Bitcoin started trading in 2009, but its founder, only known to the public by their pseudonymous name, Satoshi Nakamoto, hasn’t revealed their identity. In this article, we will explain what we know about Satoshi and the possible reason they opted to hide their identity.
A Brief History of Bitcoin
As mentioned, Bitcoin entered the market in 2009. Before that, in August of 2008, someone anonymously created the Bitcoin.org website and shared the Bitcoin whitepaper, which explained how the crypto asset would work.
At the time, the Bitcoin creator was the only miner. When they mined the first block, popularly known as the genesis block, they inscribed a text message that read, “The Times 3/1/2009 Chancellor on the Brink of 2nd Bailout for Traditional Banks.”
Satoshi spent ten days mining Bitcoin blocks alone and was able to receive 1 million BTC as block rewards. They then created another website, Bitcointalk.org, to engage with users. One of the notable early users was software engineer Hal Finney. After two years of engaging with Bitcoin users, Satoshi shared their final post on April 23rd, 2011, saying they had moved on to other things and handed the Bitcoin source code to software developer Gavin Andresen.
Since then, Satoshi has never posted anything on Bitcointalk.org. Furthermore, his wallet containing block rewards hasn’t made any transactions since 2009.
Satoshi Nakamoto – The Clues
Various people worldwide have attempted to uncover Satoshi’s identity without success. Some believe the Bitcoin creator’s name means ‘central intelligence,’ thus calling BTC a CIA project. Others claim that the name Satoshi Nakamoto is an amalgam of four companies. To them, Satoshi was derived from Samsung and Toshiba, while Nakamoto came from Nakamich and Motorola.
Who Are Believed to be Satoshi Nakamoto?
Some members of the crypto community think that the following individuals could be Satoshi Nakamoto:
Hal Finney: As mentioned, software engineer and cryptographer Finney interacted regularly with Nakamoto on Bitcointalk.org. However, some believe he could be the Bitcoin creator. But others dispute the claim, arguing that the IP addresses of Nakamoto and Finney were different.
Gavin Andresen: This software developer created Bitcoin’s first faucet. Furthermore, Satoshi entrusted him with the Bitcoin source code, describing him as a professional and responsible individual.
Nick Szabo: Before Bitcoin, there was Bit gold, created by Nick Szabo. Some think Szabo is the brains behind BTC, arguing that his writing style and that of Satoshi were similar.
Adam Back: Cryptographer Adam Back was among the first to receive an email from Nakamoto. Financial Times, a well-known media house, identified him as the Bitcoin founder in 2016. However, Back has constantly denied being the creator of the crypto asset.
Len Sassaman: Cryptographer Len Sassaman was a key contributor to Cypherpunk, a mailing list created by John Gilmore in 1992. Nakamoto first announced his crypto project on Cypherpunk, and Sassaman was a huge fan before dying in 2011 through suicide.
Craig Steven Wright: This Australian entrepreneur rose to fame a few years ago when he started claiming that he was Satoshi Nakamoto. He even said he had access to the Bitcoin founder’s wallets. However, in early 2024, a UK court ruled that Craig Steven Wright wasn’t the man behind Bitcoin.
Elon Musk – SpaceX Owner Elon Musk was named the Bitcoin founder by his former employee in 2017. However, he shared a tweet denying the suggestion but said he was a big fan of blockchain technology. Notably, his electric carmaking firm Tesla owns Bitcoin worth over $1 billion.
Why Satoshi Nakamoto Has Hidden Their Identity
While it is unclear why the Bitcoin creator decided to remain anonymous, many believe they chose that path to avoid influencing the crypto asset, thus making it centralized. That could be true, considering that Vitalik Buterin, the creator of the second-largest cryptocurrency, Ethereum, doesn’t like to be the face of the project.
