To this day, the creator of Bitcoin remains anonymous and a mystery. The author of the Bitcoin Whitepaper and creator of Bitcoin chose to write under the alias “Satoshi Nakamoto.”
Theories abound as to whom this mysterious figure could be. I’ve collected what I believe to be the top 5 candidates to be Satoshi Nakamoto.
After considering who could be Satoshi, I am going to examine why this matter for investors.
1. Hal Finney
It is clear from reading the Bitcoin whitepaper that Satoshi was a genius in more than one discipline.
Satoshi Nakamoto clearly had a deep understanding of Cryptography, Computer Science, and Game Theory. Hal Finney, had a deep understanding of all of these topics.
Hal Finney, was a computer scientist, developer, and also a member of the cypherpunk movement. Finney believed in Bitcoin. He wrote passionately about the dangers of centralized power and the loss of privacy. He understood that computer science could be used to liberate and free people.
One would expect these altruistic beliefs from the unselfish Bitcoin creator.
Not only did Finney, have the credentials and ability, but he is also connected to the very first Bitcoin transaction. Finney, received the first Bitcoin transaction from Satoshi Nakamoto for 10 BTC on January 12th 2009.
Hal Finney was the first known to be running the Bitcoin protocol as seen in the tweet above just a couple of days prior to the transaction.
Another interesting fact linking Satoshi Nakamoto to Hal Finney is in the name. Hal Finney lived in Temple City, California two miles from a man named Dorian Satoshi Nakamoto.
Could it be possible the two knew each other and Hal used the name Satoshi Nakamoto to help keep his identity secret? Hal Finney claimed to have never met Dorian Satoshi Nakamoto.
Writing analysis also suggests that Hal Finney shared much of the same writing habits and grammatical traits as Satoshi. In an analysis by Juola & Associates, they suggest that Finney was the closest to Satoshi’s writing style they had come across*.
The last piece of evidence that makes me suggest that Hal Finney is the creator of Bitcoin is that Finney tragically died in 2014.
As Bitcoin began to mature, Satoshi took a bow and escaped into the shadows. Satoshi’s last known post was on April 23rd, 2011, saying “I’ve moved on to other things. It’s in good hands with Gavin and everyone.”
In the ultimate move of selfless behavior and the embodiment of decentralization, Satoshi Nakamoto disappeared.
When confronted on multiple occasions, Hal Finney denied being Satoshi Nakamoto. Finney, presented evidence of emails between himself and Satoshi, which does give some evidence to the contrary. Writing emails to yourself would either be very strange behavior or the stroke of genius.
2. Adam Back
Adam Back is the very first and only name mentioned in the main text of the Satoshi Whitepaper in reference to his “Hashcash” proof-of-work mining system.
Adam Back is a brilliant programmer, cryptographer, and early member of the cypherpunk movement. In 2014, as Bitcoin continued to gain popularity, Back founded Blockstream a company dedicated to furthering Bitcoin and blockchain.
Adam Back claims to have communicated with Satoshi Nakamoto in July of 2008, six months before the software release of Bitcoin. Back claims that he did not help program the underlying Bitcoin software but received it and was in communication with Satoshi.
Back explains that he did later propose some ideas to help with the privacy and fungibility of Bitcoin but had nothing to do with the original programming.
When asked by Bitcoin news site, Cointelegraph, if he would share his early emails with Satoshi, Back refused, “Satoshi’s anonymity is “a Bitcoin feature” and that if he had any pieces of evidence that could help deduce Satoshi’s true identity he would “delete/shred them.*”
One of the clues that could peg Adam Back as Satoshi is in his writing style.
The early correspondences of Satoshi were written with double spacing after periods with the use of distinctively British language. Adam Back double spaces after periods and uses UK English words such as colour and humour. He was born in London and moved to Malta in 2009, a well known EU tax haven.
It seems quite suspicious that Back has the connections, expertise, writing style, and vision to fit the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto.
In the last piece of interesting evidence, Charles Hoskinson founder of Cardano and cryptographer, states that the founding of Blockstream adds to evidence that Adam Back is Satoshi Nakamoto.
“What’s really curious is that it seems like there’s been some attempts at Blockstream to repair the damage in the Bitcoin scripting language as unfinished business. In fact, there was a paper called Simplicity that they wrote, where they’re actually revising and trying to redesign the Bitcoin script in a way that is a little bit better. So it feels like one of those things that if I was the creator of the system, I, of course, would come back and try to fix it later on.”*
Charles Hoskinson
Adam Back seems like a perfect candidate to be Satoshi.
