Eleven days ago, a freshly created “Onesignature” profile on bitcointalk.org uploaded a signed message linked to a very old block reward created on January 19, 2009; 16 days after Satoshi Nakamoto founded the network, block 1,018 had the key linked with it.
Unknown Person Signs Message Associated with Block Reward
A message associated with bitcoin block 1,018 was signed by “Onesignature,” an unidentified user of bitcointalk.org who created the block reward on January 19, 2009. The anonymous “Cobra,” the proprietor of bitcoin.org, found the block signing.
Cobra reported that a user named “Onesignature” had appeared and had released the signature for a key connected to block #1,018. Cobra said, “For context, there are probably just a few people worldwide who can sign with a Jan. 2009 key.
The post on bitcointalk.org reveals that the bitcoin address used in the user Onesignature’s shared signed message was first observed on December 2, 2022. Since the day it was first discovered, the BTC address “1E9Yw” has had a few dust transactions delivered to the wallet. The bitcoin address “1NChf” is linked to the signature (HCsBcgB+Wcm8kOGMH8IpNeg0H4gjCrlqwDf/GlSXphZGBYxm0QkKEPhh9DTJRp2IDNUhVr0FhP9qCqo2W0recNM=). On June 14, 2011, the address had the block reward (1,018) in the wallet.
The generated coins that were sent in 2011 also contained “private keys of addresses that mined earlier than the above-mentioned address,” according to one user. People who read the post questioned whether Onesignature, the user, was actually Satoshi Nakamoto. However, Cobra clarified on Twitter that the address was not a “Patoshi block,” a block linked to the originator of Bitcoin, and that it was “unlikely to be Satoshi.”
While many “might have” mined bitcoin at that time, Cobra continued, “the overwhelming evidence implies that barely anybody did.” Why install some random.exe when Bitcoin was unpopular, irrelevant, and thought to be a foolish idea? The anonymous whistleblower “Fatman” claimed in Cobra’s Twitter thread that the old address might have been acquired later. In an old screenshot from bitcointalk.org, someone is seen stating that “many old keys have been sold or leaked.” Fatman provided this screenshot.
It was also found that “@onesignature” is the handle of an existing Twitter account. The profile photograph of the Twitter account, also called “Andy,” which was coincidentally established in October 2009, reads, “Don’t trust anyone.”
The signed address was linked to several block rewards stated and shown in a Forbes article by Andy Greenberg, a user added in the bitcointalk.org discussion. Hal Finney, one of Bitcoin’s early adopters, is the article’s subject. Members of Bitcointalk.org also conjectured that the address had some connection to the now-deceased Bitcoin developer.
In response to Fatman on Friday, Cobra stated that OneSignature would be about to get swamped with big offers” if they were to buy a Jan 2009 key. Cobra continued, “Someone is trying to make a big statement. How do you feel about Onesignature signing a 2009 Bitcoin block that is so old? Please share your thoughts on this topic in the comments box below.
