Satoshi Nakamoto Quotes

If you don't believe it or don't get it, I don't have the time to try to convince you, sorry. Source: Email correspondence (2009)

Core Vision & Philosophy

A purely peer-to-peer electronic cash system would allow online payments to be sent directly from one party to another without going through a financial institution. Source: Bitcoin Whitepaper (2008)

The root problem with conventional currency is all the trust that's required to make it work. The central bank must be trusted not to debase the currency, but the history of fiat currencies is full of breaches of that trust. Source: P2P Foundation (June 2009)

Trust & Decentralization

With e-currency based on cryptographic proof, without the need to trust a third party middleman, money can be secure and transactions effortless. Source: Bitcoin Announcement (January 2009)

By having the users collectively maintain the network instead of having one company maintain it, Bitcoin becomes more robust, more open, and more widely distributed. This is the first mainstream example of a cryptographic consensus mechanism. Source: Email correspondence (2008-2010)

Cryptography & Technical Innovation

The proof-of-work chain is the solution to synchronizing without trusting. It uses computational difficulty to make changes to past blocks impractical for an attacker without doing the computational work required by the honest network. Source: Email correspondence (2008)

The fact that new coins are produced means the money supply increases by a planned amount, just like how a government prints money. In our case, math instead of government. Source: Bitcoin Talk Forum (2009)

Computers can't verify the signature just from knowing the public key. With RSA, you can encrypt something with a public key. With ECDSA, you can't. You can only verify a signature with the public key. Source: Email correspondence (2009)

Scalability & Technical Design

The nature of Bitcoin is such that once version 0.1 was released, the core design was set in stone for the rest of its lifetime. Except for occasional bug fixes and minor tweaks, the core design is final. Source: Bitcoin Talk Forum (June 2010)

The ability to convert easily between the two and denominate prices in either unit satisfies merchants' constant complaint about exchange rate risk. Source: Email correspondence (2009)

Maximum block size was set to 1MB to create economic incentives for block space, ensuring transaction costs remain distributed fairly among users. Source: Code comments (2009)

Conviction & Determination

The existing Visa credit card network processes about 15 million Internet purchases per day worldwide. Bitcoin can already scale much larger than that with existing hardware for a fraction of the cost. Source: Bitcoin Talk Forum (2010)

Bitcoin is a currency for which there is an unprecedented level of transparency and accountability. The design ensures that neither the creator nor anyone else can manipulate the currency. Source: Whitepaper & forum discussions (2008-2009)

The Genesis Block Message

The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks Source: Embedded in Bitcoin's Genesis Block (January 3, 2009) — A reference to a Times newspaper headline that day, capturing the economic context that inspired Bitcoin's creation.