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Who is Satoshi Nakamoto? Satoshi Nakamoto is the pseudonym of the Bitcoin developer and author of its whitepaper. Crypto enthusiasts have put forward many theories about his real name, and some even try to impersonate Satoshi Nakamoto.
The identity of 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 Satoshi Nakamoto still owns Bitcoin, as their public keys have been traced back to the genesis block mined by Satoshi.
Introduction
Satoshi Nakamoto is the pseudonym of the author who published the Bitcoin whitepaper in 2008. The whitepaper is called "Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System" (available at bitcoin.org). Satoshi did not invent the blockchain itself, but he did create the first decentralized currency based on it.
Although Bitcoin was officially launched in 2009, the name of the mysterious developer was mentioned in emails and forum posts long before that.
However, in 2011, all communications ceased and Satoshi disappeared. Since then, this mysterious figure has been the subject of heated debate and accusations.
And yet - who is Satoshi Nakamoto? One person or a group of people? Who is behind perhaps the most significant technology of the 21st century? Let's find out.
Who is Satoshi Nakamoto?
First, it’s important to understand whether this is one person or a group of people. Unfortunately, there is no clear answer. While most believe that Satoshi worked alone, some suggest that there are several people behind the pseudonym: a team of programmers, cryptographers, and cypherpunks.
Before his disappearance in April 2011, Satoshi claimed to be Japanese, born on April 5, 1975. However, he spoke English so well that many believe he was from an English-speaking country. Moreover, he communicated most often during working hours in Europe, so, according to one version, the mysterious developer did not live in Japan.
After Satoshi Nakamoto went silent, interest in his identity grew even more and gave rise to many theories, but only some of them may be true.
Hal Finney
Hal Finney is one of the most likely candidates for Satoshi Nakamoto. He was one of the first users of Bitcoin and the recipient of the very first Bitcoin transaction. He was also a software developer and one of the cypherpunks of the 1990s.
Unfortunately, Hal Finney died in 2014 from a nervous system disease that left him paralyzed before his death. He consistently denied being Satoshi Nakamoto.
Nick Szabo
Another candidate is Nick Szabo, a well-known programmer who created the digital currency Bit Gold many years before Bitcoin. His writing style and time spent interacting with the Cypherpunk community are very similar to Satoshi's.
Nick Szabo denies being Satoshi Nakamoto, but many crypto enthusiasts don't believe him. Nick and the Bitcoin creator have a lot in common, although this could be a simple coincidence.
Dorian Nakamoto
Dorian Nakamoto is a Japanese-American born Satoshi Nakamoto. He worked as a computer engineer in the technology and financial services industries and lived in the same California area as Hal Finney for over a decade.
In one of his interviews, Dorian hinted at his involvement in the development of Bitcoin, but later retracted his words and said that he misunderstood the question. Since then, he has denied any work on the project and claims that he did not know about its existence until media inquiries.
HBO Documentary
In October 2024, documentary filmmaker Cullen Hoback and HBO announced their film Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery, which hints 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, where he claims to have identified several of the authors behind the QAnon conspiracy theory, turns his investigation to the enigmatic figure of Satoshi Nakamoto.
Satoshi Nakamoto's net worth
Whoever Satoshi Nakamoto is, this person (or circle of people) is clearly very rich. Experts have tracked down the location of his bitcoins and helped determine his wealth.
Since early 2009, Satoshi Nakamoto has not spent a single satoshi. There is no exact estimate of how much BTC Satoshi owns, but it is believed that he owns about 1 million bitcoins. This makes Satoshi one of the richest billionaires on the planet. As of market prices in October 2024, Satoshi Nakamoto's Bitcoin would be worth over $61 billion.
Resume
There are many theories about the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto. It could be one person or many, he could be alive or dead. Without hard evidence, we will never know the truth. In addition, many in the crypto community believe that the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto should remain a mystery forever.
In any case, the only thing we can be sure of is that Satoshi Nakamoto owns a lot of Bitcoin.
