The speed of transactions has long been one of the main selling points of the Bitcoin (BTC) network, while its creator, the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto, remains anonymous despite certain individuals claiming to be him, so far without substantial evidence.
Among the notable people impressed by the speed of Bitcoin’s lightning network, as well as its architect’s persistent anonymity, is Edward Snowden, a former computer intelligence consultant that has been on the run after leaking thousands of classified U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) documents to the press.
Indeed, Snowden has expressed his fascination with the network’s “basically instantaneous” transactions and its founder’s continuous devotion to anonymity, as he shared Nakamoto’s Bitcoin white paper on October 31, which marked the 14th anniversary of its publication.
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Snowden’s unrelenting belief in Bitcoin
Specifically, in a follow-up to the white paper tweet, he highlighted that:
“14 years ago today, yet Satoshi remains anonymous. Remarkable.”
Furthermore, replying to a comment from billionaire Leland McKnight who is reluctant to use “a currency that holds up checkout lines,” Snowden said that:
“Transactions are basically instantaneous on lightning-enabled wallets these days. Have you tried it?”
Interestingly, one commenter implied that the crypto community believed none other than Snowden to be the legendary Nakamoto, which the former NSA analyst firmly denied.
Snowden has been on the run since leaking the NSA documents in 2013, taking refuge in Russia where, in October 2020, he was granted unlimited permanent residency, he received Russian citizenship on September 26, 2022, by the country’s president Vladimir Putin.
All the while, he has been an avid Bitcoin supporter and was one of the notable personalities praising it back in December 2020, when the decentralized finance (DeFi) token first surpassed $20,000, its all-time high (ATH) at the time.
Bitcoin price analysis
It is worth noting that at the time of publication, Bitcoin was trading at about the same level as back then – $20,617 – recording a 0.50% drop on the day, but a 7.02% increase across the week, adding up to the monthly growth of 7.84%.
As things stand, Bitcoin is still by far the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, which at press time stood at $395.96 billion, according to the data retrieved by Finbold on November 1.
