First published in 2014, this annotated collection introduces early writings about Bitcoin. Here we distinguish Nakamoto’s own voice, editorial explanations and historical context; the second edition from 2025 contains expanded material.
Phil Champagne compiled The Book of Satoshi from Nakamoto’s emails and internet forum posts. Readers can thus follow questions, objections and responses from Bitcoin’s early days. The book also contains explanatory commentary; it is not a continuous manuscript that Nakamoto wrote as a book. [1] [2]
The author’s website lists the first edition as 2014 and the second as 2025. According to the site, the newer edition adds missing posts and emails made public later. The year 2014 therefore marks the book’s origin, not the final scope of every later edition. Our selection of passages is not a comparison of both complete editions. [1]
Chapter three reproduces the electronic cash proposal announcement and the abstract of the Bitcoin Whitepaper. The original archive dates the message to 31 October 2008. In it, Nakamoto connects a peer-to-peer network, a solution to Double Spending and Proof of Work; he announces a proposal and links to a document, not yet a public software release. [2] [3]
In chapter six, the introductory commentary mentions both Napster and e-gold, whereas Nakamoto’s response that follows compares Napster with Gnutella and Tor. This distinction prevents us from attributing the editor’s summary directly to Nakamoto. A quotation must also preserve the question to which the original message responded. [2] [4]
Nakamoto responds to the objection that cryptography will not solve political problems. He argues that it can temporarily expand the space for freedom, pointing to the difference between a centrally controlled service and a peer-to-peer network. This is his argument at the time for the resilience of that architecture, not a guarantee that no network can ever be disrupted. [4]
Chapter eighteen presents the announcement of Bitcoin v0.1 in January 2009. The original message describes a Windows program with C++ source code and calls it an experimental alpha version. Nakamoto did not then rule out having to restart the system’s state. This detail captures the uncertainty of the beginning, which later success can easily obscure. [2] [5]
The same announcement describes generating coins on an ordinary computer and sending to the recipient’s IP address. In this entry, these are historical features of the described program, not a recommendation to install an old version or expect the same possibilities today. The archive helps trace development; practical instructions must match the software in use. [5]
We read chapters 3, 6 and 18 in full in an available public PDF copy and compared their three main messages with the original archive. The copy has not been verified as matching a particular printed edition. Edition information comes from the author’s website. We have neither read the entire book nor checked every transcription; for the first announcement’s date, we rely on the original archive. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
For the clearest picture, read this entry together with Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoin Whitepaper, Genesis Block, Hal Finney.
01Did Satoshi Nakamoto write The Book of Satoshi directly?+
Not as a continuous book. Phil Champagne compiled and commented on his emails and posts. It is therefore important to distinguish the original messages from the editor’s commentary when reading.
02Can the Bitcoin v0.1 announcement be followed today?+
In this entry we read it as a historical source. It describes experimental software from January 2009; neither its controls nor the mining possibilities of that time are a current practical guide.