Who Created Bitcoin: Satoshi Nakamoto
Unleashing a financial revolution, Bitcoin burst onto the scene in 2009 alongside the enigmatic figure known as Satoshi Nakamoto.
As the world was captivated by this groundbreaking cryptocurrency, an insat
Who Created Bitcoin: Satoshi Nakamoto
Unleashing a financial revolution, Bitcoin burst onto the scene in 2009 alongside the enigmatic figure known as Satoshi Nakamoto.
As the world was captivated by this groundbreaking cryptocurrency, an insatiable thirst for Bitcoin knowledge began to surge.
Yet, Nakamoto’s identity remained shrouded in secrecy, fueling a gripping tale of mystery and intrigue behind the creation of the digital currency that has forever transformed the way we perceive money.
Brace yourself for an exhilarating journey into the realm of Bitcoin, where secrets await and discoveries abound.
Back in 2009, a mysterious figure (or group) using the name Satoshi Nakamoto created Bitcoin – the inaugural cryptocurrency. For quite some time, nobody knew who Nakamoto truly was.
But fast forward to 2017, when Australian computer scientist Craig Wright asserted that he was the brains behind bitcoin.
Nonetheless, a lot of folks remain doubtful about Wright’s declarations.
So, who really is the mastermind behind the world’s first cryptocurrency?
Nakamoto is important to the bitcoin ecosystem beyond his status as founder. He is something of a philosophical leader and is often cited among cryptocurrency supporters discussing the future of bitcoin development. For example, both sides of the controversial Bitcoin Cash subsidiary (itself a subsidiary of the original bitcoin blockchain) claim to support Nakamoto’s original vision for the currency.
It is difficult to know how many bitcoins Nakamoto owns, as it is suspected that Nakamoto may have used different addresses when mining the first blocks. According to some estimates, the bitcoin wallets associated with Nakamoto contain about 1.1 million bitcoins (worth about $30 billion as of June 2022).
Given that only 21 million bitcoins will be mined, Nakamoto’s holdings represent a significant portion of all the bitcoins that will be mined. Nakamoto’s identity has been a mystery since the birth of bitcoin.
Nakamoto is believed to have been Japanese since his early 40s, but no one knows for sure. In 2014, Newsweek claimed to have discovered Satoshi Nakamoto living in California. But later that year, Nakamoto denied the claim and said he was not the founder of bitcoin.
Is Craig Wright the creator of bitcoin?
Wright claimed his identity in 2016, after Wired magazine published a profile of him in December 2015. The article was titled “Is this unknown Australian genius the creator of bitcoin?” and was based on documents leaked to Wired.
The evidence consisted of an article on cryptocurrency allegedly published on Wright’s blog a few months before the publication of the infamous white paper on Bitcoin. Leaked emails and correspondence concerning a ‘distributed P2P ledger’ also emerged, as well as transcripts from tax officials and lawyers containing statements by Wright about his involvement in the creation of Bitcoin.
However, evidence to the contrary has emerged. The blog entries were backdated, as were the alleged public cryptographic keys associated with Nakamoto. A key identifier in the blockchain is the ‘public cryptographic key’, one half of the two-key system cryptocurrency holders need to perform cryptocurrency transactions.
In Wright’s case, it turns out that both Nakamoto’s public keys and blog articles are backdated – making his claims much more suspect. Later, Wired retracted his claim and amended his article with the headline ‘Is this unknown Australian genius the creator of Bitcoin? Probably not’.
The publication cited as the reason for the conviction the allegedly fraudulent evidence Wright published to support his claim. After suspicions from the cryptographic community, Wright eventually retracted his claim.
In March 2014, Newsweek attempted to expose the founder of bitcoin and claimed that Dorian Nakamoto was the man behind the cryptocurrency.
If true, this is the first time a major publication has revealed the identity of the creator of bitcoin. Newsweek claims that there are several similarities between Satoshi Nakamoto and Dorian Nakamoto.
For example, both had libertarian tendencies and a connection to Japan (Dorian, who studied physics at UCLA and worked on secret defence projects, is an American of Japanese descent). The author of the article also claims that Nakamoto said he was ‘no longer’ involved in bitcoin and had ‘passed it on’ to other people. Later, Dorian Nakamoto denied the quote and said he misunderstood the question.
He told BBC, “I am not involved in this.”
A magazine published a picture of Dorian’s house. A cursory image search could easily reveal its location. Although many did not believe that Dorian Nakamoto was the founder of bitcoin, the crypto community was horrified that his privacy had been violated. However, the media circus was not without its benefits for Dorian Nakamoto.
In March 2014, technology entrepreneur and cryptocurrency enthusiast Andreas Antonopoulos launched a fundraising campaign in support of Nakamoto. The crowdfunding campaign served as an apology for the damage and hardship Nakamoto suffered during the ordeal. About 2,000 supporters donated a total of 47.5 bitcoins, worth about $20,000 during the campaign.
Nick Szabo is a computer engineer and lawyer. A 1996 article credits him with pioneering the concept of smart contracts. In 2008, he created a decentralised currency concept called Bit Gold, a precursor to bitcoin. He describes Bit Gold as ‘a protocol through which authentic and expensive bits can be created online, with minimal reliance on trusted third parties’.
This is similar to the concept of bitcoin, where a series of bits created by a headless computer network verifies and validates transactions.
Author Dominic Frisby claims that Nick Szabo is Satoshi Nakamoto in his book Bitcoin: The