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Bitcoin, Cryptocurrency, Disappearance, Dorian Nakamoto, Gavin Andresen, Inventor, Last Emails, Mike Hearn, Mystery, Open Source Project, P2P Foundation, Satoshi Nakamoto
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12 years ago, on this day, April 23, 2011, a cryptic person known only as Satoshi Nakamoto wrote one of the last correspondences to software developer Mike Hearn. The elusive mastermind behind Bitcoin conveyed in the message that he, she or they had “moved on to other things” and confidently claimed that the project was entrusted to “good hands”.
After the creation of Bitcoin and the first implementation of the technology, the enigmatic Satoshi Nakamoto disappeared from the public eye in December 2010. The last public message from the elusive innovator was released on December 12 of the same year, in which Nakamoto emphasized that “there is more work to be done [denial-of-service] DoS.” Subsequently, Nakamoto corresponded with a few of the developers behind Bitcoin, including Mike Hearn and Gavin Andresen.
Hearn received an email from Nakamoto on April 23, 2011, titled “Holding coins in an unspendable state for a rolling time window”, asking about the possibility of Nakamoto’s return to the Bitcoin community. However, Nakamoto claimed that he, she, or they had “moved on to other things”, confidently stating that the project was in “good hands with Gavin and everyone.” The Bitcoin creator also expressed 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 later, Andresen received an e-mail from Nakamoto, in which the pseudonymous innovator expressed frustration at the negative portrayal he received in the press. “I wish you wouldn’t keep talking about me as a mysterious shadowy figure,” Nakamoto wrote. “The press is just making it a pirate currency angle. Maybe instead make it about the open source project and give more credit to your developer contributors; it helps motivate them.” This email is believed to be the last known communication from Bitcoin’s enigmatic creator to anyone.
There was speculation on March 7, 2014, when an article in Newsweek 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 saying, “I am not Dorian Nakamoto.” Since then, no further messages from the elusive Bitcoin creator have surfaced, and the emails to Hearn and Andresen remain a poignant reminder of Nakamoto’s decade-long absence from public view.
What do you think happened to Satoshi Nakamoto? Share your thoughts and theories in the comments below.
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