Table of Contents
- Who is Satoshi Nakamoto?
- When and how did Satoshi Nakamoto invent Bitcoin?
- Is Satoshi Nakamoto Japanese?
- Satoshi Nakamoto candidates: A game of ‘Guess Who?’
- Why is Satoshi Nakamoto’s identity still unknown?
Just a few weeks ago, approximately 40 Bitcoin was moved. Many believe the coins to be Satoshi Nakamoto’s. For those who may not be in the know, Satoshi Nakamoto is the individual or group that created Bitcoin. A ‘Whale Alert’ was posted from a Twitter bot that tracks significant transactions on the blockchain which alerted everyone of the movement. Coincidentally, the price of Bitcoin took a dip once the tweet went viral.
Further research deteremined that the coins were mined in 2009. This is when the legendary Satoshi Nakamato mined the first blocks in existence. In addition to the age of the coins, the fact that these coins have remained inactive since 2009 have lead many to believe that this transaction was initiated by Satoshi.
Who is Satoshi Nakamoto?
The man (or woman?), the myth, the legend. Who is Satoshi Nakamoto? To anyone in the Bitcoin and blockchain community, the name represents hope, change, progress, maybe even a little chaos.
Even to this day, the real identity of Satoshi Nakamoto remains a mystery. Many have speculated who this man, woman or group may be. Some have even stepped forward claiming to be Satoshi, however, no conclusive proof has surfaced.
Let’s dive in to see who Satoshi Nakamoto really is and how this name impacted the start and the rise of cryptocurrency.
When and how did Satoshi Nakamato invent Bitcoin?
The foundation of code that would later manifest itself into Bitcoin began in 2007. In 2008, it is said that either Satoshi or a partner registered the bitcoin.org domain name. It was also in 2008 that the infamous white paper was released, titled “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System”.
Before Bitcoin’s unveiling in 2009, blockchain technology really only existed in theory with no successful implementation. Satoshi put into place the first blockchain that would eventually become the public ledger that all Bitcoin transactions will appear on.
The developer or group of developers using the name Satoshi Nakamoto continued to update and modify the code up until the 2010’s before handing over the source code to Gavin Andresen. There still remains a plethora of unspent BTC that belongs in Satoshi’s public address which would put him on the list of the top 100 richest people in the world.
After the code handover, Satoshi has seemingly abandoned all involvement in Bitcoin. It wasn’t until March of 2020 that some test transactions were seen coming from his address. It was these transactions that again sparked the community’s interest in his identity.
Is Satoshi Nakamoto Japanese?
Much like the name implies, many have automatically assumed that this person or group is Japanese or at least located in Japan. Neither Satoshi or those allegedly in connection with him have either confirmed or denied an origin. There have been claims that he was a 37-year old male who lived in Japan, however, it’s all hearsay. Many believe that his English level is too good to be a native Japanese. Also, the code and all software related to Bitcoin never contained any Japanese.
When looking at his forum posts, someone noticed that his post times were somewhat unusual for someone who supposedly resides in Japan. Though, at least for our coding team here at CoolWallet, normal sleep schedules are far from the norm!
He has also been known to use some expressions and spellings that are associated with British English. Some examples include the use of the adjective “bloody” (as in “bloody hard”) and the spellings of “grey” and “colour”. The first block mined by Satoshi also carried a reference to a newspaper in London.
Satoshi Nakamoto candidates: A game of ‘Guess Who?’
Since the birth of Bitcoin in 2009, there have been multiple individuals that many have speculated to be the person behind the Satoshi Nakamoto name. While some are pretty far fetched guesses, there have been a few people who more or less meet the description of who many believe Satoshi is.
Dorian Nakamoto
If the last name wasn’t a huge tip off, the fact that Dorian Nakamoto’s original name was Satoshi should be sufficient enough as to why everyone thought he could be the Satoshi. In 2014, Newsweek Magazine printed an article about Dorian claiming that he was the person behind the curtain. Much to the detriment of his personal life, including being an engineer for financial and defense services and some liberal comments he previously made, he ultimately denied having any involvement with Bitcoin and cryptocurrency. However, he has taken light to his semi-stardom within the crypto community. In a weird turn of events though, his neighbor, Hal Finney, has also been speculated to be the real Satoshi Nakamoto.
Hal Finney
The neighbor of Dorian Nakamoto, Hal Finney, an individual who was highly involved in cryptography and the Bitcoin community, was also speculated to be the man behind the scenes. Not only was he the first person who received a Bitcoin transaction, but he was also the first person to work on and improve Bitcoin’s source code after Satoshi handed it over. Hal unfortunately passed away in 2014 before he could either confirm or deny this claim.
Adam Back & Wei Dai
Although both having denied being Satoshi, Adam Back and Wei Dai have both been considered very likely candidates. They were the first two to receive an email from Nakamoto prior to Bitcoin’s white paper release. They were also both considered very influential and active within the cryptography and developer communities.
Nick Szabo
Another decentralized currency enthusiast that had relationships with Adam Back, Wei Dai and even Hal Finney was Nick Szabo. Having published a few papers in the 90’s about digital assets and decentralization, many believe him to be the creator of Bitcoin. He had even expressed interest in using pseudonyms. Szabo had this to say in 2011 about Satoshi Nakatoto: “Myself, Wei Dai, and Hal Finney were the only people I know of who liked the idea (or in Dai’s case his related idea) enough to pursue it to any significant extent until Nakamoto (assuming Nakamoto is not really Finney or Dai).” He has denied on numerous occasions that he is Satoshi Nakamoto.
Craig Wright
Among all of the false assumptions of who the real Satoshi Nakamoto is, Craig Wright has taken several bold moves in an attempt to convince the world that he is one behind the creation of Bitcoin. While a lot of evidence does point to him being a likely candidate, it all could be part of an elaborate hoax all curated by Wright himself. Some of this evidence includes leaked emails as well as some support from some leaders in the Bitcoin community. Craig has even gone so far as to utilize UK law to effectively litigate those who deny that he is the creator of Bitcoin. In 2019, he attempted to copyright the white paper and the code for Bitcoin 0.01.
Craig Wright came back in February of 2020 to further convince the community that he was Satoshi Nakamoto. In a blog post, he claimed that all forks of the original BTC code, which include Litecoin, Ethereum, etc., were made without his authority. He then goes on to say that these forks are an infringement on his database rights and have resulted in billions of dollars of theft on his account. It is impossible to say whether or not Craig really is the real Satoshi, however, many in the crypto community view him as nothing more than a troll.
Why is Satoshi Nakamoto’s identity still unknown?
Satoshi Nakamoto is a name that carries its weight both in notoriety and influence. Being the creator of the world’s first decentralized digital currency certainly holds a high degree of responsibility. If not for him and his ambition to change the world’s view of monetary value and currency, we here on the CoolWallet team wouldn’t be where we are today.
We’re almost at the point where maybe Satoshi’s real identity is not important. We’re probably among the many who believe that maybe this was the point. He or they never intended to dox themselves as the creator of Bitcoin. Perhaps all of the denied allegations from Finney, Szabo or Dai are just a front to conceal Satoshi’s identity. The man or group behind the creation of Bitcoin may never come to light and we are 100% ok with it.
However, no one can deny that the work of all those who contributed to the creation and maintenance of Bitcoin cannot go unnoticed. So on behalf of all of us here at CoolWallet, we would like to thank you, Satoshi Nakamoto, wherever or whomever you are, for all the contributions and ideas you have introduced into the world. We are forever grateful for your work!
