The original Bitcoin white paper is hidden within Apple's Mac devices that run on a modern macOS version, according to a blog post from technologist Andy Baio.
The independent blogger said the PDF file was shipped with every version of macOS since Mojave (10.14.0) in 2018.
- Baio found the Bitcoin white paper in his Mac device while trying to fix his printer.
- When
he wanted to scan a document through a wireless scanner, Baio saw a
device dubbed Virtual Scanner II that had never appeared before.
- Virtual
Scanner II showed a photo by default, and the popular blogger was able
to view the Bitcoin white paper unexpectedly by changing the media type
from "Photo" to "Document."
- Baio
used a Twitter thread from 2020 prepared by designer Joshua Dickens,
who also found the white paper, to find the file location.
- The
blogger also created a prompt for macOS for other people to confirm the
existence of the white paper, and everyone could access the file by
using the command.
- Anyone
can currently open the PDF by opening Terminal, the command line
interface of macOS, and typing the prompt created by Baio.
- Baio
estimates that the file is placed within the operating system for test
purposes and was never aimed to be seen by end users, though Apple has
yet to make any official comment.
- The
Bitcoin white paper, titled "Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash
System," is the original thesis paper written by the pseudonymous
Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008 to lay out the basic structure
and technical details of the Bitcoin network.
