【Osawa Yuka Archives】

A copy of the Bitcoin whitepaper,Osawa Yuka Archives a seminal document authored by pseudonymous author Satoshi Nakamoto, can be found in every copy of Apple's macOS since Mojave.

The file, unearthed by Waxy, isn't exactly hidden, though it's not very easy to be found unless you know exactly where to look for. To see it, open the Terminal app and paste the following string into it: "open /System/Library/Image\ Capture/Devices/VirtualScanner.app/Contents/Resources/simpledoc.pdf"

Another way to see it is to open Finder, click on Macintosh HD at the bottom of the window, then System - Library - Image Capture - Devices. There, right click on VirtualScanner.app and choose "Show Package Contents." Open Resources, and click on "simpledoc.pdf."

It's there all right. Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable/Apple/Satoshi Nakamoto

The "simpledoc.pdf" is a PDF document containing the nine-page Bitcoin whitepaper in its entirety. It appears to have been put there as one of several sample documents, including another PDF called "numbers.pdf," containing only four numbers in very large typeface, as well as a mysterious image called "cover.jpg," which is a photo that appears to have been taken on Treasure Island in San Francisco.

Mashable Light Speed Want more out-of-this world tech, space and science stories? Sign up for Mashable's weekly Light Speed newsletter. By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up!

This image can be found in the same folder as Satoshi's Bitcoin whitepaper. Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable/Apple

The discovery of the image and the Bitcoin whitepaper isn't entirely new; designer Joshua Dickens found them in 2020, though it didn't gain much traction online at the time.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

I found the files on my Mac which runs the latest version of macOS Ventura, 13.2.1, and one of my colleagues at Mashable found it on their Mac, running Big Sur 11.7, as well. The files appear to be there in every copy of macOS since Mojave (10.14.0), which was launched in 2018.

---

Related Stories

---

• Chinese spies charged in Huawei obstruction case after sending Bitcoin bribes
• Tesla sold most of its Bitcoin, but none of its Dogecoin
• Apple iPhones running old software will lose access to App Store, but it’s not as bad as it sounds
• Apple's AirPods case might one day get a touch display
• Apple confirms dates for WWDC 2023

It's unclear why Apple would deliberately choose to include the Bitcoin whitepaper in macOS. The document, titled "Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System," was originally published by Nakamoto in 2008 and contains a technical overview of the Bitcoin protocol. Apple has never, to my knowledge, publicly endorsed Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency; in fact, the company has been fairly reserved when it comes to crypto (unlike, say, Samsung, which includes a cryptocurrency wallet software on its Galaxy phones). CEO Tim Cook did say in 2021 that crypto is something the company is "looking at," though he did also say Apple had nothing crypto-related to announce at the time.

---

Featured Video For You

---

The solution to bitcoin's massive carbon footprint could be...volcanoes? — Future Blink

---

A likely explanation is that an Apple engineer tasked with coming up with some sample documents chose the Bitcoin whitepaper and the mysterious image just for fun, though we're sure the internet will quickly come up with conspiracy theories of all sorts in a minute.

Topics Apple Bitcoin

• Deals
• Life
• Social Good
• Shopping
• Digital Culture
• Entertainment
• Games
• Tech

• Best Sony headphones deal: Over $100 off Sony XM5 headphones
• Redux: Tom Wolfe, Barbara Grossman, and Gwyneth Lewis by The Paris Review
• Carnival and Chaos: An Interview with Herbert Gold by Robert Kaiser
• The Moment of Writing by Amit Chaudhuri
• Keeping Hope Alive
• Poetry Rx: Pleasure as a Means
• Poetry Rx: I Wish You a Tongue Scalded by Tea
• Abridged Classics by John Atkinson
• This is the fattest of the extremely fat bears
• Who Speaks Freely?: Art, Race, and Protest by Aruna D'Souza

• Ryobi ONE+ cordless mister: $14.99 (save $55)
• Wes Anderson Archive: Pre
• The 4 best AI image generators of 2025
• NYT Connections Sports Edition hints and answers for June 1: Tips to solve Connections #251
• NYT Strands hints, answers for May 30
• Save $45 on a year of Spotify when you buy this $99 gift card
• Best Apple deal: Save $30 on Apple Pencil Pro
• Keys vs. Baptiste 2025 livestream: Watch French Open for free
• Best portable charger deal: Save 50% on the Anker Zolo power bank
• Wordle today: The answer and hints for June 1, 2025

• Dyson V8 Plus cordless vacuum: $120 off at Amazon
• Curtis Sittenfeld's Unambiguous Sophistication
• Redux: Excessive Doom Scenarios
• The Moment of Writing by Amit Chaudhuri
• Astronomers saw one galaxy impale another. The damage was an eye
• A Siren in a Paper Sleeve by Christopher King
• Technical, Tactical, and Merciless: An Interview with Marcus Wicker
• Who Gets to Be “Brooklyn Born”?
• Amazon Pet Day: All the best deals
• Curtis Sittenfeld's Unambiguous Sophistication

• Best Sony headphones deal: Over $100 off Sony XM5 headphones
• The Book Jean
• Writers’ Fridges: Carmen Maria Machado
• Writing the Lives of Forgotten Women
• Skype is finally shutting down
• The Soviet Anthology of “Negro Poetry” by Jennifer Wilson
• Staff Picks: Sharp Women and Humble Turtles
• Seven and a Half Short Notes on Sandy Denny
• AMD Radeon RX 550 + Intel Pentium G4560
• Redux: The Story of the Story by The Paris Review