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Apple Removes Bitcoin Whitepaper (After 5 Years)
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It seems the world’s largest tech company, Apple, has been quietly placing its mark on the crypto space for many years, unbeknownst to most of its users.
On April 25th 2023 we were reminded that the tech giant Apple had quietly included a copy of the Bitcoin white paper in its macOS operating system, since 2018. As reported on April 5th 2023 by technologist Andy Baio, a PDF version of Satoshi Nakamoto’s Bitcoin white paper was found within Virtual Scanner II in MacOS. Of course, when this discovery was made, it didn’t take long for a variety of conspiracy theories to emerge, such as the wild speculation that Apple co-founder Steve Jobs could be Satoshi Nakamoto, as reported by AppleInsider.com.
Nevertheless, a copy of this PDF was included with certain versions of the macOS operating system without the public’s knowledge, but with the most recent version of the operating system update being released, the Bitcoin white paper has been removed from the beta version. The news site 9to5Mac made the revelation that the virtual scanner app which included this PDF had also been removed with the latest version of the operating system upgrade. Apple is yet to provide an explanation as to why the Bitcoin white paper had been shipped with every version of its operating system for the past five years, although Andy Baio’s post speculates that it may have been ‘just a joke among Apple engineers.’
The removal of the Bitcoin white paper from the latest version of the Mac operating system by Apple raises some important questions about the role of technology companies in regulating access to information. While it may be understandable that Apple wants to avoid any legal issues or association with controversial topics, the decision to remove a document that has significant historical and cultural value could be seen as troubling to some.
Our Summary
The news that Apple had quietly included the Bitcoin white paper in its macOS operating system since 2018 has sparked discussions about the company’s involvement in the cryptocurrency space. Apple’s potential interest in cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology remains unconfirmed.
As we continue to see the intersection of technology and finance, it will be interesting to see how companies like Apple navigate their involvement in the cryptocurrency industry.
