Legend: Satoshi Nakamoto, the mastermind behind Bitcoin
While some leading figures in finance are ‘legends’, the mysterious creator of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto, is truly ‘legendary’ in the sense that his/her/their true identity remains unknown - it is currently presumed to be a pseudonym.
What is known is that Nakamoto developed Bitcoin, wrote the cryptocurrency’s original white paper, and deployed its reference implementation. Among their primary innovations was the resolution of digital currency’s ‘double spend’ flaw, wherein a single token could be transacted several times by one individual after already being used. This was countenanced by employing a peer-to-peer network to accurately record coin exchanges.
The primary development period for Bitcoin began in 2007. During its first few years, all modifications of the crypto’s source code were carried out by Nakamoto. However, in 2010, Gavin Andresen was given full control of its source code and Nakamoto reportedly ceased active involvement with Bitcoin.
“The central bank must be trusted not to debase the currency, but the history of fiat currencies is full of breaches of that trust”
Since the popular crypto’s inception there has been copious speculation on Nakamoto’s true identity. Self-proclamations of being born in 1975 and living in Japan have been met with scepticism: a preference for British English spelling and colloquialisms in verified forum posts have led some to believe Nakamoto could actually be from the Commonwealth of Nations. Similarly, timestamps between posts indicate that Nakamoto was most inactive between 2pm and 8pm Japanese time, even during weekends. Presuming that Nakamoto slept during these six hours, this potentially lends credence to the idea that they are not based in Japan.
Some specific (but unverified) identities have also been put forward, generally computer science experts of international renown. They include Hal Finney, Nick Szabo, Craig Wright, and Dorian Satoshi Nakamoto. The latter assertion, despite having the same name and being a trained physicist and systems engineer, is still unsubstantiated by anything other than circumstantial evidence.
Others believe that Bitcoin’s code is too sophisticated to have been created by an individual, and therefore must have been the product of a collective. Regardless, it is unlikely that Nakamoto’s true identity will be revealed unless they themselves choose to do so. With Bitcoin’s creation poised to be one of the most significant events in recent economic history - pathing the way, among other things, for the digitisation of currency and value - Nakamoto could one day be regarded as this century’s equivalent of the unnamed Chartres Cathedral architect.
Each month, FinTech Magazine will be summarising the lives and careers of the most significant figures in finance. Read about them - as well as industry stats, infographics, exclusive interviews, and more - in our ‘Upfront’ section.
“I Definitely Want This to Be the Satoshi Nakamoto Statue of Planet Earth,” Says Creator András Györfi
BeinCrypto spoke to András Györfi, creator of the world’s first physical statue of Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto, about his creation and its upcoming unveiling.
Györfi created the statue after being inspired by blockchain’s significance and the artistic qualities of non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
Although a physical manifestation of something inherently digital, Györfi feels that physical things have more significance in an increasingly digital world.
“Living in the digital age increases the value of physical things, in many ways.”
The world’s first physical statue of Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto will be unveiled in Budapest on September 16.
A person worth building a statue for
Originally, András Györfi studied to become a biologist in the Hungarian city of Szeged. However, he dropped out to pursue entrepreneurship. While he has had success, he keeps up a job in journalism to support it.
“Journalism pays the rent, and my projects sometimes succeed, sometimes fail.”
Györfi first read about Bitcoin in 2012 but laments not acting at the time. However, after a friend showed him a chart displaying the astounding returns of Litecoin in 2017, he knew he had to jump in.
Since then, he has written the first book on cryptocurrencies in Hungarian and is currently an editor at the Hungarian crypto portal Kripto Akadémia.
The idea for the statue first occurred to him one day in March. While sitting at home during the government-mandated curfew due to the coronavirus pandemic, he read about NFTs.
Given the artistic nature of many of these tokens, Györfi found himself inspired. He thought about the potential of blockchain technology and just how significant it will become. His thoughts then turned to Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto.
