The identity of Bitcoin founder Satoshi Nakamoto is still a mystery. But soon it may unfold. Be the first to learn when and how. Let the mystery unfold.
When he dies, his relatives will find his computer or his hardware wallet where bitcoins are stored. Considering that he is a man of respectable age, this is likely to happen in the next two decades. But you don’t have to wait for two decades to discover his real identity.
Below I give you the facts and then present candidates. And in the end, I present you the man who is most likely to be the great Satoshi.
Who Is Satoshi Nakamoto: The Facts That We Know
Satoshi Nakamoto is the person or a group of people who authored white paper that laid the foundation of Bitcoin. This entity has also created bitcoin.org website and released the first bitcoin software. These are few of the facts that we know for sure.
Even the information provided by Satoshi himself on his online profile has been called into question. All of the researchers believe that Satoshi is not Japanese even though he said that he is Japanese.
Researchers made such conclusion for three reasons. First, he did not release Japanese version of that white paper. Second, he had perfect command of written English. Third, he always posted on forums during North American daytime or evening.
So if he has conventional sleeping habits he is from North America. That is why three out of four candidates for this position are from North America. The other one is from Australia. So Satoshi’s identity is still largely unknown.
3 Men Who Can Be Bitcoin Founder Satoshi Nakamoto
These are men who are likely to be Satoshi Nakamoto. There is different amount of evidence for each.
1 Craig Steven Wright
This businessman and computer scientist claimed to be Satoshi Nakamoto. He is from Australia. Though he has significant background in information technology, few believe that he is the real Satoshi.
Though Bitcoin Foundation founding director wrote in a blog post that he saw Craig Steven Wright provide a cryptographic proof, many in Bitcoin community were highly skeptical. Independent researchers did not believe his evidence either. They said that his evidence is worthless.
After the researchers’ conclusion, Craig Steven Wright released a statement, saying among other things the following:
“I believed that I could do this. I believed that I could put the years of anonymity and hiding behind me. But, as the events of this week unfolded and I prepared to publish the proof of access to the earliest keys, I broke. I do not have the courage. I cannot.”
2 Hal Finney
Even though he denied being Satoshi Nakamoto, some facts point to other possibility.
Hal Finney is the man who received the very first bitcoin transaction. That transaction came to his Bitcoin address from Satoshi’s address. So some people speculate that Hal has simply sent the transaction to himself.
Hal is also the man who has worked on proof-of-work system. This concept is used in Bitcoin.
Furthermore, he is the man who disliked the government and sought ways to limit its power. His work on Bitcoin is only one testimony to that. Another testimony to that – one which hints at him being the real Satoshi – is his online forum posts. In one of them, he wrote the following:
“Here we are faced with the problems of loss of privacy, creeping computerization, massive databases, more centralization – and [David] Chaum offers a completely different direction to go in, one which puts power into the hands of individuals rather than governments and corporations. The computer can be used as a tool to liberate and protect people, rather than to control them.”
His dislike of government is not the strongest evidence of him being the real Satoshi though.
He lived in the same town as Dorian Prentice Satoshi Nakamoto. So some people speculate that Hal Finney has used his neighbor’s name as a pseudonym. However, this seems unlikely that an expert cryptographer would use his neighbor’s name as a pseudonym to remain private. A connection between the two can be easily drawn. So a smart cryptographer like him would not do such an obvious privacy misstep.
3 Dorian Nakamoto
Newsweek published an article which identified Dorian Prentice Satoshi Nakamoto as Bitcoin founder. Leah McGrath Goodman, the author of that article, provided some circumstantial evidence to prove her claim.
One of the obvious facts she cites as evidence is Dorian’s birth name. It is in fact Satoshi Nakamoto. However, it conflicts with her other circumstantial evidence. Namely, it conflicts with the fact that Dorian Nakamoto is a privacy-obsessed engineering mastermind. His family members have described him like this. So it is unlikely that he would be using his real name on a project like Bitcoin.
His software engineering work for Citibank and other financial companies, as well as his work on classified defense projects, is a more compelling piece of evidence. However, there are many people who have worked on both of these without being Satoshi Nakamoto.
The man’s disdain for government can likewise be attributed to many people. By that standard all three hundred twenty five million US citizens are Satoshis.
Another piece of evidence from that article is the following statement by Dorian Nakamoto:
“I am no longer involved in that and I cannot discuss it. It’s been turned over to other people. They are in charge of it now. I no longer have any connection.”
