Resurfacing of the NSA Bitcoin Theory
Bitcoin advocate Nic Carter has reaffirmed his belief in the theory suggesting that the United States National Security Agency (NSA) played a role in the creation of Bitcoin. This long-debated theory has resurfaced once again, gaining attention on social media.
Decades-Old Speculation
The theory that the NSA might have been involved in the development of Bitcoin is not new. It has circulated for decades but still sparks curiosity and debate within the cryptocurrency community.
An Intriguing 1996 Paper
The discussion was recently reignited when Daniel Roberts, co-founder of Iris Energy, shared screenshots of a 1996 paper titled "How to make a mint: The cryptography of anonymous electronic cash." Notably, the paper discussed a system similar to Bitcoin, and its footer revealed that it was prepared by NSA employees.
The NSA invented Bitcoin?
— Daniel Roberts (@danroberts0101) September 14, 2023
1996 paper titled: HOW TO MAKE A MINT: THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF ANONYMOUS ELECTRONIC CASH*
Sources include "Tatsuaki Okamoto" 😳
Who else would be able to sit anonymously on 1 million coins.
Oh, and they invented SHA-256...?https://t.co/QwTVESwOuM pic.twitter.com/cVcbrHOG7a
The Bitcoin Lab Leak Hypothesis
Nic Carter expressed his support for what he calls the "Bitcoin lab leak hypothesis." According to this theory, Bitcoin was originally an internal R&D project at the NSA. Carter believes that one of the researchers decided to release the code secretly because they considered it too valuable to remain unused.
If bitcoin was written by NSA cryptographers as a monetary bioweapon, if you will, and the code escaped those sensitive confines... does that make it a virus... that escaped from a lab..?
— nic 🌠 carter (@nic__carter) May 14, 2020
Circumstantial Evidence
Carter points to various pieces of circumstantial evidence that he believes support this theory. However, he clarifies that this doesn't necessarily mean the U.S. government controls all of Satoshi's coins, another theory that often accompanies the Bitcoin/NSA conspiracy theory.
I actually do believe this. I call it the bitcoin lab leak hypothesis. I think it was a shuttered internal R&D project which one researcher thought was too good to lay fallow on the shelf and chose to secretly release https://t.co/qXJkQTciSK
— nic 🌠 carter (@nic__carter) September 21, 2023
A Mysterious Connection
Some observers have noted that one of the cryptography academics listed in the 1996 paper, Tatsuaki Okamoto, has a name that sounds similar to Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoin's pseudonymous creator. Carter acknowledges this coincidence but doesn't consider it a critical part of the theory.
