“I moved on to other things.'' So in April 2011, after announcing the existence of a mysterious figure named Satoshi Nakamoto in a cryptic email, he disappeared from the face of the earth and became “the biggest figure in the Internet age.'' gave rise to something called a mystery.
That's because Nakamoto was the pseudonym of the creator of Bitcoin, a multi-billion dollar cryptocurrency that revolutionized the way the world does business and has the potential to become a global currency.
Nakamoto's accomplishments give him more than just bragging rights. That's because he currently holds around 1 million Bitcoins worth £48 billion, and if the value continues to rise he could become the world's first billionaire.
Therefore, it is no wonder that there was a strong interest in who he was.
For years, the internet has been gripped by what amounts to a massive nerd hunt, naming a Japanese mathematician, a Finnish sociologist, an Irish student, and an Australian computer scientist living in suburban Surrey as Nakamoto. Ta.
If Bitcoin's creator is British, many agree, but the most obvious candidate would be Adam Back, a veteran cryptographer with a PhD in computer science from the University of Exeter.
Some have speculated that it could be Elon Musk, science fiction novelist Neal Stephenson, or the US National Security Agency, arguing that the latter created Bitcoin as a honeytrap for criminals. There is.
Now, a TV documentary claims that none of these fit the bill and that the real Nakamoto has been hiding in plain sight for years: Canadian Peter Todd, a Bitcoin developer and crypto specialist. It's home.
Todd, 39, from Toronto, is a self-taught tech genius who reportedly claims he learned how to write computer code before he could read. He also holds extreme political views, such as arguing that Israel should “nuclearize” Iran, and is an endless contrarian, not to mention arrogant, in the world of cryptocurrencies. It is famous for this.
“He always wants to prove he's the smartest guy in the room,” a source told the show.
Unfortunately, in the HBO documentary Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery, Todd denies being Nakamoto. When director Karen Hoback criticized this on camera, he laughed off the idea as “ridiculous.”
But he also told Hoback that if he were Nakamoto, he wouldn't want to be identified as Bitcoin's inventor because it could expose him to kidnappers and other criminals. Todd said he would have destroyed all evidence pointing his way.
Hoback, who spent three years traveling the world talking to early Bitcoin collaborators, claims Todd did not adequately cover his tracks.
He plays out a series of clues that could potentially identify Todd. None of this is conclusive evidence, but taken together they are certainly interesting. The most important may be an online exchange that took place on a Bitcoin forum in 2010. There, Todd responded to Nakamoto's post in a way that seemed to take over his train of thought.
Hoback believes Todd accidentally posted from the wrong account and identified himself as Nakamoto.
After three days, both accounts went silent.
The documentary reveals that Todd claimed in an old resume to be fluent in the programming language used to create the original Bitcoin code, but later denied knowing it. Todd also allegedly created online accounts for fake people to add functionality to Bitcoin without being identified as a modder.
Mr. Hoback combed through Mr. Nakamoto's posts and found that he spelled British words (such as “favor,” “neighbor,” “gray,” and “cheque” instead of apartment) or spelled “bloody” instead of “apartment.” ” and “flat”). Something Canadians often do.
Todd was 22 years old and studying for an art degree when Nakamoto announced Bitcoin, and the documentary reveals that most of his posts were posted online during the summer. This is, of course, a time when students have a lot more free time.
A TV documentary claims the real Nakamoto has been hiding in obscurity for years: Canadian Peter Todd, 39, Bitcoin developer and cryptocurrency expert
Todd posted on social media denying claims that he is Satoshi Nakamoto
“If the real reason for using [the false name] For Satoshi, [sake of] The anonymity was so people would take Bitcoin seriously and believe it was created by a famous cryptographer and “not a kid in school yet,” Hoback said.
While Todd denied that he was the founder of Bitcoin, he admitted that at least that's what the real Nakamoto would say. However, in the days since the show premiered on HBO, many others in the crypto world have disputed that conclusion, claiming once again that Nakamoto's detective has uncovered the identity of the wrong person. did.
All other Nakamoto wannabes who have been “exposed” so far have suffered similar fates. But who would be that if not Todd?
Some continue to believe that Mr. Nakamoto is British, and not just because of the numerous British English spellings and words he used online before worrying about covering his tracks. Nakamoto's comments tended to be posted online after normal business hours in the UK (in North America they would have been in the middle of business hours).
Most revealingly, some believe that Nakamoto read British newspapers. When he created the first 50 Bitcoins, known as the “Genesis Block,” he permanently embedded a short line of text into the data that read: The Prime Minister is on the brink of a second bailout for banks.
This is a quote from the headline of a Times article about the British government's failure to stimulate the economy, and many observers believe Nakamoto's subconscious message is that it's time to try something new, like Bitcoin. That's what I thought.
And while many agree that if Bitcoin's creator is British, the most obvious candidate is Adam Back, a veteran cryptologist with a PhD in computer science from the University of Exeter. .
Like Todd, he was a computer genius from an early age, teaching himself BASIC coding on an early home computer, the Sinclair ZX81. He then graduated to reverse engineering video games, taking apart the programming to see how the game worked.
He was one of the original cypherpunks, a group of activists who advocated the use of powerful privacy-enhancing technologies (like perhaps untraceable cryptocurrencies) to bring about political and social change.
The 54-year-old, who now lives in Malta, contributed to Bitcoin's early development by inventing Bitcoin's predecessor, HashCash, in 1997. Although he was one of the first people known to have communicated with Nakamoto Nakamoto, these email exchanges may have been fabricated to suggest a different person.
He remains an ardent apostle of Bitcoin and runs a company called Blockstream that helps people “mine” Bitcoin, a process in which computers solve extremely complex mathematical problems. It is an energy-intensive process.
Although he denies being Nakamoto or even knowing who he is, some are never convinced and an online video identifying Buck as Nakamoto was released in 2020. Since then, it has been viewed nearly 1.5 million times.
The entrepreneur filed patents for countless digital inventions every year until 2005, but suddenly stopped working and claims to have “disappeared” until 2010, a year after Bitcoin was released.
The video also shows that both Nakamoto and Buck double-space after each sentence, and that they put political messages in computer code, similar to how they referenced newspaper headlines in Bitcoin code. He also pointed out that he had a legacy to leave behind. The fact that Buck moved to Malta, a country known for its low taxes, in 2009 when Bitcoin was released was also notable.
And Buck happens to be Peter Todd's mentor, helping Canadians understand cryptography, the hiding and encryption of information that is central to cryptocurrencies.
Historically, Buck has avoided media attention, but surprisingly he was willing to appear in an HBO documentary.
Watching Buck, who seems a bit creepy on the show, often smiling nervously, it's hard not to conclude that he knows more about the mystery than he's revealing.
In fact, filmmaker Hoback said he initially believed Buck was Nakamoto, not Todd. Hoback may have felt the need to include a new name in the frame, but when he finally tells his two friends which one is suspect, Buck is not amused, but relieved. It seems so.
The Brit does seem to know who Nakamoto is not, and has publicly outed Craig Wright, an Australian computer scientist and businessman living in Surrey, as a liar for claiming to be Nakamoto. I'm blaming. Mr. Wright sued him for defamation, but abandoned the case in 2020 and had to pay Mr. Buck's legal costs.
In March, a High Court judge in London ruled that Wright was not Nakamoto, supporting Buck's claims and referring him to prosecutors on charges of perjury.
We may never know the true identity of Satoshi Nakamoto, and what's more, the Bitcoin bubble may yet burst and its value plummet – and we may never know who the real Nakamoto is. Would you like to admit it?
