Software developer Woody Wertheimer made a sensational claim on Twitter this week, in which Bitcoin founder Satoshi Nakamoto endorsed the sale of the first NFT transaction on the Bitcoin blockchain, a photo worth 500 BTC. suggested that
His comments come amid Casey Rodarmor’s Ordinals, a type of NFT minted in Bitcoin, causing significant congestion on the network due to high demand for storage space. This has increased his Bitcoin transaction fees by 3,000% since January.
“We found that the first Bitcoin purchase was a purchase of JPEG for 500 BTC in February 2010,” Wertheimer claimed in his paper. Tweet. “It’s older than the famous 10,000 BTC pizza. Satoshi himself helped promote his JPEG sales.”
ALSO READ: Grayscale Bullish About Ordinal Impact on Bitcoin
JPEG equivalent to 500 BTC
According to the screenshot posted by Wertheimer, a user named Sabunir tried to sell the photo for 500 BTC (about $1 at the time) on the Bitcoin forum Bitcointalk.
A screenshot from January 24, 2010 seems to suggest that Nakamoto helped facilitate a deal worth more than $13.5 million at current market prices.
It would also mean that the envisioned NFT sale would be the first to actually use Bitcoin as a medium of exchange. So far, Laszlo Hanecz is considered the first person to make a real-world transaction by purchasing two pizzas in the US with his 10,000 BTC on May 22, 2010.
This Twitter space went up in flames
We discovered:
🔥 My first purchase with Bitcoin was JPEG for 500 BTC in February 2010
🔥 It’s older than the famous 10,000 BTC pizza
🔥 Satoshi himself helped promote JPEG sales
🔥 Absolute shambles laser eye cult pic.twitter.com/b6ESOkbf0i
— Woody Wertheimer 🧙♂️ (@udiWertheimer) May 14, 2023
Wertheimer’s tweet sparked speculation as to whether the pseudonymous Bitcoin founder was actually involved in selling NFTs on the Bitcoin blockchain. The claim that Nakamoto may have backed the initial NFT sale is significant for several reasons.
Bitcoin NFT legalization
First, the proposal legitimizes Bitcoin’s non-fungible token (NFT) market, potentially making it more attractive to Bitcoin investors who may not be able to sell on Ordinals. Currently, the Bitcoin community is divided on how ordinals affect the network.
Bitcoin fundamentalists, on the other hand, Adam Buck I want you to remove the so-called “inscription” spamming Blockchain, people like Eric Wall and Wertheimer himself believe These help the network to “mature” and “grow”.
According to data from Dune Analytics, NFTs have created massive hype in the Bitcoin world, with over 6.1 million ordinals currently embedded in the Bitcoin network. However, they caused massive congestion on the blockchain, resulting in skyrocketing transaction fees.
Critics argue that using the network for non-financial transactions undermines Satoshi Nakamoto’s original vision. Founder in 2010 answered When asked if Bitcoin should be used for non-financial purposes, he said emphatically, “No.”
As Wertheimer suggested, Nakamoto’s endorsement of NFTs would give credibility to those backing Ordinals and open the floodgates for further Bitcoin registrations. But that also means Satoshi is contradicting himself regarding the strict economic use of BTC, which seems unlikely.
Secondly, if Satoshi backed the NFT sale, as Wertheimer everyone believes, it would suggest he was interested in the potential of non-fungible tokens. . Some believe Nakamoto may have simply been testing with a sale.
Many others are unconvinced and believe he would not dabble in such things. Third, the idea that Nakamoto may have been involved in the original Bitcoin NFT transaction adds to the mystery surrounding his identity, making him an even more interesting figure.
Satoshi did not support NFT sales
But does a 500 BTC painting qualify to be called an NFT on the Bitcoin network in the first place?
“that [the supposed Bitcoin NFT] It was a link to a photo stored online, not an actual JPEG stored on the chain. ” Said Twitter user Guich responded to Udi Wertheimer’s tweet.
“Satoshi supported some transaction using BTC instead of wasteful data storage on chain. Did he suggest not?”
Wertheimer has recanted his earlier allegations after Bitcoin investor Mike McDonald was presented with new evidence of NFT transactions that Nakamoto was allegedly involved in.McDonald’s clearly Subneal’s 500 BTC was “a donation, not a sale,” he said.
“Unfortunately, it appears that the original tweet may be inaccurate,” said Wertheimer. Admitted on Twitter.
“While JPEG was put up for sale for 500 BTC and Satoshi actually helped determine the details of the sale by the seller… 500 BTC was sent as a donation for another exchange and JPEG was never sold. It wasn’t done.”
I don’t know if it has been resolved yet, but it seems that Subneil’s 500btc was a donation, not a sale.
He posted the NFT’s address on January 24th and again on the btc logo thread on February 24th. Feb 24th 500 btc sent and Feb 25th he thanked 2 people for their donation 1/2 pic.twitter.com/6Rk9Ont9KU
— Mike McDonald (@MikeMcDonald89) May 14, 2023
Subneal later thanked the two for contributing a total of 600 BTC in two separate transactions. “It’s entirely possible that the donation came from Satoshi himself,” said McDonald, who believes Nakamoto was “absolutely Ordinals-leaning.” There were only 3 or 4 people who would have logically donated in a thread or something like that. “
Perhaps if Subneal still exists, we should consider this issue…
