Who Is Satoshi Nakamoto: The Father of Bitcoin

Introduction

In 2022, the price of BTC turned into a bear market after a bullish high a year ago, leaving the crypto market in a sluggish state.

Under this circumstance, BTC still serves as a market barometer whose price indicates the general trend of the crypto market for investors.

After years of development, BTC still exists as the head cryptocurrency of the entire crypto industry, and the first thing many newcomers need to understand is the rise of BTC and the legendary founder behind it, Satoshi Nakamoto. It is not too much to say that Satoshi Nakamoto has opened up a whole new era.

Today, let’s learn more about Satoshi Nakamoto.

Satoshi Nakamoto and BTC

It is widely known among those who are involved in the crypto industry that Bitcoin, the most prominent cryptocurrency in the cryptocurrency market, was first introduced by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008 and officially launched a year later. In just over a decade, the world powered by BTC had become what we see today.

A lot of speculation about why Satoshi Nakamoto created BTC revolves around the financial crisis that swept the world in 2008, but the impact of the economic crisis on traditional currencies is more of a direct cause.

Before BTC was introduced, distributed algorithmic technology in the form of contracts had reached a stage where practitioners were excited to use it as the basis for applications in certain fields, and it became a trend at the time.

BTC: Born in the financial crisis

As a direct result of the financial crisis, Satoshi Nakamoto, an algorithmic genius, has creatively combined cryptographic algorithms with electronic currencies, and 21 million BTC were minted with the participation of computers.

In order to make BTC valuable, Satoshi Nakamoto, based on the integration of previous technologies, made the computer’s arithmetic power the criterion for the minting of BTC, and a certain amount of BTC was awarded for solving the mathematical problem provided by the algorithm.

However, since Satoshi Nakamoto designed BTC with a fixed amount at first, as time passes, the total amount of BTC in circulation in the market is bound to become more and more. So in order to prolong the life cycle of BTC as much as possible, the algorithm adopts a half-decreasing method to reward users who participate in the calculation.

The initial reward is 50 BTC, and after 50% of the total number of BTCs (10.5 million BTC) were produced, the reward will be halved to 25 pieces each time. When the total number of BTCs reaches 15.75 million (half of 10.5 million more), the reward will be halved again, and so on, the total number of BTCs will never exceed 21 million.

Bitcoin Gave Birth to a Large Industry

As the crypto market grew and flourished in the past several years, some demands in the real world began to support payment with BTC at first, then it became a cryptocurrency with both use and investment properties, and its liquidity value brought huge profits to the users.

Accordingly, seas of other types of cryptocurrencies were born one after another, and various types of tokens using the blockchain standard gradually became more acceptable to more people in terms of usage value.

It can be said that the story of Satoshi Nakamoto is the starting point of the crypto industry.

So, who is Satoshi Nakamoto, the mysterious person behind BTC?

Who is Satoshi Nakamoto?

From being given away for free to being wildly recognized, BTC’s price has increased hundreds of thousands of times despite countless rises and falls over the past decade, which is definitely a legend. However, its mysterious founder, Satoshi Nakamoto, is even more legendary.

To date, the question of who Satoshi Nakamoto is, remains a mystery. In his final public email in 2011, Satoshi Nakamoto wrote that he had “moved on to other projects”.

Since then, news about BTC and other cryptocurrencies never stopped, but news about Satoshi Nakamoto has almost disappeared (he has only released a few messages). Any information he released and even his communication with others, has been encrypted, and he has never revealed his personal information. As a result, it has never been possible to determine who Satoshi Nakamoto really is, or even just his gender.

Searching for the True Father of BTC

The mysterious father of BTC, by any measure, has done everything perfectly in the spirit of crypto. Some even joked that he came from outer space and had left in a UFO after inventing Bitcoin (which is impossible of course). The only thing we can say for sure is that Satoshi Nakamoto is indeed a veteran code geek.

Apart from a fancy storyline, the secret to the evergreening legend is the spice of mystery - attraction.

Like many legends of lost civilizations throughout history, such as King Solomon’s Treasure, the Golden City of Central America, and the Lost Atlantis, Satoshi Nakamoto’s legend contains great wealth. There are millions of BTC in Satoshi Nakamoto’s account.

The Lost BTC Treasure

Back in 2014, these BTCs in Satoshi Nakamoto’s account were worth over a billion dollars. Weather measured at the all-time high of 2021 and at today’s low, the BTC assets’ value has already excessed tens of billions of dollars.

However, we still don’t know who Satoshi Nakamoto is, and the name is probably just a code name for a team. Because the blockchain algorithm he created in 2008 was far too sophisticated for only one developer.

Japanese or Japanese-American

Satoshi Nakamoto’s posts on the forum include a description of himself, that his birthday is April 5, 1975. A middle-aged man from Japan, which certainly explains the name “Satoshi Nakamoto”. When he released BTC in 2008, he used his own registered website with a server registered in Japan. However, this may just be a blindfold, because Satoshi Nakamoto’s English is very fluent, and he has never used Japanese. It is not surprising to assume a Japanese identity to hide, so many people speculate that Satoshi Nakamoto is actually an American or at least a Japanese American.

