One of the early co-developers of Bitcoin, Martti Malmi, randomly tweeted a link containing the text of emails between himself and Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto.

On Thursday, Finnish software engineer Martti Malmi, a co-architect of Bitcoin in its first two years, published a mysteriously succinct message on X (formerly Twitter): “My email correspondence with Satoshi in 2009-2011: mmalmi.github.io/satoshi.” 

The link led to a 70,000-word document on Github containing emails exchanged between him and—he claims—Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous founder of Bitcoin, whose real identity is still unknown. 

My email correspondence with Satoshi in 2009-2011: https://t.co/jyoX8gXckp

— Martti Malmi (@marttimalmi) February 23, 2024

The simplicity of the post’s language belied the significance of the data drop. There are very few publicly-known samples of communications from Satoshi aside from the original Bitcoin Whitepaper, published in 2008. And Malmi is one of the few verifiable parties involved in the creation of the first cryptocurrency.

In his introductory text preceding the emails, Malmi explains why he has chosen to publicize these now, some 13-15 years later after they were sent: “I did not feel comfortable sharing private correspondence earlier, but decided to do so for an important trial in the UK in 2024 where I was a witness. Also, a long time has passed now since the emails were sent.” The trial Malmi was referring to was the one between the Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA) and Craig Wright, in which Wright claims to be Satoshi. 

Read more: A History of Bitcoin: How the World’s First Digital Asset Went From Obscurity to Fame

Prescient Satoshi

Some of the findings demonstrate Satoshi’s prescience, seemingly predicting the recent controversies surrounding cryptocurrency. Highlights include: 

1. Satoshi on regulatory stickiness

“I’m uncomfortable with explicitly saying, ‘consider it an investment’… That’s a dangerous thing to say and you should delete that bullet point. It’s OK if they come to that conclusion on their own, but we can’t pitch it as that.”

2. Satoshi on crypto mining

“If it did grow to consume significant energy…The cost would be an order of magnitude less than the billions in banking fees that pay for all those brick-and-mortar buildings, skyscrapers, and junk mail credit card offers.”

3. On early detractors of his idea

“Some of their responses were Neanderthal.”

4. On the limits of Bitcoin’s use as a currency

“Important to remember, even if Bitcoin caught on at dot-com rates of growth, it would still take years to become any substantial fraction of all transactions.”

5. On the origins of the term ‘cryptocurrency’

“Someone came up with the word ‘cryptocurrency’… maybe it’s a word we should use when describing Bitcoin; do you like it?”

Read more: The Bitcoin Genesis Block Was Mined 15 Years Ago: What Is It and Why Is It Significant?

This is not the first time the Finnish software developer has taken to X to boast about his unique ties to Bitcoin. According to a tweet he posted back in 2014, he is responsible for the first bitcoin-to-USD transaction, which took place in 2009. 

Found the first known bitcoin to USD transaction from my email backups. I sold 5,050 BTC for $5,02 on 2009-10-12. https://t.co/8XcBmzJljf

— Martti Malmi (@marttimalmi) January 15, 2014

CORRECTION (Feb. 23 11:48 p.m. ET): A previous version of this story referred to a quote about Satoshi’s pizza toppings preference. This was a meme post and not a true quote. We regret the error.