“Why doesn’t he have a statue? I thought, he deserves a statue.”
“He has to wear a hoodie”
At this point, Györfi started looking for sculptors. Not having a deep professional understanding of art himself, he contacted a former colleague working in art management. He was directed to a young couple, Réka Gergely and Tamás Gilly.
Story continues
Since Nakamoto has never revealed himself publicly, the statute needed to take into account this aspect of anonymity.
The sculptors could appreciate this perspective but need more ideas to work with. It was then thought that the statue’s face should be a reflective mirror-like surface, this way, it could symbolize that “we are all Satoshi.”
Györfi also wanted the Bitcoin logo to appear somewhere on the statue. Originally, he considered having the statue wear a fedora, with a card bearing the Bitcoin logo tucked into the hat’s band.
However, his teammate quickly dissuaded him of this notion. Gabriella Debreczeni-Rasko at Mr. Coin, suggested something much more representative.
“He has to wear a hoodie!”
Building the statue
Although Györfi was initially skeptical of the sculptor pair, since their portfolio lacked human subjects and mainly consisted of abstract figures, he was elated once they delivered the clay model.
Currently, a casting mold is being prepared from it, into which a bronze composite with aluminum will be poured, creating the statue.
Although the statue will predominantly be bronze, the aluminum component will give the statue’s face a reflective quality when polished. A limestone pedestal has also been ordered from Croatia.
To finance the statue, the project crowd-sourced donations in bitcoin (BTC). However, they soon added binance coin (BNB) due to high transaction fees.
Ultimately, the project was able to raise $11,000 from the crowdsourcing campaign.
A special place in Graphisoft Park
With the creation of the statue underway, Györfi said the statue will be unveiled in Budapest’s Graphisoft Park.
He plans to invite Nakamoto. However, if Nakamoto does not appear, Györfi is still holding out for other big names, including Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson and crypto exchange Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao.
Although Graphisoft Park was not the first place Györfi had in mind for the statue, its placement is very fitting, given its tech theme and background.
The park was created by entrepreneur Gábor Bojár, whose company Graphisoft was among the first to utilize computer-aided design (CAD) in architectural design during the 1980s.
The park already has a statue of Apple founder Steve Jobs, which Györfi notes will be in the line of sight of the Satoshi statue, and another designed by Rubik’s Cube creator Ernő Rubik.
Györfi said the park is interested in this new addition.
“They understand the rising significance of the space and want something that attracts visitors and attention.”
Potential legacy
For Györfi, his childhood in Hungary has also played a part in the decision to build a statue.
“Instead of video games, we had to play in parks,” he explains.
“All my life I’ve been seeing physical representations; monuments, busts, statues, architecture.”
This early experience of great European monuments impressed upon him what impact a physical manifestation can have.
“It has a significance, it has a meaning, it has a dignity, a nobility, it has value and a weight.”
“Even new generations resonate with a statue, as statues play a role in our collective consciousness,” he says.
Decades from now, Györfi hopes that people will remember the statue and wants it to contribute to the cultural history of Budapest. He is hopeful that it may inspire other such statues around the world. However, he has particular dreams for his statue.
