Steemit Crypto Academy [Beginners’ Level] | Season 3 Week 6 | Satoshi Nakamoto, Wei Dai and Cryptocurrency Units of Measurement.

Hello and welcome once again ladies and gentlemen to another week of the Steemit Crypto Academy.

On the first week of our lessons, we got to discover the Genesis Block and its significance. After that, we talked about the duplication of the Genesis Block by the process of Blockchain Forks.

This week, we are going to be talking about two key figures in the crypto world. After that, we would go into crypto measurements while we take a few simple calculations.

Without wasting time, let’s get into the business of the week starting with Satoshi Nakamoto...

Who is Satoshi Nakamoto?

The right answer to this is “Nobody Knows”. Nobody knows who this name really belongs to. It could be a male, a female or a group of people.

What we do know is that Satoshi Nakamoto is famous for publishing the Bitcoin Whitepaper in 2008 and for the invention of Bitcoin in 2009. In a time when it seemed like the conventional banking system had failed, Nakamoto successfully created a means to escaping centralization. This person(s) paved a way for the success of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology in general with the gift of Bitcoin. A revolutionary means of true freedom that has changed millions of lives today.

Bitcoin was built to be free of any central control so after checking that Bitcoin was good to go on its own, Satoshi Nakamoto disappeared without a trace.

Claims/Theories of Satoshi Nakamoto’s identity

Bitcoin has seen great success over the years. Satoshi Nakamoto would be proud to see that the dream had changed the way people viewed money and value. But there is still that big question of who Satoshi Nakamoto really is. Normally, you’d expect that the founder of Bitcoin would have revealed themselves by now seeing the success of Bitcoin but that just is not the case.

Although there is no clear indication of Satoshi’s real identity, there have been a number of claims to it. There have been several clues investigated. Satoshi Nakamoto is a Japanese name but the mastery of English the individual used was so good and with certain indications that they were of British decent. Also, the precision of the Bitcoin code was so good that people believed it was a group of people that were behind the project.

Whatever the case, the Bitcoin founder did a good job to maintain their anonymity. Satoshi Nakamoto’s anonymity has helped to reinforce the idea of decentralization with cryptocurrencies. It’s been 13 years since the Whitepaper was published and nobody still knows for sure who Nakamoto really is/are.

Still, like I said, there have been claims and theories of who Satoshi really is. We will be looking at three of such claims below;

1. Harold “Hal” Finney:

_Source

True Bitcoin enthusiasts must have heard of Hal Finney. Well, this man was a true believer of the Bitcoin project and someone conveniently close to the Bitcoin founder.

Finney was a cypherpunk (advocate for cryptocurrencies and cryptography), the first person to use the Bitcoin network and received Bitcoin from Nakamoto from the first Bitcoin transaction. Finney had been receiving emails from Nakamoto concerning the Bitcoin project too. Looking at all this, it is quite easy to think that Finney would likely be Nakamoto. However, he denied all the claims and was eventually proven right.

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2. Dorian Satoshi Nakamoto:

_Source

If you Google “Satoshi Nakamoto” this is the face you would see because this man’s name is actually Satoshi Nakamoto. But could he be “The Satoshi Nakamoto”?

Dorian Nakamoto is a Japanese-American with the name of the Bitcoin founder himself. That similarity alone is something to think about. When interviewed by journalists, Dorian was quoted to had said something in the lines of “I am no longer involved. It’s been turned over to others”. The press had interpreted “it” as Bitcoin.

The whole situation seemed promising until Dorian cleared the air stating that it was a misunderstanding. He was talking about a different project of his.

Before we go to the next point, it’s important to note that Dorian lived close to Hal Finney. This fact strengthened the argument of him being the Bitcoin founder but it also made people wonder if Finney had chosen the name of his neighbor to cover his own tracks.

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3. Craig Wright:

_Source

An Australian scientist, Craig Wright is someone else that has been thought to be the Bitcoin Founder. Wright is among those that implemented the Bitcoin Cash hard fork that gave rise to Bitcoin Satoshi Vision(SV). How convenient. The whole Wright conspiracy started when his blog post and leaked emails revealed evidence supporting the claim.

Unlike the others, Wright did not deny the claims. Eventually though, the claims were proven to be false and Wright was seen as a fraud.

Satoshi as a unit of measurement for Bitcoin

We all know that bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are divisible. A lot of us who cannot afford a whole bitcoin have the option of buying smaller bits of it.

This particular feature of cryptocurrencies has made it easy for small scale investors to have a share of the crypto world and bitcoin in particular. These smaller units are measured on the blockchain with the smallest unit for bitcoin popularly known as the satoshi.

Named after the bitcoin founder, a satoshi is the smallest unit of bitcoin on the blockchain with the symbol SAT. It is equivalent to one hundred millionth(one over a hundred million) of a bitcoin. So one hundred million Satoshis make a bitcoin.

1 SAT = 1 x 10^-8 BTC

There is another unit after the Satoshi called the millisatoshi but it only exists on the lightning network. The millisatoshi is one thousandth of a satoshi and one hundred billionth of a bitcoin.

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Breaking down the units for bitcoin

Unit	Symbol	Value (BTC)
mega bitcoin	MBTC	1,000,000
kilo bitcoin	kBTC	1,000
hecto bitcoin	hBTC	100
deca bitcoin	daBTC	10
Bitcoin	BTC	1
deci bitcoin	dBTC	0.1
centi bitcoin	cBTC	0.01
milli bitcoin	mBTC	0.001
micro bitcoin	μBTC	0.000001
satoshi	SAT	0.00000001
millisatoshi	mSAT	0.00000000001

Calculation

Now I would calculate the current dollar value of a satoshi. The value of Bitcoin as at the time of making this post is $41,438.48 according to coinmarketcap

Solution
1 satoshi = 1/100000000 x 1 BTC
1 BTC = $41,438.48
∴ 1 satoshi = 1/100000000 x 41,438.48
1 satoshi = $0.0004143848
1 satoshi = $0.000414 (to 3 s.f)

Who is Wei Dai?

