What was the origin of Covid-19? The prevailing belief among most experts is that the virus made the leap from wild animals to humans, possibly at a meat market in Wuhan. However, an alternate theory suggests the virus might have accidentally escaped from a virology research lab in the same city. Even a US probe committee, formed by President Joe Biden, did not arrive at a definitive conclusion about the origins of the Covid-19?
According to a report in the Economist, a similar debate is now emerging around Bitcoin, the first and most widely used cryptocurrency. Bitcoin’s accepted genesis story involves an individual named Satoshi Nakamoto, a pseudonymous coder who described the cryptocurrency in a 2008 paper before disappearing from public view. However, an online theory suggests that Bitcoin might have been developed by the National Security Agency (NSA), an American intelligence agency known for its cryptography research. Some proponents of this theory point to a 1996 paper by NSA employees titled “How to make a mint: the cryptography of anonymous electronic cash,” which references work by a researcher named “Tatsuaki Okamoto”, the Economist report said.
Critics argue that this paper is not substantial evidence. It primarily surveys cryptographic concepts for digital cash, relying on a central authority, unlike Bitcoin, which is decentralized. The idea that the NSA would create a decentralized cryptocurrency that could disrupt its own government’s functions seems implausible, according to skeptics like David Rosenthal.
The only similarity between bitcoin and the NSA paper is that they both use some common cryptographic techniques, such as public-key encryption and digital signatures. But these techniques are widely known and used in many other applications, not just digital cash. They are not exclusive to the NSA or bitcoin.
There is no reason to believe that bitcoin leaked from an American spy lab. It is more likely that Satoshi Nakamoto was an independent inventor who was influenced by various sources of cryptographic research, including the NSA paper, but also others.
While this theory likely falls into the realm of conspiracy, a historical precedent exists. In 1997, it was revealed that Clifford Cocks, a mathematician at GCHQ, the British equivalent of the NSA, had secretly invented a crucial cryptographic technology foundational to both Bitcoin and the internet. This technology was developed years before a trio of American researchers received credit for it.
A more fitting comparison between Bitcoin and Covid-19 might be their resilience, the Economist report says.
According to a report in the Economist, a similar debate is now emerging around Bitcoin, the first and most widely used cryptocurrency. Bitcoin’s accepted genesis story involves an individual named Satoshi Nakamoto, a pseudonymous coder who described the cryptocurrency in a 2008 paper before disappearing from public view. However, an online theory suggests that Bitcoin might have been developed by the National Security Agency (NSA), an American intelligence agency known for its cryptography research. Some proponents of this theory point to a 1996 paper by NSA employees titled “How to make a mint: the cryptography of anonymous electronic cash,” which references work by a researcher named “Tatsuaki Okamoto”, the Economist report said.
Critics argue that this paper is not substantial evidence. It primarily surveys cryptographic concepts for digital cash, relying on a central authority, unlike Bitcoin, which is decentralized. The idea that the NSA would create a decentralized cryptocurrency that could disrupt its own government’s functions seems implausible, according to skeptics like David Rosenthal.
The only similarity between bitcoin and the NSA paper is that they both use some common cryptographic techniques, such as public-key encryption and digital signatures. But these techniques are widely known and used in many other applications, not just digital cash. They are not exclusive to the NSA or bitcoin.
There is no reason to believe that bitcoin leaked from an American spy lab. It is more likely that Satoshi Nakamoto was an independent inventor who was influenced by various sources of cryptographic research, including the NSA paper, but also others.
While this theory likely falls into the realm of conspiracy, a historical precedent exists. In 1997, it was revealed that Clifford Cocks, a mathematician at GCHQ, the British equivalent of the NSA, had secretly invented a crucial cryptographic technology foundational to both Bitcoin and the internet. This technology was developed years before a trio of American researchers received credit for it.
A more fitting comparison between Bitcoin and Covid-19 might be their resilience, the Economist report says.
