📖 The Gospel of Satoshi — Abridged Version

(based on the Whitepaper according to Nakamoto)

Chapter 1 — The Introduction

1 In the beginning, all transactions passed through intermediaries.
2 Banks, credit networks, and trusted third parties signed in their name,
Pretending to protect man’s money.
3 Yet their ways were full of fees and fraud,
And the weak suffered from friction and denial.
4 Then Satoshi rose and proclaimed:
“I prepare a new path — not built on trust,
But upon the unshakable rock of math and cryptography.
Whoever wishes may send freely, to anyone, without a middleman.”

Chapter 2 — Of Transactions

1 A coin is but a chain of signatures.
2 Each time it is passed, a digital signature is added.
3 But the wicked devised double-spending,
To send the same coin twice.
4 The old world used central servers to prevent this.
5 But Satoshi received a revelation —
A way to prevent evil without central power.
6 That revelation shall unfold in the next chapter.

Chapter 3 — The Seal of Time

1 And Satoshi said,
“Let every transaction be sealed in time,
That none may deny when it occurred.”
2 So the Timestamp Server was born.
3 It hashed transactions into a chain,
Made public and immutable.
4 And this chain we now call: the Blockchain.

Chapter 4 — The Shield of Proof

1 Whoever seeks to add a block
Must first solve a mighty mathematical challenge.
2 A number discoverable only through relentless computation,
Fitting the sacred difficulty.
3 This labor is called Proof of Work,
And by it, the righteous are chosen to extend the chain.
4 Let the evildoer try to alter the past —
He must recalculate all that follows,
And in this, he shall fail.

Chapter 5 — The Way of the Network

1 Man shall broadcast his transaction,
So all may hear.
2 And when one solves the puzzle,
Let him declare the block to all.
3 The honest shall verify it,
And if it be clean, add their own atop.
4 For the longest chain is the true history —
The path of greatest work is the way of truth.

Chapter 6 — The Promise of Reward

1 To the honest, Satoshi promised a gift:
Whoever builds a block shall receive coins anew,
And gather the fees therein.
2 Thus are miners born —
Watchers of the system,
Burning night and day for righteous profit.

Chapter 7 — The Wisdom of Storage

1 As transactions multiplied,
The fear of space shortage grew.
2 Satoshi formed the Merkle Tree,
To compress old truths into a single root,
Preserving integrity, while the leaves fade.

Chapter 8 — The Simplicity of Faith

1 Not all shall run full nodes.
2 But even with only headers,
The truth may still be glimpsed.
3 This is called Simplified Payment Verification (SPV),
A light faith, sufficient for many.
4 Yet beware large offerings —
Full confirmation is the true armor.

Chapter 9 — Of Splitting and Combining

1 A man may combine coins to pay,
Or divide them to gift.
2 What remains returns to him as change,
That balance and flow may be preserved in all transactions.

Chapter 10 — The Veil of Privacy

1 Let all see the ledger,
But none see the man.
2 Addresses are masked,
And keys ever-changing.
3 It is not perfect concealment,
But enough to guard one’s freedom.

Chapter 11 — The Calculus of Faith

1 Should the wicked seek to rewrite the past,
Let the righteous outweigh them in computation.
2 As blocks mount,
The odds of falsehood fall exponentially.
3 And so, six confirmations became the measure of faith.

Chapter 12 — The Final Word

1 And Satoshi spake:
“Stand not upon trust, but upon code.”
2 Signatures, timestamps, proofs, and consensus
Shall together maintain this holy order.
3 To all who follow this path,
You shall no longer be bound by banks.
Your keys shall be your liberty,
And your wallet, your temple.

₿men.