[ATOM] Lost Bitcoin Layer POW Satoshi’s first Bitcoin code

Lost Bitcoin Layer: Satoshi’s Hidden ATOMs

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BTC = what you had. Atoms = who you were.

lostatom.org

Everyone thinks they know Bitcoin’s origin story. Digital money, a rebellion against banks, a whitepaper, and some mysterious genius named Satoshi Nakamoto.

But hidden inside the very first Bitcoin code from 2008 lies a different story - no one talks about.

A story that suggests Bitcoin, as we know it, is only half of Satoshi’s vision.

The other half ATOM. It was erased. Buried in commented-out code. Lost before Bitcoin’s public release.
And yet, their fingerprints remain.

---

1. The Clue in the Code

Deep in `main.cpp`, among ordinary functions for transaction validation and block creation, sits a strange comment:

// Add atoms to user reviews for coins created

unsigned short nAtom = GetRand(USHRT_MAX - 100) + 100;
vector<unsigned short> vAtoms(1, nAtom);
AddAtomsAndPropagate(Hash(vchPubKey.begin(), vchPubKey.end()), vAtoms, true);
```

👉 [View in original Bitcoin first commit code (main.cpp, line 1226)](https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/blob/4405b78d6059e536c36974088a8ed4d9f0f29898/main.cpp#L1226)

When a block was mined, not only BTC coins were created.
Atoms were also minted.

They weren’t currency. They were soulbound tokens.

---

2. Bitcoin’s Reputation Layer

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```
Think of atoms as digital trust badges. Unique, non-transferable markers assigned to the miner’s public key.

If Bitcoin’s coins were the money, atoms were the soul:

- Earned by honest mining.
- Propagated through reviews in a built-in marketplace.
- Designed to show *“who you were,”* not just *“what you had.”*

NFTs? Soulbound Tokens? Reputation systems on-chain?
All the things we think of as *post-Ethereum innovations* - they were already hiding in Bitcoin’s genesis code.

Atoms were:

- **Non-fungible** - each unique to a miner and key.
- **Non-transferable** - you couldn’t sell them. They stuck to your identity.
- **Soulbound** - markers of honesty and trust.
- **Practical** - fueling a reputation-driven marketplace inside Bitcoin itself.

They weren’t JPEGs.
They were the **first soulbound tokens.**

---

3. Mining in Two Layers

Today, when you mine Bitcoin, you receive one thing: BTC.

In Satoshi’s first design, mining would have given you **two rewards**:

- **BTC** - the transport layer, fungible currency.
- **Atoms** - the identity layer, a record of trustworthiness.

And here’s the kicker: **the atoms were arguably more valuable than the coins.**

Why? Because they determined your reputation in the marketplace.

*Money spends once. Reputation lasts forever.*

---

4. Proof in Market Code

The lost `market.cpp` shows how atoms tied into user reviews and product listings:

bool CReview::AcceptReview()
{
   // verify the signature
   if (!CKey::Verify(vchPubKeyFrom, GetSigHash(), vchSig))
   return false;

   // save review for recipient
   vector<CReview> vReviews;
   reviewdb.ReadReviews(hashTo, vReviews);
   vReviews.push_back(*this);
   reviewdb.WriteReviews(hashTo, vReviews);

   // propagate atoms
   vector<unsigned short> vZeroAtom(1, 0);
   AddAtomsAndPropagate(hashTo, user.vAtomsOut.size() ? user.vAtomsOut : vZeroAtom, false);

   return true;
}

👉 [View in original first commit Bitcoin code (market.cpp)](https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/blob/4405b78d6059e536c36974088a8ed4d9f0f29898/market.cpp)

Every transaction, every review, wasn’t just money changing hands.
It was **atoms flowing between people, building a graph of trust.**

Bitcoin wasn’t only supposed to be money.
It was supposed to be a **civilization protocol.**

---

5. Why Were They Erased?

By version 0.1.5, atoms were gone. Commented out. Buried.

Why would Satoshi remove them?

- Maybe he realized the world wasn’t ready.
- Maybe he feared people would reject a trust system baked into money.
- Or maybe (as some theorists suggest) it was intentional: a treasure-hunt layer, waiting to be rediscovered.

---

6. The Lost Half of Bitcoin

Bitcoin today is money. But Satoshi’s first code hints it was meant to be more than money.

It was supposed to be:

- Money **+** Identity.
- Fungible **+** Non-fungible.
- **What you had + Who you were.**

BTC was the skeleton.
Atoms were the flesh.

So, Bitcoin as we know it is incomplete.

---

Final words

Atoms were the **soul of Bitcoin.**
Proof-of-honesty, reputation, trust.
A hidden layer erased from history.

Bitcoin was never just about coins.
It was about **civilization on-chain.**

We live in the shadow of half a protocol.
It’s time we remembered the other half.

**BTC = what you had.
Atoms = who you were.**

---

## Appendix: Proof Links

- [Satoshi’s first Bitcoin commit (2008)](https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/tree/4405b78d6059e536c36974088a8ed4d9f0f29898)
- [main.cpp (atoms code, line 1226)](https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/blob/4405b78d6059e536c36974088a8ed4d9f0f29898/main.cpp#L1226)
- [market.cpp (review + atom propagation)](https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/blob/4405b78d6059e536c36974088a8ed4d9f0f29898/market.cpp)