# Lost Bitcoin Layer: Satoshi’s Hidden ATOMs
```cpp   

      █████╗ ████████╗ ██████╗ ███╗   ███╗
     ██╔══██╗╚══██╔══╝██╔═══██╗████╗ ████║
     ███████║   ██║   ██║   ██║██╔████╔██║
     ██╔══██║   ██║   ██║   ██║██║╚██╔╝██║
     ██║  ██║   ██║   ╚██████╔╝██║ ╚═╝ ██║
     ╚═╝  ╚═╝   ╚═╝    ╚═════╝ ╚═╝     ╚═╝

```
**BTC = what you had. Atoms = who you were.**

**https://lostatom.xyz**

Everyone thinks they know Bitcoin’s origin story. Digital money, a rebellion against banks, a whitepaper, and some mysterious genius named Satoshi Nakamoto.

But hidden inside the very first Bitcoin code from 2008 lies a different story - no one talks about.

A story that suggests Bitcoin, as we know it, is only half of Satoshi’s vision.

The other half ATOM. It was erased. Buried in commented-out code. Lost before Bitcoin’s public release.  
And yet, their fingerprints remain.

---

## 1. The Clue in the Code

Deep in `main.cpp`, among ordinary functions for transaction validation and block creation, sits a strange comment:

```cpp
// Add atoms to user reviews for coins created

unsigned short nAtom = GetRand(USHRT_MAX - 100) + 100;
vector<unsigned short> vAtoms(1, nAtom);
AddAtomsAndPropagate(Hash(vchPubKey.begin(), vchPubKey.end()), vAtoms, true);
```

👉 [View in original Bitcoin first commit code (main.cpp, line 1226)](https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/blob/4405b78d6059e536c36974088a8ed4d9f0f29898/main.cpp#L1226)

**Translated:**

When a block was mined, not only BTC coins were created.  
**Atoms were also minted.**

They weren’t currency. They were **soulbound tokens.**

---

## 2. Bitcoin’s Reputation Layer
```cpp    
⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡿⢿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿
⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡿⢁⣴⣦⡈⢻⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿
⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡿⢀⣾⣿⣿⣷⡀⢿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿
⣿⣿⣿⡿⠿⠛⠛⠿⠿⢿⣿⡇⣼⣿⣿⣿⣿⣧⢸⣿⡿⠿⠿⠛⠛⠿⢿⣿⣿⣿
⣿⣿⣿⡇⣶⣿⣿⣶⣶⣤⣄⠀⠛⠿⣿⣿⠿⠛⠀⣠⣤⣶⣶⣾⣷⣶⢸⣿⣿⣿
⣿⣿⣿⣧⠘⢿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠸⠿⠂⣀⣀⠐⠿⠇⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡿⠃⣼⣿⣿⣿
⣿⣿⣿⣿⣷⣄⠙⢿⣿⠟⠋⢠⣶⣿⡿⢿⣿⣶⡄⠙⠻⣿⡿⠋⣠⣾⣿⣿⣿⣿
⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡷⠀⠀⠶⣿⢸⣿⡏⠀⠀⣹⣿⡇⣿⠶⠀⠀⢾⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿
⣿⣿⣿⣿⡿⠋⣠⣾⣿⣦⣄⠘⠿⣿⣶⣶⣿⠿⠃⣠⣴⣿⣷⣄⠙⢿⣿⣿⣿⣿
⣿⣿⣿⡟⢠⣾⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⢰⣶⠄⠉⠉⠠⣶⡆⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣷⡄⢻⣿⣿⣿
⣿⣿⣿⡇⠿⣿⣿⠿⠿⠛⠋⠀⣤⣶⣿⣿⣶⣤⠀⠙⠛⠿⠿⣿⣿⠿ ⢸⣿⣿
⣿⣿⣿⣷⣶⣤⣤⣶⣶⣾⣿⡇⢻⣿⣿⣿⣿⡟⢸⣿⣷⣶⣶⣤⣤⣶⣾⣿⣿⣿
⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣷⠈⢿⣿⣿⡿⠁⣾⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿
⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣧⡈⠻⠟⢁⣼⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿
⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣷⣾⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿
```
Think of atoms as digital trust badges. Unique, non-transferable markers assigned to the miner’s public key.

