Would it matter if the NSA had invented Bitcoin? Absolutely.
The revelation that "Patoshi" might actually be "NSAtoshi" - not just holding 1 million coins, but an additional 9 million - would shift the entire narrative. It would suggest that Bitcoin’s early growth was an orchestrated effort, not an organic revolution. A vast wealth accumulation strategy in a world where the dollar is dying.
If the NSA had such a head start, our discussions about decentralization and governance would suddenly seem hollow. The slow awakening of nation-states to Bitcoin’s potential could have been a well-crafted story, designed to mislead us into believing we had control.
The collective agency we thought we shared? An illusion.
Whether Bitcoin was a spontaneous creation by a lone cypherpunk or a long-term operation by an intelligence agency to prolong US dominance is no trivial matter. It changes everything.