in the cryptocurrency industry, sued the Australian entrepreneur in 2021, seeking to refute his repeated unsupported claims of being Satoshi Nakamoto, question his alleged ownership rights to Bitcoin, and ultimately prove that Wright is a fraud. The lawsuit against Wright in the lawsuit started on February 5th, in London (United Kingdom).
As part of this trial, the computer scientist, cryptographer and cypherpunk Adam Back came forward as a witness and provided the emails he exchanged with Satoshi Nakamoto, before the official launch of the cryptocurrency on the market.
Hashcash, Adam Back's invention, is mentioned in Bitcoin's whitepaper
These emails show that the real Satoshi Nakamoto had previously studied the research work carried out by several cryptography experts to bring his innovative and revolutionary creation to life.
One of the emails outlined Satoshi's interest in “Hashcash,” a proof-of-work algorithm that was created by Adam Back in 2002. Satoshi indicated to Back that he would reference this algorithm in his invention of the electronic cash Bitcoin.
Back stated that he had never heard of Satoshi Nakamoto until he received the email asking him about Hashcash. He also stated that in the email, Satoshi referred to the Bitcoin whitepaper and that there was a download link to it in the email. “I think I downloaded the paper at that time, but I didn’t look at it right away,” he stated.
A day later, on August 21, Back wrote to Satoshi to confirm that the Hashcash quote in the Bitcoin whitepaper was correct, the cryptographer said. Back also said he referred Satoshi to several other research papers that he seemed unaware of at the time, such as “B-money” and “Micromint.”
Wei Dai's Lie
Adam Back's statements in the current trial against Craig Wright expose that Satoshi Nakamoto was unaware of the research of computer engineer and cryptographer Wei Dai.
“I also pointed out another resource that I thought he might be interested in, called Wei Dai’s ‘B-money,’” Back testified during Wright’s trial. “He didn’t seem to be aware of that,” he said.
Back claimed that Satoshi was unaware of Dai's work because, first, Dai did not mention it in the Bitcoin draft he sent him prior to the cryptocurrency's launch, and because later, on August 21, 2008, Satoshi himself replied saying that he was unaware of it and that he would email Wei Dai to confirm how to credit his work in the Bitcoin white paper.
Arthur van Pelt noted in a recent op-ed that this differs from Wright’s previous statements about the creation of Bitcoin. The Australian entrepreneur had stated that the creation of Bitcoin was “heavily influenced” by the work of Wei Dai, which appears to be a complete lie.
Van Pelt quoted part of Adam Back's statements at the trial, highlighting the following:
“In paragraph 92, Dr. Wright states that his thinking was deeply influenced by Wei Dai, however, it seemed to me (from Satoshi’s emails to me, which are exhibited in my first statement), that he was not aware of Wei Dai’s B-money proposal, which would make it difficult to be significantly influenced by it.”
The oldest known email from Satoshi Nakamoto
The presentation of Adam Back's unpublished emails in the COPA v. Wright trial has also marked a new milestone in the history of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.
As noted by Pete Rizzo on X (formerly Twitter), one of the emails submitted by Back is dated August 20, 2008.
So far, the oldest known email related to Satoshi Nakamoto dates back to August 22 of that same year, so the evidence recently presented by Back at the trial has marked a new milestone in the history of the crypto industry.
Interesting facts about the beginnings of Bitcoin
In addition to making it clear that Wright is not Satoshi Nakamoto, the emails exchanged between Back and the enigmatic figure revealed several interesting facts about the beginnings of Bitcoin, such as that Satoshi was not comfortable with the idea of defining Bitcoin as an investment, that he was not the first to use the word “cryptocurrency,” and that he took a break a few months after Bitcoin was officially launched on the market.
According to Satoshi's emails, he was working full-time at other jobs unrelated to cryptocurrency.
On the other hand, in addition to Back, software engineer Martti Malmi also came forward as a witness in the COPA case against Wright. Malmi, who contributed significantly to the development of Bitcoin in its early years, made several statements that also contradict the many stories Wright has told about being the inventor of Bitcoin.
Despite the importance of the new emails revealed by Satoshi Nakamoto and the statements of Back and Malmi, The true identity of Bitcoin's creator remains a mystery 15 years after its launch.
Continue reading: MicroStrategy President Michael Saylor Assured There Is No Reason To Sell Bitcoin