However, the man has later denied any connection to Bitcoin, stating that he misinterpreted the question. He said that he thought the question referred to his work for Citibank for which he signed a non-disclosure agreement.
Most people in Bitcoin community believed his words when he denied his connection to Bitcoin. They think that Nick Szabo is the most likely man to be the genius creator.
Nick Szabo: The Great Elusive Genius Who Is Most Likely To Be Satoshi Nakamoto
Nick Szabo is most likely Satoshi Nakamoto. There are five compelling reasons for this.
Reason #1: Both Men Value Privacy
Satoshi Nakamoto left Bitcoin project in late 2010 after it started to gain significant adoption all over the world. The most likely reason for his decision seems to be a desire to remain private.
Nick Szabo left a company after it became successful just because he wanted to avoid public exposure. The people who worked with him confirmed that he left because he became nervous about public exposure.
The parallel is obvious. Both Nick and Satoshi have quit successful projects at the time when almost every other person would have stayed. Why would you quit a thriving company or booming technology that is gaining attention all over the world? In both cases, the reason is a desire to remain private.
Reason #2: Both Men Are Modest
Satoshi has not spent a single bitcoin even though he has 980,000 of them. Therefore, his net worth is estimated in the billions of dollars and may end up being estimated in the trillions of dollars. There is something even more interesting than the enormous size of his wealth.
All of the earliest bitcoins likely mined by the same computer belonging to him are still in the original bitcoin address to which they were mined years ago. No transactions, except for test ones, were performed on them.
In January 2018, that will be nine years during which Satoshi has not sold a single bitcoin, as Bitcoin was invented in January 2009. Only a truly non-materialistic man would refrain from enjoying such great wealth for such a long time.
Nick Szabo wears beat-up sneakers and drives an old car. However, his income as one of the top computer scientists in the world is big enough to allow him to live a life of great luxury. He chooses not to.
The parallel is obvious once again. Both Nick and Satoshi have led lives of humble modesty even though they have the means to live in great luxury.
Reason #3: Nick Szabo Is Known For Interest In Pseudonyms
During 1990s, he has shown an interest in pseudonyms. In one of forum posts from that time, he wrote about the necessity to use pseudonyms to protect one’s privacy. Here is an excerpt from that post:
In my limited experience creating Internet pseudonyms, I’ve been quite
distracted by the continual need to avoid leaving pointers to my
True Name lying around — excess mail to/from my True Name, shared
files, common peculiarities (eg misspellings in written text), traceable
logins, etc…. All kinds of security controls — crypto, access,
information, inference — have to be continually on my mind when using
pseudonymous accounts. The hazards are everywhere. With our current
tools it’s practically impossible to maintain an active pseudonym for a
long period of time against a sufficiently determined opponent…
Reason #4: The Writings Of Two Men Match
The writings of two men share common writing mannerisms and similar phrasings. For these reasons, researchers at one of major British universities have concluded that Szabo’s writings match the writings of Satoshi Nakamoto more than the writings of any other person suspected to be Bitcoin creator.
Reason #5: Nick Szabo Created Bit Gold
Nick Szabo confirmed that he created most essential elements of Bitcoin. In other words, he simply denied being Satoshi Nakamoto, the man who came up with the main idea. But this is highly unlikely because Nick Szabo created bitcoin’s predecessor bit gold.
Never released bit gold is strikingly similar to Bitcoin. It also uses proof-of-work system and is modeled to mimic the characteristics of gold. These two are integral concepts of Bitcoin.
My Opinion About Bitcoin Founder
He’s the genius. He’s the living legend. And I’m pretty sure he’s the man who poops like the rest of us unless he revolutionized that too. Even if he doesn’t revolutionize the act of pooping, he may still become the world’s first trillionaire.
When he becomes the world’s first trillionaire, I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t sell any of his bitcoins. There are few men like him in the world who choose not to enjoy wealth for the sake of humankind.
If he sold any of his bitcoins, that might undermine people’s belief in bitcoin’s value. But he chooses not to because he understands that the well-being of humankind is much more important that his own self-interest.
That’s also praiseworthy that he chooses not to show off his amazing achievements. He must understand that the best leader is content when his actions had a positive impact on people. So you can say that the wisdom of Satoshi Nakamoto can be summarized by the following Lao Tzu quote:
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