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Decoding the Enigma of Satoshi Nakamoto
HughPickens.com writes: For the past year Nathaniel Popper has been working on a book about the history of Bitcoin and writes in the NYT that it is hard to avoid being drawn in by the almost mystical riddle of Satoshi Nakamoto's identity. Popper has his own candidate for founder of Bitcoin, a reclusive American man of Hungarian descent named Nick Szabo. Szabo worked in a loosely organized group of digital privacy activists who over decades laid the foundation for Bitcoin and created many parts that later went into the virtual currency. Bitcoin was not a bolt out of the blue, as is sometimes assumed, but was instead built on the ideas of multiple people over several decades. Several experiments in digital cash circulated on the Cypherpunk lists in the 1990s. Adam Back, a British researcher, created an algorithm called hashcash that later became a central component of Bitcoin. Another, called b money, was designed by an intensely private computer engineer named Wei Dai.
It may be impossible to prove Satoshi's identity until the person or people behind Bitcoin's curtain decide to come forward and prove ownership of Satoshi's old electronic accounts and at this point, the creator's identity is no longer important to Bitcoin's future. Since Satoshi stopped contributing to the project in 2011, most of the open-source code has been rewritten by a group of programmers whose identities are known. According to Popper whoever it is, the real Satoshi Nakamoto has many good reasons for wanting to stay anonymous. Perhaps the most obvious is potential danger. Satoshi Nakamoto most likely collected nearly a million Bitcoins during the system's first year. Given that each Bitcoin is now worth about $240, the stash could be worth more than $200 million. That could make Satoshi a target. "With his modest clothes and unassuming manner, Mr. Szabo could be the kind of person who could have a fortune and not spend any of it," concludes Popper, "or even throw away the keys to the bank."
It may be impossible to prove Satoshi's identity until the person or people behind Bitcoin's curtain decide to come forward and prove ownership of Satoshi's old electronic accounts and at this point, the creator's identity is no longer important to Bitcoin's future. Since Satoshi stopped contributing to the project in 2011, most of the open-source code has been rewritten by a group of programmers whose identities are known. According to Popper whoever it is, the real Satoshi Nakamoto has many good reasons for wanting to stay anonymous. Perhaps the most obvious is potential danger. Satoshi Nakamoto most likely collected nearly a million Bitcoins during the system's first year. Given that each Bitcoin is now worth about $240, the stash could be worth more than $200 million. That could make Satoshi a target. "With his modest clothes and unassuming manner, Mr. Szabo could be the kind of person who could have a fortune and not spend any of it," concludes Popper, "or even throw away the keys to the bank."
I think that systemd created Bitcoin as a distraction while systemd takes over GNU/Linux and turns it into systemd/Linux, which will eventually just become systemd when the Linux kernel (now just a boot loader for systemd) is rendered obsolete.
"an intensely private computer engineer named Wei Dai"
Intensely private? The first hit on Google is for www.weidai.com, his own homepage where he has uploaded pretty much all of his code and publications. He lists contact info and offers to anwser questions on an "Ask Me Anything" website. That's not what I, Anonymous Coward, would consider intensely private behaviour.
Mesa answer your questions. Mesa no speak English good. Mesa do my best.
It doesn't matter who he is: whoever developed bitcoin is a target. Whoever used bitcoin is on a watch list. Whoever even downloaded the application is a "person of interest". Why do some people insist on challenging the invincible? Why are some people so naive as to think getting on the wrong side of Authority will bring them and their loved ones anything but grief?
He's out of the Bitcoin loop now, so it matters less and less as time passes...
unless you're a taxing entity that wants a cut of his Bit-income.
Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.
Ernest Hemingway
Why are we continuing to post articles about this conspiracy theory? Listen to it, "The more average and unassuming the guy seems, the more likely he is the Bitcoin founder!"
I'm a good cook. I'm a fantastic eater. - Steven Brust
Who's getting the book and movie rights?
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
Dear Mr. Nakamoto,
please throw away your Bitcoins at this address, I'll make sure to recycle them properly:
18LQHMjKSCSU3g4f29TfmtfxHXUfnh7juB
Thank you.
Get free satoshi (Bitcoin) and Dogecoins
Nice euphemism for "Looking to ruin someone else's privacy and security in exchange for some journalistic fame".
Some clueless Newsweek reporter thought this was the inventors real name and started cheacking out all the namesakes in world. Outed some unfortuned southern California guy.
> has his own candidate for founder of Bitcoin, a reclusive American man of Hungarian descent named Nick Szabo
Oh, Hungary? FYI, that country held the Guiness world record for hyper-inflation. In late 1945 - early1946, the pengo lost the entirety of its value: in the last days, paper banknotes of the face denomination "one hundred million trillion pengo" were printed, circulated and promptly swept on the streets as scrap, since their puchain value couldn't even buy a single egg.
It's obvious. Satoshi Nakamoto is a pseudonym of Nicolas Bourbaki.
Every bitcoin exchanged comes closer and closer to making the early adopters richer for having done nothing.
n/t
Escher was the first MC and Giger invented the HR department.
They must be really upset about mixers and ring signatures.
Last year they ruined one guys life by claiming he was "the Nakamoto".
Now they want to ruin another.
Ever since moderation and karma was implemented to discourage "First Post!" posts, Slashdot has been best read at -1.
-=/\- Jizzbug -/\=-
What does being the top result on Google for your name/handle have to do with being "intensely private"? Answer: nothing.
-=/\- Jizzbug -/\=-
The most plausible reason for the inventor to remain anonymous: it's a Ponzi scheme.
You can only get prosecuted for that if you can be identified.
Somebody is playing an epic troll on techno-libertarians.