- Coinbase revealed its documents to go public through a direct listing on Thursday.
- In the process, the trading platform cites Satoshi Nakamoto’s identity as a potential risk factor.
- The creator’s bitcoin cache could wreak havoc on the market if Nakamoto sold his collection.
- Visit the Insider Business section for more stories.
Coinbase revealed documents to go public on the Nasdaq stock exchange through a direct listing on Thursday.
In the process, the digital trading platform listed the creator of bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto, as a potential risk factor. Coinbase cites the identification of Nakamoto – the pseudonym used by the individual or group of people who created bitcoin – as a potential risk for the platform.
If the identity of the bitcoin creator were revealed, it could cause a deterioration in bitcoin prices, according to the document.
The lawsuit also referred to Nakamoto’s personal bitcoin stock, which totaled more than one million. In February, a bitcoin was worth about $ 50,000.
Nakamoto could negatively impact Coinbase, the company said, and destabilize the entire crypto market if the creator decides to transfer his bitcoins, which are currently valued at more than $ 30 billion.
Nakamoto was the first person to extract bitcoins and his share in the digital currency represents almost 5% of the entire bitcoin market, as there are only 21 million bitcoins that can be mined.
Bitcoin’s value has been largely driven by its deflationary trends. If 1.1 million bitcoins were launched on the market, the price of the digital currency would almost certainly fall.
Likewise, bitcoin was praised for the decentralized nature of trading on the platform. The currency does not belong to any institution or individual. If Nakamoto were unmasked, it would place the trading platform under a single entity, potentially discouraging traders who bought the currency for its decentralization.
Coinbase’s success is largely linked to the rise of bitcoin
In a symbolic nod to the creator of bitcoin, Coinbase listed Nakamoto as one of the recipients of its public archive.
Coinbase – valued at more than $ 100 billion – can attribute much of its success to bitcoin and its creator, who developed the currency as the first decentralized digital currency in 2009.
In the years that followed, bitcoin has largely dominated the world of cryptocurrencies, rising more than 400% just in the past year to easily remain the largest digital currency by market value.
Coinbase should continue to benefit from the rise of bitcoin. The trading platform is the largest in the US and is home to more than 20 million users.
Coinbase founder and CEO Brian Armstrong makes reference to the invention of bitcoin in his letter that is included in the public process.
“When I first read the Bitcoin white paper in 2010, I realized that this advancement in computer science could be the key to unlocking this vision of the future,” said Armstrong. “Cryptocurrency can provide the basic principles of economic freedom for anyone: property rights, solid money, free trade and the ability to work as and where they want.”
Nakamoto’s name caught the public’s attention for the first time after the white paper was released. The document outlined the principles of a decentralized point-to-point digital payment system. In 2011, the creator allegedly left the company, but remained a public interest figure.
There has been much speculation over the years as to the identity of the creator. Names like bitcoin developer Nick Szabo, businessman Craig Wright and Tesla CEO Elon Musk have been dismissed as potential creators of the coin.
Although it is not known whether Nakamoto will choose to transfer his bitcoin cache, it seems unlikely that the creator will reveal his true identity.
By maintaining anonymity, Nakamoto can avoid adverse legal consequences. The undetectable nature of bitcoin has also led to its use for illegal goods and services on the dark web. In January, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen called for more restrictions on digital currencies like bitcoin, due to their use in illegal financing.
The revelation would also violate one of the basic principles of bitcoin that was described in the white paper. If a creator were to be unmasked, it would pose a threat to the decentralized nature of the currency – a principle that Nakamoto placed at the center of his plans for bitcoin.