Has the identity of bitcoin’s mystery creator been unchained?
An investigation from The New York Times puts forward its case to solve the crypto world’s biggest puzzle.
From Agatha Christie’s enduring detective novels, to an abundance of true crime podcasts, to unmasking modern enigmas like Banksy, there’s no doubt that people love mulling over a whodunit.
For the crypto community, the question mark that’s loomed since a nine-page proposal for a little peer-to-peer electronic cash system called “bitcoin” appeared on the internet in 2008 has been the anonymous creator of the world’s most valuable cryptocurrency.
Working under the pseudonym “Satoshi Nakamoto,” bitcoin’s creator initiated an industry worth some $2.4 trillion today by founding the revolutionary financial technology, leaving virtually no digital footprint. Countless fans, forums, and filmmakers have tried to pinpoint their identity over the last 17 years. Now, a new investigation from The New York Times claims to have an answer.
Blockbusting
Published early Wednesday, the piece sees author John Carreyrou put forward several striking similarities, based on a body of evidence amassed over a yearlong inquiry, between the so-called Satoshi and 55-year-old British cryptographer Adam Back, a prominent name within crypto who currently leads the Bitcoin Standard Treasury Company, which plans to go public via a SPAC merger this year. His Wikipedia page has gained traction over the last decade, and his name has come up in previous efforts to reveal the pseudonymous creator of bitcoin, but he wasn’t a front-runner until today.
Ignoring those whose claims to the crypto crown have already been debunked, a handful of computer scientists have repeatedly cropped up in theories: Hal Finney, the late programmer and Cypherpunk member who received the first-ever bitcoin transaction from Satoshi; Len Sessaman, a cryptographer named in a 2024 HBO exposé documentary; and Nick Szabo, the creator of Bit Gold, who’s been the subject of even Elon Musk’s speculation.
Carreyrou’s argument for Back cites a series of inventions related to decentralized networks, matching credentials and supposed interests, similar spelling and grammar habits, and a period of Satoshi inaction that all but says, “Have you ever seen them in the same place?” While Back has already denied the report, one thing is certain: efforts to unmask bitcoin’s creator will continue, even if there are some who believe it’s better if the world never knows for sure.
