Mr Jeff Garzik became the third-biggest contributor to bitcoin’s code and remained so through 2014
Jeff Garzik does not regret act but says what matters is that digital currency is still around
Mr Jeff Garzik started writing software code for bitcoin (btc) after reading a blog post about the digital currency in July 2010. At the time, he was working remotely for open-source powerhouse Red Hat from a vehicle parked in an empty lot in Raleigh, North Carolina.
He soon became the third-biggest contributor to bitcoin’s code after the cryptocurrency’s anonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto and developer Gavin Andresen, and remained so through 2014. Looking back 10 years after its creation, Mr Garzik said he is proud, even though bitcoin is not what he envisioned it would become.
“As a father, I enjoy watching my kids grow up, even as they make mistakes or grow in ways that I wouldn’t expect,” said Mr Garzik, who has given away bitcoin valued at more than US$100 million based on current prices.
During the initial period, Mr Garzik, 44, worked directly with Nakamoto, corresponding via private e-mail and the Bitcointalk forum, until the token’s creator abruptly disappeared in 2011.
Since then, former collaborators and journalists have been guessing who he or she or they were – a matter of importance since Nakamoto controls about one million bitcoins, and could impact the cryptocurrency’s market price.
“My personal theory is that it’s Floridian Dave Kleiman,” Mr Garzik said in an phone interview.
“It matches his coding style, this gentleman was self-taught. And the bitcoin coder was someone who was very, very smart, but not a classically trained software engineer.”