NEWS OF THE WORLD: Part 2. BITCOIN

Bitcoin has dropped 45% since its peak of 126,000 in October of 2025.  Here is a video on what has happened.  Two historic graphs.

Of course, who would have known, but:

• If you had purchased $100 worth of Bitcoin earlier in 2015, it would today be worth close to $25,000 today.
• If you bought at the end of 2015, around $15,000.  
• Of course, if you had somehow gotten in at the beginning, here is what I wrote in October of last year, updating Bitcoin when it was at this high period.

• 
  By late 2009, the first recorded exchange of Bitcoin for dollars was $5.02.
• Something to do with pizza, but on 22May2010, 10,000 Bitcoins were worth $40.
• June 2011:  $26/bitcoin.
• February 2013:  $22/bitcoin.
• But those numbers have not been used to make this comparison to today

Here is what $100 invested in these companies in early 2015 would be worth in late 2025/early 2026:

• Amazon (AMZN): ~$880 - $950
• Apple (AAPL): ~$850 - $1,150
• Alphabet/Google (GOOGL): ~$500 - $670
• S&P 500 Index Fund (SPY): ~$300 - $400 

I asked Google AI who founded Bitcoin:

.......by a still-anonymous person or group using the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto, who published the white paper in 2008 and released the software in 2009. Despite intense speculation and various theories, the true identity remains unverified. Nakamoto stopped communicating in 2011 and never moved their estimated 1.1 million Bitcoin stash. 

Key Details About the Founder:

• The Name: Satoshi Nakamoto.
• Active Period: 2008–2010.
• White Paper: Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System.

• Key Beliefs: The founder emphasized decentralization and privacy, which is likely why he or they remained anonymous.
• Wealth: Holds approximately 1.1 million BTC, making them one of the wealthiest individuals in the world. 

Key Candidates and Theories (2026)

• Hal Finney (Deceased): A revered cryptographer and the first person to receive a Bitcoin transaction from Satoshi. Many analysts consider him the most likely candidate due to his technical prowess, early involvement, and the fact that he lived in Temple City, California, just a few blocks from Dorian Nakamoto. He denied being Satoshi before passing away in 2014.

• 
  Nick Szabo (right): An early pioneer of decentralized currency who developed "Bit Gold" in 1998, a direct precursor to Bitcoin. Stylometric analysis has frequently linked his writing style to the Bitcoin whitepaper, though he has consistently denied being the creator.
• Dorian Nakamoto: In 2014, Newsweek incorrectly identified Dorian Prentice Satoshi Nakamoto, a Japanese-American engineer living in California, as the creator. Despite his denial, he became an accidental "mascot" for the persona due to his name, background in engineering, and proximity to Hal Finney.
• 
  Len Sassaman (Deceased): A cryptographer and cypherpunk who died by suicide in July 2011, the same month Satoshi sent his last known email. His, and the timing of his death, makes him a frequently cited, though largely circumstantial, candidate.

• 
  Peter Todd: Named as the likely Satoshi in a 2024 HBO documentary, Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery. The documentary relied on circumstantial evidence, such as his early interaction with Bitcoin, which Todd called "ludicrous" and "grasping at straws".
• Adam Back: A British cryptographer and CEO of Blockstream, who invented Hashcash (a proof-of-work system used in Bitcoin). He is often considered part of the "Collaborative Group Theory," which suggests Satoshi was a team, rather than an individual. 

Discredited Claims

• Craig Wright: An Australian computer scientist who claimed to be Satoshi for years. In March 2024, a UK High Court ruled that Wright is not the author of the Bitcoin whitepaper, not the creator of the system, and that he had "lied to the court extensively and repeatedly". 

The "Satoshi" Group Theory

Increasingly, analysts and experts, particularly as of 2026, believe "Satoshi Nakamoto" was not one person, but a team or collective, likely including some combination of Hal Finney, Nick Szabo, and Adam Back. 

Finally, Bitcoin was around 69,000 at the midpoint of the market day, up 2,809.

About the 2026 Winter Olympics, one week into the Games, the medal count at the time of my posting this contribution today:

Top 2026 Winter Olympics Medal Standings (As of Day 6)

• Norway (NOR): 7 Gold, 2 Silver, 5 Bronze (14 total)
• Italy (ITA): 6 Gold, 3 Silver, 8 Bronze (17 total)
• USA (USA): 4 Gold, 7 Silver, 3 Bronze (14 total)
• Germany (GER): 4 Gold, 3 Silver, 0 Bronze (7 total)

Since I returned from our long trip a few weeks ago, I went on a minimal diet and tried to walk 3 miles/day.  I'm back to normal in weight and hope to do that at least 3 times/week.  Authorities say that an old person should walk 6000 steps/day, and that is just about 3 miles for me.  I only walk in my floor hallway, for there are guardrails, carpet, no homeless danger, nor attacking dogs.  The weather is also perfect.  I regularly see rainbows.

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