If Bitcoin’s coins were the money, **atoms were the soul**:

- Earned by honest mining.  
- Propagated through reviews in a built-in marketplace.  
- Designed to show *“who you were,”* not just *“what you had.”*  

NFTs? Soulbound Tokens? Reputation systems on-chain?  
All the things we think of as *post-Ethereum innovations* - they were already hiding in Bitcoin’s genesis code.

Atoms were:

- **Non-fungible** - each unique to a miner and key.  
- **Non-transferable** - you couldn’t sell them. They stuck to your identity.  
- **Soulbound** - markers of honesty and trust.  
- **Practical** - fueling a reputation-driven marketplace inside Bitcoin itself.  

They weren’t JPEGs.  
They were the **first soulbound tokens.**

---

## 3. Mining in Two Layers

Today, when you mine Bitcoin, you receive one thing: BTC.

In Satoshi’s first design, mining would have given you **two rewards**:

- **BTC** - the transport layer, fungible currency.  
- **Atoms** - the identity layer, a record of trustworthiness.  

And here’s the kicker: **the atoms were arguably more valuable than the coins.**

Why? Because they determined your reputation in the marketplace.  

*Money spends once. Reputation lasts forever.*

---

## 4. Proof in Market Code

The lost `market.cpp` shows how atoms tied into user reviews and product listings:

```cpp
bool CReview::AcceptReview()
{
    // verify the signature
    if (!CKey::Verify(vchPubKeyFrom, GetSigHash(), vchSig))
        return false;

    // save review for recipient
    vector<CReview> vReviews;
    reviewdb.ReadReviews(hashTo, vReviews);
    vReviews.push_back(*this);
    reviewdb.WriteReviews(hashTo, vReviews);

    // propagate atoms
    vector<unsigned short> vZeroAtom(1, 0);
    AddAtomsAndPropagate(hashTo, user.vAtomsOut.size() ? user.vAtomsOut : vZeroAtom, false);

    return true;
}
```

👉 [View in original first commit Bitcoin code (market.cpp)](https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/blob/4405b78d6059e536c36974088a8ed4d9f0f29898/market.cpp)

Every transaction, every review, wasn’t just money changing hands.  
It was **atoms flowing between people, building a graph of trust.**

Bitcoin wasn’t only supposed to be money.  
It was supposed to be a **civilization protocol.**

---

## 5. Why Were They Erased?

By version 0.1.5, atoms were gone. Commented out. Buried.

Why would Satoshi remove them?

- Maybe he realized the world wasn’t ready.  
- Maybe he feared people would reject a trust system baked into money.  
- Or maybe (as some theorists suggest) it was intentional: a treasure-hunt layer, waiting to be rediscovered.

---

## 6. The Lost Half of Bitcoin

Bitcoin today is money. But Satoshi’s first code hints it was meant to be more than money.

It was supposed to be:

- Money **+** Identity.  
- Fungible **+** Non-fungible.  
- **What you had + Who you were.**  

BTC was the skeleton.  
Atoms were the flesh.  

So, Bitcoin as we know it is incomplete.

---

## Final words

Atoms were the **soul of Bitcoin.**  
Proof-of-honesty, reputation, trust.  
A hidden layer erased from history.  

Bitcoin was never just about coins.  
It was about **civilization on-chain.**  

We live in the shadow of half a protocol.  
It’s time we remembered the other half.  

**BTC = what you had.  
Atoms = who you were.**

---

## Appendix: Proof Links

- [Satoshi’s first Bitcoin commit (2008)](https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/tree/4405b78d6059e536c36974088a8ed4d9f0f29898)  
- [main.cpp (atoms code, line 1226)](https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/blob/4405b78d6059e536c36974088a8ed4d9f0f29898/main.cpp#L1226)  
- [market.cpp (review + atom propagation)](https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/blob/4405b78d6059e536c36974088a8ed4d9f0f29898/market.cpp)