If I had the programming skills, I'd do it.
I have programming skills, arguably better than his, and I didn't do it. Neither did millions of other programmers.
The true novelty of Bitcoin lies in the math, not in the programming (as the programming is a reflection and implementation of the math). That's why the programmers (and you) didn't do it.
This is getting ridiculous.
P.S. I have a maths degree. Damn, I must be an idiot.
No, you could've done it if knew how to generate the algorithm from the theory, but you didn't; he did. And, no one else did before him. Thus, it's novel.
comes to mind. That's why nobody else did it and people that saw it early had all kinds of objections... "An egg of Columbus or Columbus's egg refers to a brilliant idea or discovery that seems simple or easy after the fact." A million bitcoins is the least he deserves. His "invention" is worth more than that if in the end, we have free money.