Coming up with a good name is often one of the hardest decisions to make when launching a new service or business. Historical domain name purchase data suggests that Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of Bitcoin (BTC), had an alternative name option in mind that did not make it into the whitepaper.
Bitcoin.org, the website domain linked to the original Bitcoin, was created on August 18, 2008, under AnonymousSpeech, a service in Japan that allowed users to purchase domain names anonymously. Domain purchases under AnonymousSpeech around similar dates revealed the creation of Netcoin.org on August 17, 2008, just one day before the creation of Bitcoin.org.
Did you know? A day before the https://t.co/oDfOFzFVNi domain was first registered, someone purchased https://t.co/KLzoDxJjrz using the same registrar. Looks like Satoshi was contemplating between the two names and later dropped https://t.co/KLzoDxJjrz#bitcoin pic.twitter.com/yqwZYRefvX
— Or Weinberger (@orweinberger) September 23, 2022
Upon further investigation, crypto locksmith Or Weinberger confirmed that there was never any content on the Netcoin.org domain “except after someone else later bought it back.”
The decision to stick with Bitcoin may have been crucial to its success due to the fact that numerous members of the crypto community highlighted their distaste for the name Netcoin, such as declared one:
“It’s interesting. I’m glad they stuck with Bitcoin, it sounds so much better.”
The finding further helps Bitcoin distance itself from people who have previously claimed to be Satoshi Nakamoto. The Netcoin.org domain was later removed and re-registered to a Web.com affiliate in 2010.
Despite the mysteries behind the creation of Bitcoin, the asset continues to dominate the financial markets. BitPay confirms this idea, as its data shows that Bitcoin is an important payment tool despite its huge price volatility.
Speaking to Cointelegraph, BitPay VP of Marketing Merrick Theobald stated that Bitcoin-based payment sales volumes on BitPay accounted for up to 52% in the first quarter of 2022.
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