Who is Satoshi Nakamoto?
Everybody loves a mystery, and in #crypto one of the biggest is the identity of the person behind #bitcoin.
Bitcoin is the biggest and best-known #cryptocurrency, a byword for all tokens. However, no-one is quite sure who is behind the coin that brought #DeFi to the masses.
Some will tell you he is a reclusive 47-year-old Japanese national who retains a huge block of #btc. Others say it is a pseudonym to protect the identity of the Bitcoin architect. It has even been claimed that the name refers to a group of developers who brough the Bitcoin chain to life.
What Did Satoshi Do?
Crypto legend has it that the so-called #satoshinakamoto began writing code for Bitcoin in 2007. In August of the following year, the domain bitcoin.org was registered and a website launched. Two months later, #satoshi is credited with publishing the white paper Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System.
A version of the Bitcoin software was released in January 2009, followed by the defining of the very first Bitcoin block.
Satoshi Nakamoto has been widely credited for much of this work, but in 2010 things changed. He is reported to have handed over the source code and certain network keys to Gavin Andresen, transferred control of crucial domains, and withdrawn from the project.
It is believed he, if he exists or is an individual, is among the top 20 richest people in the world, amid rumours he retained up to 1.1 million BTC.
Who is Satoshi?
While Satoshi Nakamoto is one of the best-known names in crypto, there is no definitive answer to this question.
Many believe it to be a pseudonym for the group which designed Bitcoin. Some analysts say the language and timestamps of the early development suggest the coder was from a Commonwealth country, or perhaps even England. Others maintain he is a Japanese individual who wants to stay out of the limelight.
Several names have been linked to the mysterious identity, and some have boldly made the claim that they are Satoshi.
Among the potential candidates is the late Hal Finney, an early crypto developer whose involvement in delivering Bitcoin is rumoured to be under reported.
Dorian Nakamoto is another name that has been linked. After a reporter linked Dorian to the project – pointing to their birth name of Satoshi Nakamoto, political beliefs, and highly developed computer knowledge – there was intense media interest. This led to denials from Dorian and Satoshi Nakamoto’s P2P Foundation.
In 2013, decentralised finance enthusiast Nick Szabo was linked by a blogger. An early crypto adopter with an interest in both Bitcoin and pseudonyms, Szabo has remained a popular candidate despite his denials.
And then there is Craig Wright…
The Craig Wright Saga
While most people who have been ‘named’ as Satoshi Nakamoto have gone to great lengths to deny and distance themselves from the claims, that wasn’t the case for Australian scientist Craig Wright.
A profile appeared in Wired magazine in 2015 claiming it had the ‘strongest evidence yet’. This consisted of a cryptocurrency paper circulating some time before the Bitcoin whitepaper, leaked emails describing a peer-to-peer distributed ledger, and meeting transcripts where #craigwright claimed to have been trying to hide the fact he had been running Bitcoin since 2009.
There was an immediate backlash, with inconsistencies in the story being pointed to and the evidence being described as a ‘hoax’. Vitalik Buterin , who usually stays out of crypto politics, went public with his dismissal of Wright being Satoshi.
After being ‘thrust’ into the spotlight, Wright ran with the identity. The link helped him establish his own niche in the cryptocurrency world.
Wright’s claim to the title has led to numerous court cases, including defamation actions in the US and UK against those who have doubted the connection.
A litany of court cases by Wright and his businesses have included copyright infringement claims against Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash – thrown out last month – and demands against various Bitcoin developers for access to BTC. A claim against 16 developers which was thrown out last year will, following a UK Court of Appeal ruling, go to trial, probably next year.
Why Does It Matter?
In many ways, it doesn’t really matter who Satoshi Nakamoto is. Real, imagined, or a pseudonym adopted by a group, the true identity doesn’t affect the success, popularity, or value of Bitcoin and its native token.
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However, it raises the question of anonymity in cryptocurrency. While #decentralised finance allows, in many cases, users to operate with anonymity, the industry also allows those behind projects to hide their identity.
Some do this to reflect the romantic mystery of Satoshi. For others, the motive is less pure.
As the popularity of crypto grows, we are seeing more and more tokens, #exchanges, lenders, protocols, #nfts, and other projects launching. Investors after a quick buck, or who truly believe in the DeFi principle, hand over money to be part of the next big thing.
They do this despite, in many cases, having no real idea who is behind the project. They are handing over money to a faceless, untraceable person, or team.
Sadly, many investors fall victim to scams and rug pulls and have no recourse. They don’t know who to go after.
When Moni Talks was founded, transparency was out watchword. We stated from day one that we would be open and public about who is running our crypto platform.
You will see myself and Moni Talks Founder and Chairman Brendan Beeken FInstSMM speaking openly, and proudly, about our involvement. We can be easily contacted by users who have questions, and that will remain the case as we develop and bring our trading platform on stream.
Every penny invested in the development has come from Brendan personally, so there is no question about who has a vested financial interest in Moni Talks. Brendan’s career as an entrepreneur and businessman is an open book, as anyone who follows him on social media or visits his website will know.
Conclusion
DeFi users, like those in traditional finance, will sometimes require a degree of anonymity in their dealings. Those who are running business which handle people’s money should not seek to hide their identity.
While we at Moni Talks enjoy the mystery of Satoshi Nakamoto as much as anyone, we believe cryptocurrency projects need to be honest and transparent about ownership and management so investors can have faith, know who they are dealing with, and recourse if things go wrong.
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