When Satoshi announced the first release of the software, I…

I carried on an email conversation with Satoshi over the next few days, mostly me reporting bugs and him fixing them.

I dusted off my old wallet, and was relieved to discover that my bitcoins were still there.

I've had the good fortune to know many brilliant people over the course of my life, so I recognize the signs.

As the price climbed up to real money, I transferred the coins into an offline wallet, where hopefully they'll be worth something to my heirs.

The next I heard of Bitcoin was late 2010, when I was surprised to find that it was not only still going, bitcoins actually had monetary value.

But I turned it off because it made my computer run hot, and the fan noise bothered me. In retrospect, I wish I had kept it up longer, but on the other hand I was extraordinarily lucky to be there at the beginning.

I mined several blocks over the next days.

It's one of those glass half full half empty things.

I mined block 70-something, and I was the recipient of the first bitcoin transaction, when Satoshi sent ten coins to me as a test.

Today, Satoshi's true identity has become a mystery. But at the time, I thought I was dealing with a young man of Japanese ancestry who was very smart and sincere.