The 260 emails contain a massive 140,000 words, equivalent to the length of a long novel. However, these emails exchanged between Bitcoin’s creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, and early developer Martti Malmi are a treasure trove of primary historical information about Bitcoin’s early days. While some of the material has been seen before, caution is needed before claiming any new revelations.
The email exchanges, mainly between Malmi and Satoshi from May 2009 to February 2011, provide a more casual and natural glimpse into the pseudonymous founder of Bitcoin than what has been widely seen before. Satoshi is both prescient and naive, foreseeing in 2009 that Bitcoin may face ecological or environmental problems due to its energy-intensive proof-of-work validation mechanism. He even remarks, “Ironic if we end up having to choose between economic liberty and conservation.”
However, Satoshi seems to lack understanding of Bitcoin’s scaling challenges. In a May 3, 2009 email, he writes about the scaling issue, showing his limited grasp of the problem.
The reason for the release of this correspondence now is that Malmi did not feel comfortable sharing it earlier but decided to do so because he was a witness in an important trial in the UK in 2024. The trial involved a group of cryptocurrency exchanges and developers suing Craig Wright, who claimed to be Satoshi Nakamoto.
Industry experts were asked for their reactions to this email bonanza and what it adds to our understanding of Bitcoin’s history and its elusive founder. Jeremy Clark, co-author of a 2017 paper on Bitcoin’s precursors, found the tone of the emails to be more conversational and informal than Satoshi’s previous postings on the mailing list. However, caution is needed as the published emails include quotes from earlier emails that were already public, leading to some confusion about what is new and what is not.
Satoshi’s language in the emails drew attention. He sometimes uses language that is not considered politically correct, such as using a derogatory term in one email. This contrasts with his hesitancy to swear in general. It is speculated that Satoshi may have grown up in a religious environment in the southern United States, based on the slang he uses.
The emails also provide some insights into Satoshi’s day-to-day life. It is suggested that he may have had a demanding day job that eventually led to his departure from Bitcoin. This theory is supported by his comments about being busy with work and needing a break from it after 18 months of development.
As for the identity of Satoshi, the emails do not bring us closer to the truth. While they may provide some small clues, there are not enough public facts available to definitively identify him. In the end, it may not matter who Satoshi is. What is important is the system he created, which is decentralized and not controlled by any single entity. This is what inspires confidence in the Bitcoin system and why Satoshi was able to walk away.