Before Satoshi disappeared he gave one developer a secret key that could override every single Bitcoin node


It was called the Alert Key
Satoshi added it to Bitcoin in 2010 after the 184 billion coin bug almost killed the entire network
When a valid alert was sent using this key, every Bitcoin client would go into "safe mode" and could freeze transactions
He handed it to Gavin Andresen along with control of the entire code repository right before he vanished
Only three people had access: Satoshi, Gavin Andresen, and Theymos
The key was used 12 times between 2012 and 2014 to broadcast emergency upgrade notices
A decentralized currency with no central authority had a hidden override switch controlled by three people for six years
It wasn't removed until Bitcoin version 0.13.0 in 2016
In 2018 developers published the key publicly so it could never be used again
The most decentralized financial network in history had a backdoor the entire time and almost nobody knew about it
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