Apple quietly removes bitcoin whitepaper from latest macOS Beta

Apple’s Beta Software Program members have discovered that the company has removed a digital copy of the original Bitcoin whitepaper from the latest macOS Ventura 13.4 beta 3 update on April 26.

The Bitcoin whitepaper was hidden in the macOS system files inside a folder in the Image Capture app, among other random assets such as images and other PDF files.

All of these assets were bundled as part of the VirtualScanner.app — a tool that allows the simulation of scanning and exporting of documents or images without using a scanner. The whole tool has been removed from the Beta. 

Discovery of Bitcoin whitepaper in MacOS

This comes soon after developer Andy Baio wrote an article about discovering the PDF version of Satoshi Nakamoto’s whitepaper on April 5. After asking other Mac users to check for the same, he found that the file was included in every version of macOS from Mojave (10.14.0), released in 2018.

This discovery garnered much attention, with many speculating on why the file was included in the operating system. 

Some felt it was Apple’s subtle way of acknowledging the growth and significance of cryptocurrencies, while others thought it was just an inside joke by Apple engineers. 

Even Baio himself theorized that the whitepaper could have been included because it is a convenient PDF for testing as it is lightweight and multi-paged.

No comments from Apple

Apple has never released an official statement on the matter. Yet again, users are left to speculate on why the whitepaper was removed and the implications of this removal. 

Some who believed that the document’s inclusion signified an endorsement of Bitcoin by the tech giant now see this move as Apple stepping back from the cryptocurrency.

This is unlikely to have a significant impact on the cryptocurrency, however, as the whitepaper is available online and easily accessible for anyone that wants to read it.  

With nothing confirmed on motive, the matter raises interesting questions about where Apple stands on cryptocurrencies.