He is brilliant, humble, soft-spoken, and driven by ideology over wealth and status. Although he frequently denies being Satoshi, there are too many indicators to suggest that he is out of the running.
3. Nick Szabo
Nick Szabo is maybe the closest we can get to Satoshi Nakamoto in ideology and expertise.
So close in fact that he could be him! Like the previous two candidates, Nick Szabo is a brilliant developer, cryptographer, and cypherpunk. Nick Szabo even created a predecessor to Bitcoin called Bit Gold (read the differences between the two protocols here.)
From studying Bit Gold you can see how Bitcoin is not a far stretch from the underlying principles of the proposed protocol.
According to Gizmodo, in an article entitled “Why Nick Szabo is Probably Satoshi Nakamoto”, Nick altered a blog post date to appear to be released after the Satoshi Whitepaper. The blog post was asking for advice on how to release Bit Gold. Why would Szabo go to the trouble of backdating a blog post if he wasn’t trying to hide something?
Writing analysts have studied Nick Szabo’s phrasing and written word mannerisms. These studies conclude that they share striking similarities to Satoshi Nakamoto’s writing.
There are certain phrasing that Nick is known to have written that can be found in the Satoshi Whitepaper and forum posts. Additionally, it doesn’t take a forensic scientist to note that the initials N.S. and S.N. create a funny coincidence.
There is no known communication or emails between Nick Szabo and Satoshi Nakamoto prior to the release of the Bitcoin Whitepaper. Additionally, Szabo was a frequent blogger, but his blog posts mysteriously disappeared after 2009, indicating that he may have shifted his focus to something else.* In an interview with Tim Ferris in 2017, Szabo’s tongue mistakenly slipped:
“I’d definitely go for a second layer, I mean, I designed Bitcoi … gold with two layers.“
Like the others mentioned Szabo denies being Satoshi Nakamoto. There are some reasons to think that Nick Szabo is not Satoshi.
Nick Szabo is American and doesn’t use British English in his writings.
Additionally, he clearly has some different ideas on the protocol than Satoshi, as Bit Gold was designed to be more of a settlement layer. However, If Nick Szabo was looking to become anonymous, these misdirections may have been intentional.
4. Wei Dai
Wei Dai is another character mentioned in the Satoshi Whitepaper citation materials that could be a potential candidate.
Dai has the technical and intellectual means to be Satoshi Nakamoto.
His technical abilities with cryptography are extremely notable and even created a precursor to Bitcoin called “b-Money.”
He was a member of the metzdowd.com mailing list, a cryptography mailing list that Satoshi Nakamoto originally published the Satoshi Whitepaper.
Wei Dai is known to have had email communications with Satoshi in 2008 prior to the release of Bitcoin. In Wei Dai’s b-money, he spoke about the power of decentralization and anonymity. Wei shared the same desire for a peaceful type of crypto-anarchy where governing bodies are simply not necessary or redundant.
Similar to other members of the Satoshi candidate short list, the email exchanges between the two parties point to evidence denying that Wei Dai is Satoshi Nakamoto.
However, Dai has never denied being Satoshi. All the evidence concludes, Wei Dai was well positioned in the right time, place, and abilities to be Satoshi Nakamoto.
5. Dave Kleiman
Please take note that Craig Wright is not featured on this list. I believe the evidence presented in US Court and evidence presented from Jamison Lopp is more than enough to prove that self-proclaimed Satoshi Nakamoto, Craig Wright is a fraud. However, it actually lends evidence that a lesser-known business associate of Wright, Dave Kleiman may indeed be Satoshi.
Dave Kleiman was a computer security and encryption expert. Kleiman was a self-taught and brilliant coder, but not a classically trained one.
Many have pointed out that the Bitcoin software was programmed brilliantly, but with a-typical programming methodology.
Kleiman also was an early member of the metzdowd.com mailing list in which Bitcoin was released. Dave Kleiman’s business partner, Patrick Page, claimed that Kleiman was indeed Satoshi and had created Bitcoin.
However, he later retracted these comments stating that Kleiman was a part of a group of individuals that developed Bitcoin. Mysteriously, Kleiman was reported to have always carried an aluminum cased UBS drive in his possession at all times.
