Bitcoin: Satoshi Nakamoto and the Last Emails
12 years ago, exactly on April 23, 2011, there was a person known as Satoshi Nakamotothe creator of Bitcoinwrote one of his last correspondences with the software developer Mike Hearn.
Notably, the mastermind behind Bitcoin had stated that he, she, or they had “moved on to other things” and confidently stated that the project had been entrusted to “good hands.” Below are all the details.
Satoshi Nakamoto creates Bitcoin and disappears into thin air
As we know, after the creation of Bitcoin and the first implementation of the technology, the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto disappeared from the public scene in December 2010.
Notably, Nakamoto’s last public message was released on December 12 of the same year, when Nakamoto emphasized that
“there is more work to do with DoS (denial-of-service).”
Subsequently, the creator of Bitcoin continued to correspond with some of the developers behind the prestigious crypto, including Mike Hearn and Gavin Andresen. In particular, Hearn received an email from Nakamoto on April 23, 2011, titled “Holding Coins in an Unusable State for a Rolling Time Window.”
At the same time, Hearn himself questioned the possibility of the Nakamotos returning to the Bitcoin community.
And it was at that point that Nakamoto stated that he, she or they had it “Moved on to other things,” firmly stated that the project was in “good hands with Gavin and others.”
The creator of Bitcoin had also renewed hope for the continued development of Bitcoinj, Mike Hearn’s Java version of Bitcoin, as it gives Java developers something to work with.
A few days after these events, Andresen received an e-mail from Nakamoto in which Nakamoto expressed his frustration at the negative portrayal he received in the press, as it reads:
“I wish you wouldn’t keep talking about me as a mysterious shadowy figure. The press turns it into a corner of pirated currency. Instead, take care of the open source project and give more credit to your development contributors; it helps motivate them.”
Importantly, this email is considered the last known communication from the enigmatic Bitcoin creator to anyone.
Speculation regarding the secret identity
Some of the most prominent speculation regarding the identity of the mysterious Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto occurred on March 7, 2014, when an article in Newsweek had claimed that the creator of Bitcoin was a 64-year-old Japanese-American named Dorian Nakamoto.
However, a message allegedly written by Nakamoto appeared on the P2P Foundation’s online forum to refute the claim, which read:
“I’m not Dorian Nakamoto.”
Since then, no further messages have surfaced from the creator of Bitcoin, and as a result, the emails to Hearn and Andresen remain the last remnant of testimony from Nakamoto for over a decade.
But why was Dorian Nakamoto believed to be behind the hidden identity of Bitcoin’s inventor? It all starts precisely in 2014, when Newsweek’s Leah McGrath Goodman published an article, mentioned above, claiming it was California resident Dorian Nakamoto.
As we well know, over the past eleven years there have been many identities that have self-proclaimed to be Satoshi, as well as those that have been accused by third parties of being Satoshi.
Most of these suspects also had a connection to cypherpunk movement, but not Goodman’s suspect, who spent two months investigating his story. Specifically, one of the biggest forces supporting that the inventor of Bitcoin was Dorian Nakamoto lies in his birth name, which is apparently Satoshi Nakamoto.
Moreover, when Goodman arrived at Dorian’s home in California, the latter had stated that he was “no longer involved in this” and that he “can’t discuss it.” Therefore, the comment led Goodman and his Newsweek cohorts to assume he was talking about the creation of Bitcoin, which is why the above theory was unleashed.
The most prominent theories about the identity of Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto
As one can easily imagine, the theories about Satoshi Nakamoto’s true identity are many, as no one really knows if he is a man, a woman, a set of people, or more.
Therefore, to trace the identity, first some people had started from the origin of the Japanese name. Actually in Japanese “satoshi” means “a clear, quick and wise thought.”
While, “Naka” can mean “medium”, “within” or “relationship”. Finally, “Moto” can mean “origin” or “foundation.”
However, it has never been confirmed that these meanings can lead back to the identity behind the person who invented Bitcoin. Also at a later date it was assumed to be Michael Cleara graduate student in cryptography at Trinity College.
However, Clear denied any possible involvement of his behind the invention of Bitcoin. Still other suspects Vili Lehdonvirtaa former Finnish game developer, but he too denied any connection to Satoshi.
Not only that, in 2017, following a tip from a SpaceX employee, the idea appeared online as Elon Musk hid behind the pseudonym, a theory later rejected by the founder himself on his Twitter account.
As we’ve seen, theories over the years have bounced from one person to another, leading up to Wright’s statements in 2016. Wrightcurrently, appears to be the most credited personality as the mastermind behind the creation of Bitcoin.
Anyway, all these years it’s been just speculation, much of it debunked. Therefore, many doubts and very few certainties regarding the identity hidden behind Satoshi Nakamoto’s pseudonym. One wonders if we will ever know who the creator of the famous crypto Bitcoin really is.
