Bitcoin is not so much a sole invention by Satoshi Nakamoto as a product of combining ideas accumulated by the cypherpunk community since the late 1990s, a claim has emerged.

On June 18, blockchain outlet U.Today reported that prominent cryptographer and Blockstream CEO Adam Back (아담 백) explained that Bitcoin’s structure is an extension of collective research dating back to 1997.

Back said the basic concept of a proof-of-work-based decentralised currency was discussed on private mailing lists long before the Bitcoin white paper appeared. He also said comments by Peter Todd about “attempts to create Bitcoin” in his youth should be understood in the context of multiple groups pursuing similar ideas at the time.

He drew a line, saying the phrase should not be taken as referring precisely to today’s Bitcoin. What cypherpunks called “Bitcoin” at the time was closer to a metaphor for peer-to-peer transactions than the name of a specific project. In a social media post, he said: “It’s no secret people were already trying to create Bitcoin in 1997,” adding that he called it “net cash” (Hashcash).

Hashcash, one of Bitcoin’s core elements, was also revisited in this context. Back said Satoshi did not build the network’s key elements from scratch but developed them based on the Hashcash algorithm he created in 1997 to prevent spam. Satoshi directly mentioned Hashcash in the Bitcoin white paper and credited Back as the source.

He located Satoshi’s greatest historical achievement elsewhere. Back said Satoshi solved the double-spending problem and combined ideas scattered among himself, Hal Finney and Nick Szabo into a single working protocol. Bitcoin’s originality, he said, lay less in an invention starting from nothing than in implementing existing cryptographic ideas as an actual network.

The remarks came as attempts have continued on social media to strip the anonymity of Bitcoin’s creator. Back, whom the New York Times once identified as one of the candidates for Satoshi, has strongly denied such speculation. He has also explained that similarities in writing style among various figures reflect communication within a narrow expert group using the same technical terms.

Peter Todd also bolstered that view. Todd, whom an HBO documentary named as Satoshi, said persistent tracking by media outlets and investors only creates security threats for industry veterans.

The trend shows that debate over Bitcoin’s origins is shifting beyond a search for a real name toward reinterpreting which technologies and ideas converged into Bitcoin. Back’s explanation places weight on Bitcoin being not a sole invention by a particular individual, but a protocol completed on top of long-running digital currency experiments accumulated by the cypherpunk camp.

no, it's no secret people were trying to discover bitcoin (then unnamed .. or i said "net cash") in 1997 already. https://t.co/Vh7nwv03dC