They usually ask:
What if the creator reemerges to alter the code?
Could there be a covert backdoor allowing Satoshi to rug users?
As Bitcoin enthusiasts, our common response involves emphasizing the open-source nature of the code, making it auditable by anyone. However, our response tends to be overly simplistic, offering a superficial answer to a complex and unconventional system. It's important that we transcend this mindset.
In reality, our history is packed with centralized entities. Having a clear target to go after provides a level of comfort, even though seeking justice is often difficult, time-consuming, and unattainable. The aftermath of the 2008-2009 financial crisis serves as an example. Banks, engaging in excessive risk-taking with depositor savings, triggered a catastrophic collapse. Lives were upended, jobs were lost, and yet, the leaders and public figures responsible remained immune to prosecution.
The crucial point is that being able to identify a leader in a corrupt and unjust system offers no real benefit as our ability to confront and find vindication against them is a mere illusion.
Centralized systems project an illusion of safety and accountability, relying on our trust and blind faith to function. The fact is, they are inherently corruptible and susceptible to the flaws of human nature.
Satoshi Nakamoto eliminated the need for such trust.
In doing so, a decentralized monetary system emerged - Bitcoin.
The desire for a recognizable figure to steer the ship arises from the need for someone to be held accountable if the ship sinks.
But, if no one is steering the ship, and the ship itself is unsinkable, the need to hold someone accountable dissolves.
Bitcoin operates on an immutable set of rules. It is an unsinkable ship and therefore does not need a captain to man the wheel.
