#whitepaper #bitcoin #satoshi Hereās why I think Satoshi Nakamoto chose October 31, 2008, to release the Bitcoin white paper. In my bubbleābecause thatās what I have to call it, as I was living in the world of online poker back thenāI believe I know the answer. In short, because he promised it would be ready by November 1. š And why this specific deadline? Because on May 9, 2008, Joshua Bolten, White House Chief of Staff under the Bush administration, issued a memorandum directing government agencies (e.g., Treasury Department, Federal Reserve) to finalize all significant regulationsāincluding the UIGEAāby November 1, 2008. This decision was made to avoid issuing controversial regulations before the November 4 presidential election and to prevent political scandals during the campaign period. I think Satoshi loved online poker and believed his new financial system, which he had already conceptualized, should be tested in the poker community. The looming finalization of the UIGEA regulations, after it was announced that the rules would be set in November 2008, was a perfect opportunity for him. The UIGEA banned banking transactions for online gambling (e.g., poker sites), making deposits and withdrawals nearly impossible and putting immense pressure on both players and poker sites to find ways to bypass banking restrictions. The November 1 deadline set by the Bolten Memo was the moment the poker community realized this wasnāt just a threat but the start of a real banking blockade. I recall that in some private correspondence, Satoshi promised someone he was working on something and would try to finish it before the deadline. Iām not sure, but someone else was supposed to complete something by the same deadlineāmaybe a poker lobby marketplace or something similar where chips, money, and, as I now know, Bitcoin could be exchanged peer-to-peer. I donāt know if this was a standalone site or part of a major gambling groupās platform. I think it was standalone, but Iām not certain. I remember Satoshi hinting that heād present a decentralized payment system bypassing banks by the deadline, something heād been working on for a while. The May 9 memo was crucial, in my opinion, because while the UIGEA had been looming since 2006, there wasnāt a concrete deadline until then. Once Satoshi learned of it, I believe it directly influenced his decision to set November 1 as the target to complete and present what he was working on. I only saw later, by reading back, that some guys were already talking about this, eagerly awaiting what someone had hinted atāa solution to bypass banks. Iām wondering if Satoshi said this between May and November 1, or if it was the other unknown person who was supposed to deliver something but didnāt and, after falling out with everyone, leaked information early. It doesnāt matter, because the point is that Satoshi delivered on his part. On October 31, 2008, he released the white paper. He sent early code versions to the community for feedback, asking if theyād use it for poker deposits and withdrawals in a peer-to-peer Bitcoin and stuck-funds exchange. The first code, if I recall correctly, was sent even before the UIGEA regulations appeared in the Federal Register. He proved twice that he kept his promise, while others didnāt. Unfortunately, testers said the Bitcoin was too complex for online poker players to use peer-to-peer. I think no one saw the depth Satoshi was operating at, so the enthusiasm died within the first month. Yet the poker community was supposed to be the one to push the first domino in Satoshiās vision. Thatās why he finished by October 31 and had everything ready by December. By then, maybe a dozen test chains were already running. The poker thread died out by January, but fortunately, there was another narrative I ignored for a while due to my poker bubbleāthe 2008 financial crisis.
