Bitcoin was introduced to the public as a communal project in 2009. It is an open-source software that was conceived by open-minded people. The digital currency operates on an open ledger that can be accessed by anyone.
Despite being a great concept, until today no one really knows who the brainchild of Bitcoin was. It is widely known that Satoshi Nakamoto is the founder of Bitcoin, but it remains to be a mystery as to who Satoshi Nakamoto really is.
His last communication took place in 2011 – two years after the cryptocurrency was introduced to the public.
Who really is Satoshi Nakamoto?
The name Satoshi Nakamoto is a pseudonym used by the individual who created Bitcoin. He claims to be of Japanese origin and born on April 5, 1975. However, many people doubt his claims considering his command of the English language.
Nakamoto was the first human being to resolve the decentralized digital currency double-spending problem and in the process created a totally new asset named Bitcoin – the first of its kind.
In 2008, the mysterious Bitcoin founder published a white paper – explaining a blueprint of hi his peer-to-peer electronic digital payment method.
At the beginning of 2009, Satoshi released 0.1 version of the source code – marking the launch of the cryptocurrency and minded the first block. He later continued working on the development of the software for one more year before finally quitting from active development.
How much is Satoshi Nakamoto worth?
Sources reveal that Satoshi is one of the Bitcoin “Whales”. In cryptocurrency, a whale is a term used to describe people who have stashed away large amounts of Bitcoins.
Being the first one to mine the first block, Satoshi Nakamoto is believed to be own 1 million BTC.
Despite several efforts to unravel the mystery behind the identity of Nakamoto, nothing tangible has been forthcoming. The Bitcoin community has been left speculating on individuals who could be Satoshi Nakamoto.
Several people have been suggested. For Craig Wright and David Kleiman. There is concrete evidence that the two individuals could have contributed to the project and got the Bitcoin network up and running.
Could the founder be of British origin?
Although Satoshi’s identity is a mystery, investigators have not rested in finding out his or her true identity. His fluent use of the English language in the white paper he published has left many people questioning his claim of Japanese origin.
Additionally, a renowned coder and active member in the Bitcoin community, Stephan Thomas graphed Nakamoto’s Time Stamps for more than 500 posts and could not find any activity between midnight and 6 am. This revelation also gave casted doubts about Japan being his time zone.
Nick Szabo
There are several people who are suspected to be Bitcoin’s founder. One of the popular suggestions is Szabo – an enthusiast for decentralized currency who wrote a paper called “Bit Gold”. The paper is considered as a curtain-raiser for the first digital currency.
Grey Skye, a famous internet researcher ran reverse textual analysis and discovered several unique phrases that linked the writing style of Szabo to the first white paper on Bitcoin. The evidence is however circumstantial and Szabo has severally denied claims that he is the founder of Bitcoin.
Despite his refusal, investigations into how Bitcoin whitepaper was written shows striking similarities with his writings. One of the curious things is how Nakamoto makes several references to Bit Gold but refuses to address it directly.
Craig Wright
Another potential candidate that’s being suspected to be Satoshi is Wright – Australia’s academician and computer engineer. In late 2011, Gizmodo was sent an email by an anonymous person that Wright was the one who created Bitcoin.
Hours after it was confirmed that Wright was Nakamoto, Australia’s Federal police raided his residence but denied that his arrest was not related to earlier reports concerning Bitcoin.
Later on, Mr. Wright deleted his social media accounts and online presence until May 2016. He confirmed through his Twitter account that he was the founder of Bitcoin and offered to provide evidence to prove his claims.
A few months down the line amidst skepticism and criticism, Wright retracted his claims of being the founder of Bitcoin. Besides, he failed to provide the evidence he had purported to have.
Hal Finney
Hal Finney is another person suspected by many people to be Nakamoto. Finney is famously known as the second person after Nakamoto to use the Bitcoin software as well as work on file bug reports. He also suggested significant improvements on the software.
Besides that, Finney is said to have been the first person to receive Bitcoin. While peaking in an interview, Finney said that he was the first person to receive the first BTC from Nakamoto for testing purposes.
Andy Greenberg, a journalist working with Forbes suspected Finney after he requested analysis help from a law firm. He said that Finney could have been a ghostwriter for Nakamoto.
It is also claimed that Finney worked with Nick Szabo in creating certain concepts of Bitcoin around 2008. Finney is also said to have actively involved in making several changes to the Bitcoin Software.
Dorian Nakamoto
In March 2014, Newsweek reported that Dorian Nakamoto was the real founder of Bitcoin. The report caused jitters and confusion in the Bitcoin community, and was the first time mainstream media tried to engage in the debate about the founder of Bitcoin.
The publications drew a number of similarities between Dorian Nakamoto and Satoshi Nakamoto. The Newspaper claimed that the two interacted widely in various platforms and share a lot of information on Bitcoin.
Bottom Line
Speculation about Satoshi meaning or his identity has been there since Bitcoin was introduced. Besides, there are several people who are suspected to be Satoshi including Finney, Adam Back, and Wright among others.
Even if the real founder of Bitcoin was to appear today, he or she will have to deal with the doubts and skepticism about the real identity of Satoshi Nakamoto.
The most important thing is that Bitcoin has proved to be the most valuable form of digital currency – whether the founder will ever reveal his or her identity or not won’t change that fact.