Another prominent name in the crypto world is Wei Dai. Unlike Nakamoto, this particular individual is not unknown. However, he is very careful to not let any of his pictures breach the internet.

Dai is a Chinese Computer Engineer who has made a number of impacts on the crypto world. He was instrumental in projects like Crypto++ and VMAC but what was probably his most notable work was b-money.

As a cypherpunk, Dai was one of the early enthusiasts of cryptography and anonymity. He proposed b-money in 1998 as a digital cash on an anonymous distributed ledger. It was supposed to be the first cryptocurrency but sadly the work remained just a publication and was never fully implemented.

B-money might have never worked out but it was integral in the success of crypto currencies. Satoshi Nakamoto had referenced some of Dai's works on the Bitcoin Whitepaper and been in contact with him through emails. Nakamoto had acknowledged B-money and "expanded" on the idea to create the first successful cryptocurrency.

The Fact that Dai is so important in the crypto world eventually had people wondering if he was the anonymous Bitcoin founder. The similarities between the B-money paper and Bitcoin whitepaper was something that was considered in this theory. Also Wei Dai was really invested in seeing cryptocurrencies become a success. It's even possible that Dai just changed the name of the currency from B-money to a soundalike Bitcoin.

Despite everything, Dai has never been proven to be Nakamoto himself.

Wei as a unit of measurement for Ether

Just like Satoshi, Wei Dai has a crypto unit named after him. The wei unit represents the smallest unit of Ether on the blockchain.

1 wei = 1 x 10^-18 ETH

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Breaking down the units for ether

Unit	Symbol	Value (ETH)
Ether	ETH	1
Peta wei/milliether	Pwei	0.001
Tera wei/microether	Twei	0.000001
Giga wei	Gwei	0.000000001
Mega wei	Mwei	1 x 10-12
Kilo wei	Kwei	1 x 10-15
Wei	Wei	1 x 10-18

Calculations in Gwei

Even though wei is the smallest unit for ether, Gwei is used more often. On this part of the lesson, I will be calculating the current value of a gwei to 3 significant figures.

At the time of making this post, the value of ether is $2,459.26 according to coinmarketcap

Solution
1 Gwei = 1/1000000000 x 1 Ether
1 Ether = $2,459.26
∴ 1 Gwei = 1/1000000000 x 2,459.26
1 Gwei = $0.00000245926
1 Gwei = $0.00000246 (to 3 s.f)

Steem Smallest Unit

There is no term for the smallest unit for Steem yet. However, the smallest amount that can be transferred is 0.001 Steem.

Let’s check it out. In the example below, I transferred 0.001 Steem to reminiscence01.

I validated the transaction with my active key and it was successfull.

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Next, I tried to transfer 0.0009 Steem to the same account.

From the image above, there is a message indicating that Steem only allows a maximum of 3 decimals places on the blockchain. If you check your Steem Power, Steem Balance and SBD balance you would notice that they are all in a maximum of 3 decimal places.

_{My Steem and Steem Power balances}

This goes without saying that the lowest value that can be viewed or transferred is 0.001 on the Steem Blockchain.

Other Crypto Measurement units

Currency	Smallest unit	Value
XRP	Drop	1 x 10-6 XRP
TRX	Sun	1 x 10-6 TRX
BNB	Jager	1 x 10-8 BNB.
Monero	Piconero	1 x 10-12 Monero
XLM	Stroop	1 x 10-7 XLM
Ada	Lovelace	1 x 10-6 ADA

Conclusion

Cryptocurrencies might not have been so successful without a couple of individuals. Satoshi Nakamoto has been a great impact on the world so it is clear why people would want to know who the Bitcoin founder really is.

Wei Dai is also someone who deserves a mention when the crypto topic comes up. Even Satoshi mentioned him.

Just as fiat money, cryptocurrencies are divisible and can be measured digitally. Smaller units make it easier to weigh coins on the blockchain. Some coins have been given terms to their smaller units while others are yet to be but it still does not change this divisible nature.

We have successfully talked about some important names in the crypto world and looked at some measurement units. I hope you enjoyed the class.

Homework

1. Who is Satoshi Nakamoto?

2. Write on two claims/theories of Satoshi Nakamoto’s identity.

3. Who is Wei Dai?

4. What is the current value of Bitcoin on the day you are performing this task? Calculate the USD value of one satoshi of the current value. (Show full working and to 3 s.f).

5. What is the current value of Ether on the day you are performing this task? Calculate the USD value of one Gwei of the current value. (Show full working and to 3 s.f).

6. Transfer 0.001 Steem to an account. Then send 0.0001 steem. Show what happens and state why.
   (Screenshots with username tag).

Note: Provide screenshots of the coin values for the day of the calculations.

Rules/Guidelines

• This Task will run until 7th Aygust 23:59 UTC.
• Your article should be at least 300 words long.
• Please try and understand the topic before performing the task.
• Make sure you post this assignment in the Steemit Crypto Academy Community.
• Use the hashtags #awesononso-s3week6 and #cryptoacademy among your first 5 hashtags and tag me @awesononso.
• Plagiarism and content spinning is not tolerated in the Academy. Repeat offenders will be blacklisted and banned from the academy.
• All outsourced images should be copyright free and properly referenced.
• Only students with a minimum of 125SP and a reputation of 50 are eligible to participate. You should also not be powering down.

My Comment section is open for any questions or suggestions.

Thank you.

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