How Did Bitcoin Start

There are many questions about Bitcoin, but the most common one to be asked is, “Who created it?” That answer is not straightforward, because the identity of the creator remains a mystery. All we have is a pseudonym - Satoshi Nakamoto. The accounts are no longer active; the coins in his wallet have never been spent. Satoshi Nakamoto has disappeared from the world, or so it would seem.

The history of Bitcoin - Genesis Mining
Fast Company recently published an article suggesting that Satoshi Nakamoto could be a group of people, including Neal King, Vladimir Oksman, and Charles Bry. Apparently, these three people filed for a patent related to secure communication just two months prior to the purchase of the Bitcoin.org domain. Perhaps it’s a coincidence; perhaps it’s not.

What we do have, however, are facts:

On October 31st, 2008, “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System” was posted to a cryptography mailing list, published under the name “Satoshi Nakamoto”. The whitepaper outlined the foundation of how Bitcoin would operate.
On August 18, 2008, an unknown person or entity registered the Bitcoin.org domain.
On January 8th, 2009, the first version of Bitcoin is announced, and shortly thereafter, Bitcoin mining begins.
The mystery that surrounds Satoshi Nakamoto is fitting; privacy was a key value for both Bitcoin, and its users. Others have tried to claim his mantle - most recently an Australian man named Craig Wright, who has since withdrawn his claim. While we may never know who first created Bitcoin, we do know that the technology he started has left ripples in the financial industry.