I do not have direct evidence either way, but I have come to the conclusion that, if Bitcoin did not exist, the Western elites would have liked to create it in secret. My indirect evidence includes:
- Bitcoin has not been killed by a combination of regulation, market manipulation, and propaganda after 10 years. As turbulent as the price has been, Bitcoin has been an excellent long-term bet. Whatever assault it has suffered, it always seems to survive.
- Bitcoin has taken demand away from gold and silver, which traditionally are the big threats against central bank money.
- If central banks secretly own lots of Bitcoin (we still don't know who really owns "Satoshi's bitcoins!") they will have the best of both the gold-standard and fiat worlds in the future. (I will explain this when I have time.)
If his assumptions are assumed to be right, I would give these three answers as well.
- It has not been killed by regulation? Look at ETF. Market manipulation? Oh, just look at how whales these thousands of bitcoin like it was nothing in the last 10 years. If bitcoin is a long term bet, why not bet in stocks where you can actually see your money flow in and out right? It will be the same anyway, since it involves money.
- If central banks secretly own lots of bitcoin, they won't ban it and make sure people are going to use it. Number 1 Reason? Money again. Bitcoin works like stocks but is different in terms of decentralization.
- If western people started crypto, why was the whitepaper creator sounded so Japanese? And come to think of it, the person himself is Japanese, they claimed it according to wikipedia.