Who is Satoshi Nakamoto?

2021/05/21 07:16:56

If you have ever heard of Bitcoin, you have most probably heard the name, Satoshi Nakamoto. So, does anyone know the identity of this mysterious inventor?

The Mystery of Satoshi Nakamoto

Satoshi Nakamoto is the inventor of the Bitcoin protocol. It’s not clear if he is Japanese or not, or if he is a single person or an entity. The meaning behind the name Satoshi Nakamoto’s is quite intriguing. Satoshi means “wise, quick-witted, and clear thinking.” Naka means “medium or a relationship,” while Moto means “origin.”

The above attributes describe the person or entity who shook the financial systems by developing a robust algorithm never seen before.

Who is Satoshi Nakamoto?

No one knows who Satoshi Nakamoto was or is. Of course, some people have researched and followed clues leading to the real Satoshi Nakamoto, but all attempts have been futile. A resident of New York, Joshua Davis, claimed that Michael Clear, a cryptography student at Dublin Trinity College, is the person behind the mysterious pseudonym. Davis came to this conclusion after analyzing 80,000 words from Satoshi’s online publications. However, Michael Clear publicly denied the allegations at a web Summit in 2013.

Others have pointed to Hal Finney, Michael Weber, Wei Dai, and other developers whom the media have named to be the real Satoshi Nakamoto. An analysis of the Bitcoin whitepaper also shows that Nick Szabo may have been the founder of Bitcoin following a lingual study of the Satoshi Nakamoto whitepaper.

In February 2014, Leah Goodman, a Newsweek reporter, believed to have uncovered the identity of Satoshi after tracking down a Californian man with the name Dorian Satoshi Nakamoto. Dorian has since refuted the claims. He even hired a lawyer because of the allegations and released an official statement disputing he was Bitcoin’s founder.

Satoshi has used the bitcoin.org domain name to publish the Bitcoin whitepaper. When they created the domain on August 18, 2008, the registrant used an ISP based in Japan. However, an anonymous person later transferred it to Finland in 2011, leading to another theory that Martii Malmi, a developer based in Finland, may have been involved in Bitcoin’s creation.

The current most prominent enthusiast of crypto, Elon Musk, was also in November 2017 believed to be Satoshi. A former SpaceX employee fuelled the rumors in a blog post suggesting Elon Musk Satoshi could be the same person. However, the billionaire denied the rumors.

What is Known by the Public?

Some developers who were part of Satoshi’s team have also stated that the Bitcoin godfather was very thorough in the early stages of the protocol’s development. Bitcoin’s core developer, Jeff Garzik, said that Satoshi’s coding was unconventional as he was not as rigorous in testing as it was expected from an experienced software developer.

No one knows what Satoshi does now that the Bitcoin network is fully developed. The last trace of Nakamoto was an email that he sent to a software developer back on April 23, 2011. The email stated that he was moving on to new things and that Bitcoin was in good hands.

How Much Bitcoin does Satoshi Nakamoto Own?

Everything about Satoshi is anonymous, and no one knows the exact amount of Bitcoin he owns. Satoshi Nakamoto’s net worth is also a mystery. However, estimates show that he may possess around 1 million Bitcoin, which, going by the current market value of Bitcoin, may be worth over $45 billion. Satoshi was among the early Bitcoin miners, which earned him the earliest mining blocks from the network.

Why the Anonymity?

No one knows why Satoshi Nakamoto has chosen to hide his identity from the public. Some people speculate that he may have been working with the government. However, this is not a possibility given that government agencies and lawmakers would not have readily accepted Satoshi’s protocol of creating a decentralized pseudonymous payment system. This fear is due to the possibility of Bitcoin being used to fund terrorism and other criminal activities.

However, Jeff Garzik, a core developer, stated that the anonymity regarding the originality of Bitcoin should not be an issue. According to Garzik, Satoshi has developed an open-source system that created the freedom of anonymity. To achieve this, he did not want people to think of who he was or care about his knowledge.

Garzik further argues that it was wise of Satoshi to remain anonymous. The anonymity ensured that people focused more on the technology rather than who was behind its development. Even with Satoshi remaining in the shadows, Bitcoin has become much more prominent than him. However, he will still go down in history as the person or entity who revolutionized the technology and financial sectors.

With all the unproven theories of who Satoshi Nakamoto may be, you may be wondering, is Satoshi still alive? Who knows, maybe the real Satoshi is right under our noses.