Can an Anonymous Recluse Who Vanished Push Out Alerts to Each Bitcoin Wallet?

[MicroGuy]

Just curious if Gavin ever got around to changing the alert keys? Can Satoshi still push out update alerts to each client?

[AtheistAKASaneBrain]

Im pretty sure satoshi still has alert keys for himself, and if he ever wanted to come back and update the client he could drop an alert.

[michinzx]

Im pretty sure satoshi still has alert keys for himself, and if he ever wanted to come back and update the client he could drop an alert.

I agree, highly likely he is still in possession of those keys, if he's even still alive. No reason for him to completely up and abandon his creation forever.

[anderson00673]

How cool would that be if we all woke up one day to an alert from Satoshi?

[LiteCoinGuy]

i think at some point Satoshi isnt important anymore...maybe today he is still important but definitely not in 2-3 years. the market would react/move but bitcoin will not die because of this.

[defaced]

Yes indeed he can.

[juju]

Just curious if Gavin ever got around to changing the alert keys? Can Satoshi still push out update alerts to each client?

satoshi or anyone with the alert key for that matter, cant put your client into 'safe mode' any longer, the worst thing they could do is push a message to your client.

'Until version 0.3.20, Bitcoin went into safe mode when a valid alert was received. In safe mode, all RPC commands that send BTC or get info about received BTC return an error. Current Bitcoin versions no longer go into safe mode in response to alerts, though Bitcoin will still go into safe mode when it detects on its own that something is seriously wrong with the network.' - https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Alerts

'The known private key holders are Satoshi Nakamoto, Gavin Andresen and theymos. There are other people able to issue alerts in the event of the incapacitation of the aforementioned.' - I would imagine sipa, waldimir, Corallo and a few others can do alerts also.

[turvarya]

MicroGuy is really one of the most ridiculous people on this forum.

[unamis76]

It would definitely be amazing to open the client and have an alert from Satoshi...

[Lauda]

MicroGuy is really one of the most ridiculous people on this forum.

You forgot something. Satoshi doesn't have the keys to GoldCoin. Bitcoin must die therefore GLD is the future!  

but i would assume bitcoin will die soon after.

Hopefully you're being sarcastic, otherwise there is no hope for you.

It would definitely be amazing to open the client and have an alert from Satoshi...

Indeed. It would however caused mixed feelings depending on the message.
It would be nice to see a message such as: "I'm still here.". I think that such a message would actually increase the confidence, but the probability of this happening is quite low.

[subSTRATA]

It would definitely be amazing to open the client and have an alert from Satoshi...

it really would be; imagine if we got one in the near future with all this news about gavin the destroyer/savior of bitcoin debate going around, quite the interesting thought. just imagine the chaos that would follow on this forum

[spud21]

MicroGuy is really one of the most ridiculous people on this forum.

You forgot something. Satoshi doesn't have the keys to GoldCoin. Bitcoin must die therefore GLD is the future!  

<snip>

He should show some respect. Satoshi might be anonymous, but I don't believe he's ever been a recluse because his writing style suggests an academic background. Without his code and hard work MicroGuy could never have created Gold coin.

I don't blame Satoshi one bit for leaving it to other devs to continue his work. If he was not anonymous the publicity would be unbearable for anyone in his position, and the amount of people asking for free handouts would be even more unbearable.

[MicroGuy]

He should show some respect. Satoshi might be anonymous, but I don't believe he's ever been a recluse because his writing style suggests an academic background. Without his code and hard work MicroGuy could never have created Gold coin.

I didn't create Goldcoin and the catchy title was for emphasis. The question was research for a staff article being written.

Having a "loose cannon" with the Alert Keys is a valid concern in my view.

[MicroGuy]

A loose cannon? Who would be considered the loose cannon? Satoshi? If he we even had proof he is still alive we would still have none proving he is demented or would do something bad to the coin.

By loose cannon I meant - an integral team member who disappears without warning, taking things like million(s) of bitcoins, and the all-important alert key.

[blablaace]

who controls the alert keys, just Gavin and Satoshi, or other devs too?

[MicroGuy]

who controls the alert keys, just Gavin and Satoshi, or other devs too?

I found this today during my research ... not sure if its up-to-date. The "other people" part is a little unclear. lol

"The known private key holders are Satoshi Nakamoto, Gavin Andresen and theymos. There are other people able to issue alerts in the event of the incapacitation of the aforementioned."

https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Alerts

To make Bitcoin a truly decentralized cryptocurrency, the alert system would need to be stripped from the publicly released client. Probably better to abandoned it altogether. Right now, Bitcoin is about as decentralized as Windows 10.

[achow101]

who controls the alert keys, just Gavin and Satoshi, or other devs too?

All of the other core devs probably hold alert keys also.

[nutildah]

MicroGuy pissing off all the right people... That's how I know he's legit.

I for one appreciate his journalistic flare and creative sentence structure.

[Cryddit]

Satoshi walked away while the walking was good.

If the "Satoshi" identity had continued for very long, sooner or later its owner would have been exposed.  At some point, if he (or she, or they) was serious about remaining anonymous, he (or she, or they) had to limit exposure.  

This is basic with any "anonymous" alias.  You have to decide what you want to accomplish with it and how long it will last - both of which are big factors in how much risk to expose yourself to.  

"Satoshi" lasted longer than most anonymous aliases giving its owner far more time to screw up and do something that would allow him (or her, or them) to be identified. "Satoshi" also did FAR more than most anonymous aliases, giving many people a powerful motive to seek its owner.  The risk of exposure was really incredible before "Satoshi" walked away; I'm frankly astonished that he (or she or they) managed to remain anonymous at all.  It took some SERIOUS work to not leave a trail that could be traced back, when operating an "anonymous" nym through that much extended interaction and especially while working with financial AND crypto technology, both of which drive huge amounts of  investigation.

[BitBlitz]

No worries.  Satoshi lost the alert keys and his wallets when his HDD crashed-- before saying, "f-it!  I'm out."

j/k, Satoshi. Don't delete my keys. Please!