The discovery of Bitcoin’s original source code, version 0.1, revealed almost known aspects of the idea that cryptocurrency creator Sati Nakamoto had in mind in the first few days of the project.
According to user publication Alex Waltz (@Raw_Avocado), Bitcoin’s first client included plans to implement a Scroll system or warehouse deposit, as well as references to eBay-like poker games and eBay-like markets.
These elements are by no means embodied, but we look at Nakamoto’s ambitions beyond creating a distributed digital money system.
The image shared by Waltz shows fragments of Bitcoin source code. The presence of classes and features related to poker games is clearly observed.
For example, the “uibase.cpp” file has definitions such as “cpokerdialogbase” and “cpokerlobbydialogbase.” This suggests an interface for online poker games.
Market.H and Market.CPP are also designed for the digital market with classes identified, such as “user”, “review”, and “product” and features reminiscent of platforms such as eBay where users can exchange products and services.
Bitcoin guaranteed deposit (escrow)
The third major element of the publication is the communication between Nakamoto at and Martin Malmi, one of the first collaborators of the project dated May 3, 2009. In this email, Nakamoto mentions. His intention to work in the “scroll function”It is necessary to promote safe trading of physical goods and ultimately support the use of Bitcoin using fíat coins.
This discovery sees Nakamoto’s possible motivations by creating the world’s most important cryptographic action. On the one hand, interest in poker games within Bitcoin It may be related to the legal restrictions imposed on online gambling sites at the time.especially in the United States, the law prohibits financial institutions from processing payments related to online gambling.
Over the next few years, decentralized systems like Bitcoin could have been devised as solutions to overcome these limitations, allowing direct trading between players without intermediaries.
However, Nakamoto’s idea was not realized. Poker games and eBay style market They remained as incomplete fragments in the codeand the escrow system mentioned in its correspondence with Marumi was not implemented.
Oracles: Technical difficulties at the time
One reason could be related to the technical challenges of the time. Regarding the use of Oracle for Scroll Systems. As shown in the encrypted encryption section, Cryptopedic, Cryptopedic, Oracles in the digital cryptoactive ecosystem act as an intermediary between intelligent contracts and real-world data. Therefore, they are essential for defi and various applications.
According to Waltz’s comments on another user of X, the main failure to implement the Bitcoin Scrow system is the dependency of trusted Oracle, a key part of verifying transaction conditions.
The discussion in X also began to discuss the nature of these code fragments. Another user, Michael Dunworth, said that poker-related codes and markets were not the original Nakamoto’s job, but rather «Copy PastCopy and paste from e» or from another source.
Waltz, this is possible, but the only code known for its certainty copied in Bitcoin is Cryptography++Related to encryption functions obtained from bookstores. This suggests, at least in part, that the idea of poker games and markets was Nakamoto’s true attempt to explore practical applications of Bitcoin, predicting the capabilities that later developers integrated into all cryptocurrency networks, not just Bitcoin, but virtual machines.
Meanwhile, the BitCointAlk Forum thread launched in 2024 by user «MATB001» provides more context about Nakamoto’s interest in poker, both in a series of podcasts on text and themes. This user will be encoding Bipcoin, P2P Cash implementations, using a Bitcoin platform designed to give life to decentralized poker. Certainly fair (Clearly fair) Inspired by Satoshi and his unfinished code ideas.
The Bitcoin v0.1 poker game could have been an experiment to test network functionality in a decentralized betting environment. Although the project did not move forward, users (@luischwab_) pointed out that subsequent initiatives such as the BIP 777 have tried to resume these ideas by proposing solutions to integrate poker applications into the Bitcoin network. According to him, this Bitcoin improvement proposal is a possible solution for escrow problems and safe trading in this type of application.
The truth is that these revelations highlight Nakamoto’s Bitcoin vision as more than a digital currency, and anticipate future collaborators and developers.
That initial plan appears to cover a wider ecosystem. Bitcoin not only serves as a means of exchange and infrastructure that enables it, but also serves as the basis for a decentralized application, later known as Ethereum’s Dapps.
While poker games and the eBay style market were not preliminary concepts, its existence in the original Bitcoin code encourages it to reflect the possibilities Nakamoto saw in its creation and the technical challenges he faced in his first few days.
