What would happen if Satoshi dumped his coins?

[crypto2k]

So, you're saying Satoshi CANNOT die and MUST LIVE FOREVER to keep bitcoin going???   

[seleme]

Mat is on some drugs again today 

[MatTheCat]

Didn't you hear? Satoshi now owns all the coins (err...the NSA does, err, no the CIA?). Crap, I'm getting confused.

That is because you are not very bright.

Calm down, it was a typo. I meant 1.3M not 13M.

Edit: It is getting hysterical in here. If you lot keep this up I am going to have pull my buy-ins as this sort of anger/denial hysteria is generally followed by fear. I don't want to participate in any market ruled by maniacal fear.

I am not saying that Satoshi is going to destroy Bitcoin. I am merely responding to the suggestion made by OP that if he did dump his coins, then bitcoin would quickly recover, which is of course lunacy on toast. IF Satoshi went to the exchanges and dumped 1.3M BTC, which he isn't going to do, but if he did, he would smash Bitcoin down to single and even decimal digits with still over 1 million coins in the Ask wall. This market is not that liquid in comparison to the number of coins out in circulation.

What would happen to USD if China started dumping all its US government bonds?

Same thing here with Satoshi's Bitcoins.

[knightcoin]

dumping where I just imagining the physical scene lol

[cdooer]

That is because you are not very bright.

Finally, you got something right. This has been confirmed by sources (mostly my wife, and maybe my kids).

But, if that was indeed him in the article, you've gotta think he would've dumped by now if he was going to. And, it can't be the same guy who supposedly wrote the article regarding the train through East LA stuff. The language is completely different. One looks like english as a first language, the other looks like english as a 5th language.

[DeathAndTaxes]

However, if Satoshi did indeed dump around 13'000'000 Bitcoin, I am sorry but the price would go to zero. I am sorry but if you can't see that, then there is something wrong with your head.

Of course, they won't go to zero, but then neither will Maxcoin go to zero.

Nice backtrack.

[Chucky1976]

That would depend if he sold them or what. Could blow the price through the roof or end bitcoin for good.

[derpinheimer]

However, if Satoshi did indeed dump around 13'000'000 Bitcoin, I am sorry but the price would go to zero. I am sorry but if you can't see that, then there is something wrong with your head.

Wut? o_O

Satoshi has 1'300'000 BTC.

How deep is the complete order book on the most liquid exchange, Bitstamp? 30K BTC? 50K BTC?

Y'all say ya would dive in on double and single digit coins, but the reality is that the first sign on the blockchain of Satoshi moving his coins around and this market would freak right out and dump a shit ton. There are millionaires in Bitcoinland who if not for their lucky investments, would be flipping burgers in McDonalds (billyjoeallen?). Bitcoins nominal worth is held up by the fact that less than 10% of these mined Bitcoins are in circulation. Take 10% of all the Bitcoins in existence and dump them on the market then Bitcoin is over.

Of course, they won't go to zero, but then neither will Maxcoin go to zero.

Uh... just about every exchange has millions of BTC of bids in the $1 range.

[Omega0255]

What? of course it would go to ZERO when all buy orders are fulfilled and there are none left on the exchange, that is essentially zero. He has enough bitcoins to push the market to fulfill all buy orders listed at any time.

[knightcoin]

Honestly if u asked about "dropped" u know almost anything about cryptology

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Code:

autoconf macros use $SED

[WompRat]

We should know soon I guess if he intends to withdraw.  Which exchange offers the fastest verification for USD withdrawls?  I had a Vault of Satoshi account get verified in <12 hours.  Bitstamp is still taking about 48-72 hours I think.

I hope they waive the fees for Mr Nakamoto.

[derpinheimer]

What? of course it would go to ZERO when all buy orders are fulfilled and there are none left on the exchange, that is essentially zero. He has enough bitcoins to push the market to fulfill all buy orders listed at any time.

No, he doesnt. Even all the bitcoins in existence isnt enough to push it to 0.

[knightcoin]

people who
 know him ... knows he does no need withdraw anything ... anywhere, anytime he goes... he will be welcomed ... even in the star haven  

[Caiapfas]

He had better sale before Bitcoins are a foot note in history

[cdooer]

He had better sale before Bitcoins are a foot note in history

How can we trust someone who says, in a public forum that Natalie Portman is 'ugly as hell'??

[knightcoin]

Lol, moment he would move 0.01 from that address he would have to sell it for 5$ a piece. Those coins are lost forever.

you mean ... these computer cycles are lost forever nop

[kkaspar]

Not only Satoshi.. When you look at the history of bitcoin, then in all probability, there are millions of coins out there that have been earned by drug dealers,computer crackers and confidence men.
This is the main reason I only hold coins when going to sleep, when there is a very strong upwards momentum, like we witnessed in November.
I can trust the source code of bitcoin, and I can even somehow trust some of the exchanges, but I can't trust a bunch of unknown people with unknown motives to keep my coins valuable.
It seems that most people are just ignoring this problem, since it hasn't happened yet. But this isn't making me feel any secure, because The Crash would only happen once, with leaving bitcoin in ruins.

[TERA]

[leopard2]

It isn't going to happen. But if it did happen, Bitcoin would go to zero. Its that simple.

Nonsense.  The network would still have value and people would be insane to not buy at a fraction of a penny.  I tell you what since you are "worried" about it going to zero, if Satoshi dumps them all I will buy any unbought coins at the first recorded exchange rate of 1,309.03 BTC per dollar.  If we guestimate that Satoshi has one million coins that would be a grand total of $763.93 to buy them all.

See it won't go to zero.  Of course I will never be able to buy that low, but now you can stop panicking about it going to zero.

Exactly. We may compare to the oil price after 9/11; it spiked but then dropped because the (airplane) game changed.

Markets are funny. I could imagine that price would drop but then things would happen like: investors grap cheap coins to repair Gox, Wallstreet grabs cheap coins to get their funds filled, and finally the "market" would recognize that there will never be so many coins thrown at the market in the future and price could go up quite a bit.

Btw. I don't think he would sell them like that, this would probably be a dark pool transaction to a Wallstreet vehicle. An open transaction is not in Satoshi's interest and not in the investor's interest either. And the tax issue of course ...

[porcupine87]

Would the Facebook stock go to zero, because one guy owns 30% and can "dump" it?

The other question is, if Satoshi still has the keys. Maybe he is so idealistic, that he threw them away. I can't really estimate, how high the chances are for that...