Is Apple Secretly Supporting Bitcoin? Blogger Uncovers Hidden Whitepaper in Every Modern Copy of macOS
The Bitcoin whitepaper is hidden in every modern copy of macOS, raising questions about whether Apple is secretly supporting Bitcoin or if an employee acted on their own
An independent blogger recently uncovered that the Bitcoin whitepaper is hidden in every modern copy of macOS, raising questions about whether tech giant Apple is secretly supporting Bitcoin or if an employee acted on their own. According to the blogger, a copy of the Bitcoin whitepaper has been included in every version of macOS since version 10.14.0, released in September 2018.
The blogger stumbled upon the Bitcoin whitepaper while trying to fix his printer, and found that the file is used in the Image Capture utility as a sample document for a device called “Virtual Scanner II,” which is either hidden or not installed by default for everyone. The BTC whitepaper is easy to find if users know where it is hidden, as Mac users just need to type a command into the terminal or use the Finder and click their way through to access it.
Click on Macintosh HD, then open the System→Library→Image Capture→Devices folder. Control-click on VirtualScanner.app and Show Package Contents, open the Contents→Resources folder inside, then open simpledoc.pdf.
The reason why the Bitcoin whitepaper was chosen over all the other documents in the world is not clear. Some speculate that there may be a secret Bitcoin supporter working at Apple, while others suggest that the PDF may have just been a convenient, lightweight multi-page PDF for testing purposes, never meant to be seen by end users.
An anonymous tip received by the blogger revealed that someone internally reported the problem almost a year ago, but the engineer who put the PDF there in the first place has allegedly done nothing or commented since. The issue raises questions about whether Apple is secretly supporting Bitcoin, or if an employee acted on their own.
Apple CEO Tim Cook revealed in November 2021 that he is a Bitcoin supporter and has invested in cryptocurrencies "for a while." He also stated that it is reasonable to hold a diversified portfolio, but he dismissed the possibility that Apple will follow other companies like Tesla or MicroStrategy and invest in Bitcoin in the future.
At press time, the Bitcoin price was trading at $28,021.
In conclusion, while the inclusion of the Bitcoin whitepaper in macOS may raise suspicions about Apple's support for Bitcoin, it is unclear whether this was a deliberate move by the company or the work of an individual employee. Nonetheless, the incident sheds light on the growing popularity and acceptance of cryptocurrencies, as well as the potential for their integration into mainstream technology.