〈鉅亨幣圈理財〉什麼是加密貨幣？
「加密貨幣吸金案！」「虛擬貨幣投資詐騙！」
你是否曾在新聞或網路上看過類似的新聞呢？這些新聞是否讓你不敢接觸加密貨幣呢？
俗話說得好：「知己知彼，百戰百勝」，只要你理解了加密貨幣，對你的投資之路絕對有很大的幫助（雖然不保證能夠百戰百勝就是了…）。
什麼是加密貨幣？
加密貨幣，或稱密碼貨幣、數字貨幣、虛擬貨幣，是一種新世代的交易媒介。不像你我平常使用的新台幣、美金（法幣）等等，加密貨幣並非各國政府（中央銀行）發行的法定貨幣，而是透過密碼學原理，以確保其交易的安全性，並控制交易單位的建立。
資料來源：Google Search
核心技術：區塊鏈
加密貨幣是建立在「區塊鏈」技術上的一種應用，由多個加密的區塊鏈連接，其中每個區塊都含有最近的所有交易及該區塊交易前的紀錄列表。
區塊鏈是一個擁有分散式帳本技術（Distributed ledger Technology，DLT）或非中央控管數據庫（Decentralized Database，DD），持續在各個電腦上，更新其數位帳戶數據庫，統計誰擁有什麼及交易了什麼。
區塊鏈的「帳簿」是同時、同步、分散在所有使用此系統的電腦上，隨時可供任何人觀測，同時，經過認證後的區塊，也具有不可被竄改的特性！每個區塊以十分鐘內的交易為單位，加密受到保護後，送至區塊鏈網路上。
比特幣（Bitcoin，BTC、XBT）
比特幣是由 Satoshi Nakamoto（中本聰）於 2008 年 10 月 31 日發表論文《比特幣：一種點對點的電子現金系統》，2009 年 01 月 03 日創世區塊誕生，其主要目的是建立一個利用計算認證和加密安全的獨立、去中心化數位支付系統。
有人這麼認為，比特幣的誕生是由於嚮往共識貨幣的結果，流通已久的貨幣市場皆由各政府所控制，面對貨幣政策的干預、發展中國家貨幣超發、及通貨膨漲等等問題，比特幣的問世無非為金融市場帶來不小的震盪。
在 2010 年 05 月，比特幣進行了第一次公開交易（10,000 枚比特幣購買了兩片披薩），當時的價格為 0.0025 美元（約 0.075 元台幣），短短 10 年的時間，比特幣現今價值已經達到約 9,000–10,000 美元（約 300,000 元台幣）。
資料來源：coindesk
如同上面的比較表格，比特幣的總量設定在 2,100 萬個，預計會在 2140 年全數產出（這也就是為什麼你會常常在加密貨幣討論群裡看到 2140 這個數字的原因囉！）
其他加密貨幣
比特幣以外的密碼貨幣，又稱為山寨幣、競爭幣（altcoin），部分是參考比特幣思想、原理、源代碼產生的，目前約有超過 1,000 種。
截至目前為止，競爭幣市值占加密貨幣市場總值比例為將近 40%。
資料來源：CoinMarketCap
目前除去比特幣之外，市值最大的為以太幣（Ethereum，ETH），而 BCH（Bitcoin Cash）、BSV（Bitcoin SV）皆為 BTC 硬分叉出來的幣種。
穩定幣（Stablecoin）
看了上面的比特幣價格，你是不是也被嚇到了呢？「加密貨幣價格浮動太大了吧！」
因此，才會有穩定幣的誕生。
穩定幣，顧名思義，具有「價格穩定」的特色，對於許多加密貨幣投資新手來說，是較為保守的一個選擇，而要達成這個特色的方式通常是「與法幣掛勾」。
目前市值最大的穩定幣為由 Tether 發行的 USDT（泰達幣），與美元掛勾，即為 1:1，讓它成為波動劇烈的加密貨幣市場中，良好的保值代幣。
結語
關於加密貨幣的知識，以上只是些皮毛，不得不說，加密貨幣的誕生將我們的金融世界觀帶進一個新的紀元，隨著其快速的發展，多國政府及傳統金融也開始重視，緊盯著加密貨幣的動態，甚至也開始積極拓展專屬的加密貨幣版圖。
加密貨幣的世界日新月異，每天都有不同的幣種、不同的新消息傳出，但只要搞懂基礎知識，相信你也會想要踏進這個神秘有趣的市場！
文章提供: Bincentive 幣盛德富
鉅亨網虛擬貨幣投資專區: https://campaign.cnyes.com/topics/anuecrypto/