Abstract

Satoshi Nakamoto is the pseudonym of the developer behind Bitcoin and the author of the original Bitcoin white paper. The question "Who is Satoshi Nakamoto?" has caused people to have different opinions on his true identity, and some people have falsely claimed that they are Satoshi Nakamoto.

The founder of Bitcoin has been invisible in the fog for more than ten years. But there is no doubt that Satoshi Nakamoto still owns the Bitcoins, because the public keys of these Bitcoins can be traced back to the genesis block mined by Satoshi Nakamoto.

Introduction

Satoshi Nakamoto released the Bitcoin white paper under a pseudonym in 2008. The white paper is titled Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System (see bitcoin.org). Satoshi Nakamoto did not invent the blockchain, but he was the first person to create a decentralized currency using blockchain technology.

Bitcoin was officially launched in 2009. But people have been using the term in emails and forum posts long before that.

However, in 2011, all these communications with the outside world suddenly stopped, and Satoshi Nakamoto disappeared. The mystery of Bitcoin’s founder has been the focus of debate and debate ever since.  

So, who is Satoshi Nakamoto? Who is the person who brought us the most disruptive or important technology of the 21st century? Or is Satoshi Nakamoto actually a group of people? Let’s explore this now.

Who is Satoshi Nakamoto?

Before answering this question, we first ask ourselves "Is this one person or a group of people?" ”. Unfortunately, evidence for both is sparse. It is currently generally believed that Satoshi Nakamoto is a person, and some people firmly believe that Satoshi Nakamoto is a group, such as a group composed of computer scientists, cryptography experts and cypherpunks.

Before Satoshi cut off all contact in April 2011, he claimed to be male, Japanese, born on April 5, 1975. However, people observed that Satoshi Nakamoto had an extremely high command of English, much like someone from an English-speaking country. Also, these correspondences usually took place during working hours in Europe, so it is presumed that the author did not reside in Japan.

Although Satoshi Nakamoto has cut off contact with the outside world, speculation about his true identity has become increasingly crazy. There are many people and groups who have been labeled the "real Satoshi", but only a handful of candidates have proven worthy of mention.

Hal Finney

Of all the candidates who may be Satoshi Nakamoto, Hal Finney is one of the most likely. Hal was one of the earliest users of Bitcoin and was the recipient of the first Bitcoin transaction. He is also a software developer and one of the original cypherpunks of the 1990s.

Sadly, Hal Finney passed away in 2014, suffering from a neurological disease that left him paralyzed for a period of time. He has always denied that he is Satoshi Nakamoto.

Nick Szabo

Another highly suspicious candidate is Nick Szabo, a well-known computer scientist who pre-dates Bitcoin. In 2006, the digital currency "Bit Gold" was created. In his communication with the cryptopunk community, his writing habits and communication time highly overlapped with Satoshi Nakamoto.

Nick Szabo has also denied that he is Satoshi Nakamoto, but many in the cryptocurrency community do not believe it. There are many similarities between Nick and Satoshi Nakamoto, which may or may not be coincidence.

Dorian Nakamoto

Dorian Nakamoto is a Japanese-American, and his real name is actually Satoshi Nakamoto. He worked as a computer engineer for a technology and financial services company and even lived in the same area of California as Hal Finney for a decade.

Dorian once responded in an interview that he was involved in the development of Bitcoin, but later retracted his statement and said that he misunderstood the question at the time. He has since denied any involvement in the project and even said he was unaware of Bitcoin’s existence before the media frenzy surrounding him.

How much is Satoshi Nakamoto worth?

No matter who is the real Satoshi Nakamoto, they are absolutely wealthy. Forensic analysts tracked down where Satoshi Nakamoto kept his Bitcoins, making his net worth public.

Since the beginning of 2009, Satoshi Nakamoto has not spent even 1 Satoshi Bitcoin. Estimates of the value of Satoshi Nakamoto’s Bitcoins vary, but most agree that it is around 1 million Bitcoins (worth approximately $19 billion according to ATH). This would make Satoshi Nakamoto one of the richest billionaires on earth.

Summary

The identity of Satoshi Nakamoto is confusing. It may be a person or a group. It is not even certain whether he is still alive. However, without concrete hard evidence, we will never know who Satoshi Nakamoto is. But we know one thing for sure: Satoshi Nakamoto held a large amount of Bitcoin for a long time.

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