Some Speculations About Satoshi Nakamoto’s Identity

Over the years, a lot of people have been digging into the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto. As early as 2013, it was revealed that famous Japanese mathematician Shinichi Motoyuki was Satoshi Nakamoto. But this was quickly proven to be false because Shinichi Motoyuki is a brilliant mathematician with no knowledge of programming or cryptography.

Since then, there has been a lot of suspicion about the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto, but no claim stands up with strong evidence.

source: newton.com.tw

Since then, there has been a lot of suspicion about the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto, but no claim stands up with strong evidence.

Other Possible Candidates

In December 2013, blog writer Skye Grey concluded that Satoshi Nakamoto’s real identity was Nick Saab, a former professor from George Washington University, through the quantitative stylistic analysis of the papers.

Nick Saab is very keen on cryptocurrency and has published a paper on Bit Gold. He is considered a pioneer of BTC. He is a person who liked to use a pseudonym since the 1990s, but the discussion about whether he is Satoshi Nakamoto didn’t last long.

Guessing who Satoshi Nakamoto really is, seems to be an activity of crypto enthusiasts. The enthusiasm of participants from all over the world has made this activity almost like a religious tour, but they have never been able to find a clear answer. On the contrary, there only have been some ironic suspicions.

source: view.inews.qq.com

For example, in 2014, a man named Craig Steven White claimed to be Satoshi Nakamoto and gave some evidence. But unfortunately, Craig couldn’t justify himself. His evidence couldn’t prove his identity, so he finally had to withdraw his remarks, but it also earned him the nickname of “the Aussie founder of Bitcoin”.

Another rumor occurred on March 6, 2014. Newsweek reporter Leah McGrath Goodman published an article claiming to have found the real Satoshi Nakamoto, a Japanese-American living in California named Dorian Satoshi Nakamoto, and Tetsuhisa Nakamoto was the Japanese name he once used.

Senior troubled by BTC

Although Goodman was enthusiastic about the interview, it is obvious that Dorian Prentice Satoshi Nakamoto, who was already in his dotage, was slightly surprised by the visit of a stranger and chose to call the police at first.

source: businessinsider.com

Of course, the follow-up interview went ahead despite some turmoil. In addition to having the same last name, Goodman found some other evidence in the interview, the most powerful of which was that when asked the question about BTC, Dorian Nakamoto’s answer seemed to confirm that he was the father of BTC:

“I am no longer involved in that and I cannot discuss it. It’s been turned over to other people. They are in charge of it now. I no longer have any connection.”

The report was made public and met with questions and criticism, even from the Bitcoin community. It also generated media interest. Reporters swarmed outside of Dorian Nakamoto’s home and even chased his car.

This series of sudden changes made the old Californian seem at a loss, as it all seemed like a farce from a strange world.

Soon after, Dorian Nakamoto stood out with a statement denying all this. He said that Goodman’s report was wrong and that he did not create or invent BTC, nor was he otherwise involved in it.

He even said that he heard the word Bitcoin for the first time after a reporter contacted his son. In addition, his programming skills were not up to the task of inventing BTC.

Finally, Dorian Nakamoto said:

“I have no expertise in cryptography, P2P systems, or alternative currencies, nor have I worked in a related field.”

source: touchit.sk

Also in this statement, Dorian Nakamoto describes his dismal life at the time and his health, “I have not been able to find a steady job as an engineer or programmer for 10 years… I am now recovering from prostate surgery in October 2012 and a stroke in October 2013”.

He doesn’t want his quiet life to be disturbed, and the news coverage has caused him and his 93-year-old mother and other family members to feel panicked.

However, this event also became a dramatic turnaround in Dorian Nakamoto’s life. Blockchain.info Chief Security Officer Andreas Antonopoulos decided to launch a fundraising campaign for the disturbed old Californian, and Dorian Nakamoto finally received over a hundred BTC as an apology.

Make the Best of a Bad Bargain

But what’s even more interesting is that a few years later Dorian Nakamoto gradually became involved in BTC. He not only attended Bitconf meetings and press conferences but also assumed the role of the founder of BTC, which of course is more like a form of imitation art. When countless internet users search for Satoshi Nakamoto, pictures of Dorian and various cartoon images derived from him will pop up.

Conclusion

People’s speculation about Satoshi Nakamoto’s true identity is all about cryptocurrencies’ increasingly important position. Looking for Satoshi Nakamoto is now more than a curiosity, but a clear manifestation of value recognition.

So back to the initial question, who is Satoshi Nakamoto?

Maybe only Satoshi Nakamoto knows the answer. Maybe BTC has far exceeded his earliest expectation, and it may cause him unnecessary trouble if he appears. Perhaps it is better for him to be an invisible rich man. After all, the mysterious nature is also one of the reasons why many people associate the crypto industry with the fantasy of cyberpunk.

Bitcoin, as the earliest cryptocurrency with the largest market value at present, is decentralized, trustless, and strongly believed. Bitcoin is undoubtedly one reason why more and more people join the crypto field. All the conjectures about Satoshi Nakamoto’s true identity are the best embodiment of the public’s recognition of the value of crypto because Satoshi Nakamoto has already become a legendary symbol.