Bitcoin makes it to the Guinness World Records – Will Satoshi Nakamoto come to get his reward?

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  • Crypto researchers have observed that some of the facts written by the GWR authors are wrong. 
  • One of them is the date for the publication of the original whitepaper of Bitcoin which was on October 31, 2008.

Bitcoin has finally made it to the Guinness Book of World Records after more than a decade of redefining the financial industry. Bitcoin emerged as a valueless digital asset but later evolved into a globally recognized project with thousands of exchanges facilitating its trade. The asset has over the past few years gained recognition among mainstream media sources and traditional mediums. In 2016, the word “Bitcoin” was added to the Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary. A couple of years later, it got added to the Scrabble lexicon. 

The Guinness World Record is known for its recognition of serious natural events and human achievements since 1955. With an enviable record of giving recognition to several acts and record-breaking achievements, its first edition was the top book on the bestseller list in 1955. Its original idea is said to have originated from the managing director of Guinness Brewery, Sir Hugh Beaver. 

Bitcoin was recognized as the world’s first and most valuable cryptocurrency network. The GWR authors wrote that Bitcoin “developed as a solution to the challenge of regulating a digital currency without any centralized organization, or ‘trusted third party,’ to oversee transactions.” 

Researchers observe factually wrong entries on Bitcoin

They also captured how the project’s whitepaper described the intention of Satoshi Nakamoto by solving the double spending problem.

The Bitcoin network [solves]the double spend problem with a “trustless” mechanism that does not require any third party (e.g., banks) to verify transactions; and it achieves that with validators (i.e., miners, in PoW.) Miners are computers dedicated to the network to validate all transactions and prohibit any bad actors.

The category the authors put Bitcoin in is “first”. January 3, 2009, was also indicated as the date for the record-breaking “first”. Crypto commentators have observed that some of the facts written by the GWR authors are wrong. One of them is the date for the publication of the original whitepaper of Bitcoin which was on October 31, 2008. 

Also, it was observed that the statement of Satoshi Nakamoto having 600,000 BTC in a single wallet that has been inactive for a decade is said to be wrong. According to researchers, Satoshi’s huge number of Bitcoin does not sit in a single wallet. In addition, he is estimated to be holding over 1 million BTC, not 600,000 BTC. 

Also, the GWR entry stated that “each node (i.e.,computer) represents a validator, also called, in the case of PoW, a miner,” which is factually false. Nodes indeed validate transactions, however, miners are separate entities that assist in organizing the data held in the blocks on the blockchain. Regardless, this is a huge achievement for the crypto industry.