The story of Dave Kleiman is a very sad one. He was paralyzed from his torso down in a motorcycle accident in 1995.
After which he dedicated himself to computer work with an obsession with security and forensics. Kleiman eventually died in 2013 at the age of 46, he was found dead in his home with a loaded gun and bottles of alcohol scattered in his Florida home.
The evidence for Dave Kleiman being Satoshi mounts when considering his relationship with self-proclaimed Satoshi, Craig Wright.
The two knew each other and worked together on various projects together. Tech website, Gizmodo, claims to be in possession of a series of emails between Craig and Kleiman that support evidence they were working on creating Bitcoin together.*
Kleiman tragically passed in 2013. Craig Wright subsequently claimed to be Satoshi Nakamoto in 2015. In 2018, Kleiman’s family sued Craig Wright for billions of dollars in Bitcoin they claim Craig had defrauded from Kleiman.*
There is very good evidence that Craig Wright and Dave Kleiman were both involved in the early days of Bitcoin.
The extent to which each of these individuals was involved in the creation of Bitcoin is largely unknown. I do believe the evidence suggests that Dave Kleiman had the intellect, skills, and background to be Satoshi Nakamoto. Putting the pieces of the puzzle together would suggest that Craig Wright later decided to capitalize on his former associate’s demise.
Bonus – Satoshi Nakamoto is a Group
It is my personal opinion that the work done to create the masterpiece of Bitcoin was not a single mind alone, but likely a group of minds coming together.
Bitcoin did not come out of the blue, but rather is the result of brilliant developments from various areas of technology, encryption, security, and game theory.
Bitcoin also emerged out of philosophy.
The rise of central banking, massive government spending, globalization, and the internet brought about the necessary ingredients for minds to begin conceiving of the next form of money. A form of money that would create a more liberated and fair world for all.
I believe all the men above were Satoshi Nakamoto, and likely many others.
Even if one man, wrote the Satoshi Whitepaper, he did it on the back of many great projects such as b-money, Bit Gold, and Hashcash.
I believe, like Adam Back, that Satoshi Nakamoto was supposed to disappear and his anonymity is a feature of Bitcoin. Without a central flawed figure, Bitcoin can live on in a decentralized form, the way it was designed.
Does the Identity of Satoshi Nakamoto Matter as an Investor?
Maybe.
If Satoshi were to be revealed at the current time of writing it is estimated that he would be worth between $6 Billion and $10 Billion US dollars.
This would make Satoshi one of the richest men in the world.
If, for example, Craig Wright is Satoshi and by court declaration ordered to part with half of his Bitcoin. This would clearly have a negative effect on the immediate price and potentially long term viability of Bitcoin.
A known identity of Satoshi could also make the system more fragile. As Bitcoin grows in strength and market share, this would put a necessary spotlight on its founder. Additionally, as governments and central banks begin to feel threatened by Bitcoin, this could put Satoshi in great danger.
On the contrary, many cryptocurrency analysts have stated that even if Satoshi were revealed it would not be a cause of concern.
As Bitcoin has developed over the years, the community of coders, miners, and investors has also evolved. The system does not need Satoshi any longer to grow and thrive.
As a longer-term Hodler of Bitcoin, I do not believe the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto would break Bitcoin. We could see some short term volatility, and the story would not be quite as incredible. However, Bitcoin is here to stay, and we have Satoshi Nakamoto to thank for it!
Please read our disclaimer here regarding investment advice and risk. Disclaimer: This should not be construed as or relied upon in any manner as investment, legal, tax, or other advice. Please consult an appropriate tax or financial professional to understand your personal tax and financial circumstances. I may get compensated by some platforms mentioned below (because of referral links). Do your own research.
*Andy Greenberg (25 March 2014). “Nakamoto’s Neighbor: My Hunt For Bitcoin’s Creator Led To A Paralyzed Crypto Genius”. Forbes. Archived from the original on 26 March 2014. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
*https://cointelegraph.com/news/adam-back-on-satoshi-emails-privacy-concerns-and-bitcoins-early-days
*cointelegraph.com/news/charles-hoskinson-blockstream-founder-adam-back-checks-all-the-boxes-as-satoshi
*https://news.bitcoin.com/i-designed-bitcoi-gold-the-many-facts-pointing-to-nick-being-satoshi/
*https://medium.com/@cihilt/who-is-the-creator-of-bitcoin-6ee45842ac86