Résumé
Who is Satoshi Nakamoto? Satoshi Nakamoto is the pseudonymous person responsible for the development of Bitcoin and is the author of the original whitepaper on the Bitcoin network. The question surrounding the infamous creator of Bitcoin has led to speculation about his true identity as well as people falsely claiming to be Satoshi Nakamoto.
Bitcoin’s creator has been shrouded in mystery for over a decade. However, despite the intrigue surrounding this mysterious creator, the benefits of blockchain transparency mean that it is clear that Satoshi Nakamoto still owns bitcoins since his public keys have been traced back to the genesis block, which Satoshi mined.
Introduction
Satoshi Nakamoto is the pseudonymous author who published the Bitcoin whitepaper in 2008. The paper is called Bitcoin: a peer-to-peer electronic cash system and is available at bitcoin.org. Satoshi Nakamoto did not invent blockchain, but he was the first to create a decentralized cryptocurrency based on blockchain technology.
The Bitcoin network was officially launched in 2009. But long before that, the mysterious name was already used in email communications and forum posts.
In 2011, however, all communications with the rest of the world ceased and Satoshi disappeared. Since then, the mystery surrounding Bitcoin's creation has been the subject of much debate and speculation.
But who is Satoshi Nakamoto? Who is this person or group of people who brought us one of the most, if not the most, revolutionary technologies of the 21st century? Let us examine this question now.
Who is Satoshi Nakamoto?
Before we can answer this question, we must first ask ourselves, “is this one person or a group of people?” Unfortunately, we have very little evidence to support either hypothesis. While the prevailing sentiment is that Satoshi is an individual, some believe that Satoshi is a group, such as a team of computer scientists, cryptographers, and cypherpunks.
Before Satoshi stopped all communication in April 2011, he claimed to be male, Japanese, and born on April 5, 1975. However, people have noted that Satoshi's command of English is so good that he is likely from an English-speaking country. Furthermore, his communications mostly took place during working hours in Europe, suggesting that he was not residing in Japan.
Since Satoshi Nakamoto no longer communicates with the rest of the world, speculation is rife regarding his true identity. Many individuals and groups have been named as the real Satoshi Nakamoto, but only a few candidates have proven plausible.
Hal Finney
Of all the candidates who could be Satoshi Nakamoto, Hal Finney is one of the most plausible. Hal was an early adopter of Bitcoin and the beneficiary of the very first Bitcoin transaction. He also worked as a software developer and was one of the first cypherpunks in the 1990s.
Sadly, Hal Finney passed away in 2014 after suffering from a nervous condition that left him paralyzed for some time before his death. He has always denied being Satoshi Nakamoto.
Nick Szabo
Another very plausible candidate is Nick Szabo, a famous computer scientist who created a digital cryptocurrency “bit gold” years before the Bitcoin network. His communications within the cypherpunk community overlap strongly with Satoshi’s, as do his writing style and hours of communication.
Nick Szabo has denied being Satoshi Nakamoto, but many in the cryptocurrency community remain unconvinced. There are many parallels between Nick and Satoshi, which may or may not be coincidences.
Dorian Nakamoto
Dorian Nakamoto is a Japanese American man whose birth name is actually Satoshi Nakamoto. He has worked as a software engineer for technology and financial services companies and even lived in the same area of California as Hal Finney for over a decade.
Dorian responded to an interview claiming to have participated in the development of Bitcoin, but he later retracted his statement, saying he had misunderstood the question. Since then, he has denied working on the project and did not even know it existed until the media believed him.
Documentary HBO
In October 2024, documentary filmmaker Cullen Hoback and HBO announced their film, “Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery,” which hinted at the potential revelation of the true identity of Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto.
In the documentary, Cullen Hoback, known for his HBO miniseries “Q: Into the Storm,” in which he claims to have identified several authors behind the QAnon conspiracy theory, focuses his investigation on the enigmatic figure of Satoshi Nakamoto.
How much is Satoshi Nakamoto worth?
No matter who the real Satoshi Nakamoto is, he is most certainly rich. Tech experts have traced Satoshi’s wallets where he/she keeps his bitcoins, thus estimating his net worth.
Since early 2009, Satoshi Nakamoto has not spent a single satoshi. Estimates of how much BTC Satoshi owns vary, but most agree that it is around 1 million bitcoins. This would make Satoshi one of the richest billionaires on the planet. At market prices in October 2024, Satoshi Nakamoto’s bitcoin holdings would be worth over $61 billion.
To conclude
There are many people who claim to be Satoshi Nakamoto. It could be a single person or a group of people. Satoshi Nakamoto could be dead or alive. But without solid and concrete evidence, we will never know his true identity. Furthermore, many in the Bitcoin and crypto community believe that Satoshi Nakamoto’s identity should remain a mystery forever.
Regardless, the only statement we can be sure of is this: Satoshi Nakamoto HODLed a lot of bitcoins.
