Since its inception in 2008, bitcoin has reached significant highs and lows. Every day, thousands of new and old crypto investors are infusing more money into the bitcoin sphere. However, despite its drastic growth, one thing that still stays behind the shadow is the creation of Bitcoin. Satoshi Nakamoto, a computer programmer is considered as the founder of bitcoin. Although his name is publicly famous, nothing more about him or his true identity could be unravelled.
The story of Bitcoin creation is a whole new interesting mystery. In 2008, Satoshi Nakomoto published a whitepaper that had the mention of bitcoin in it. In the Bitcoin Whitepaper, he talked about peer-to-peer electronic cash system. Later, he released bitcoin’s first software and joined hands with other developers and coders to improve it. The collaborative effort continued till 2011, and unfortunately, without warning, Nakamoto walked away from the group. However, he didn’t walk empty-handed. Reports suggest that Nakamoto accumulated around a million bitcoins before disappearing. Despite all the speculations and the hidden billionaire tales, Nakamoto still remains behind the walls. Therefore, in this article, we take you through some of the facts we so far know about Satoshi Nakamoto and evaluate his worth.
Who is Satoshi Nakamoto?
To be precise, we became familiar with the name ‘Satoshi Nakamoto’ only because of the whitepaper he published on Bitcoin. But the whole concept of whether it is a single person or a whole group remains a mystery. While some proofs point Nakamoto to be an individual, some others say it could be a group of people like a team of computer scientists, cryptocurrency experts, or cyberpunks.
To know more about Satoshi Nakamoto, we need to start from scratch. In the first place, why should he or she keep his identity concealed? The major reason behind this is the authorities. Nakamoto is not the first person to try his hand at digital currency creation. Prior to him, many technology experts tried creating a peer-to-peer electronic money transfer system that could function without a centralized authority. But most of the cases either ended in vain or scrutiny. When government authorities came to know about the decentralized technology and money transfers, the creators were often put under critical spots. In some worst cases, they were questioned on suspicions of terrorism financing. Even though we are not sure, this could be one of the reasons why Nakamoto wanted to stay in the shadows.
Satoshi Nakamoto is the pseudonym used by bitcoin’s creator while communicating through emails, posting updates on forums, or even while publishing the Bitcoin Whitepaper. Although the name suggests that he could be from Japan, his perfect English pronunciations tell a different story. So, many believe that he could be from an English-speaking country. Besides, we also have a handful of theories on who Nakamoto could be. While some claim to be Nakamoto, some bluntly shun down the attestations by the public. So the whole story of the bitcoin creation and the mastermind or masterminds behind it remains an unsolved puzzle.
List of people who could possibly be Satoshi Nakamoto
Dorian Nakamoto: According to Leah McGrath Goodman, Dorian Nakamoto is the man behind bitcoin. He is an academic and engineer in California. McGrath made his claim public by putting it out in a Newsweek article in March 2014. In the article, McGrath says, “The trail followed by Newsweek led to a 64-year-old Japanese-American man whose name really is Satoshi Nakamoto.” But investigations ruled out that he could be the mastermind of bitcoin.
Hal Finney: Out of all the candidates who either claimed to be Nakamoto or could possibly be Nakamoto, Hal Finney is one of the most likely. What makes the public so sure that Finney could be Nakamoto is his early adoption of bitcoin. Besides, he also worked as a software developer and was one of the original cypherpunks in the 1990s. Unfortunately, Finney passed away in 2014 after suffering from a nerve disease. Until his death, he denied all the claims.
Nick Szabo: Nick Szabo is a famous computer scientist and a cypherpunk, who was friends with many people in the cryptocurrency circle. He also created a digital currency called ‘bit gold,’ a few years before bitcoin got streamlined. Even though his designation and stand in the digital currency market makes him a possible candidate who could be Nakamoto, his communication and writing overlap the existing content we have of the real founder.