Who is Satoshi?
Since its inception, Bitcoin has single-handedly rewritten how humans store value online. The implementation of blockchain technology has allowed people to place their net worth onto distributed ledgers that are outside the control of banks and sovereign nations.
This new asset class has redefined investing in the 21st century, leading many investors to generational wealth with the market cap for Bitcoin reaching the $1 trillion mark faster than any other asset in history.
However, one major mystery still exists - who created Bitcoin? While we know Satoshi Nakamoto is the name of the person behind the Bitcoin network, no other details or information exists about the man who is assumed to be from Japan. Obviously, this has led to mass speculation over the origins of Satoshi Nakamoto with new rumors spreading every day about his identity. So, who is Satoshi Nakamoto?
Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple, became the newest member to be added to the growing list of suspects. It was recently discovered that Apple has been including the original Bitcoin whitepaper - Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System - on Macbooks since 2018.
The discovery has led many to question whether Steve Jobs had any involvement with the development of Bitcoin since his death happened around the same time as Satoshi’s sudden disappearance in 2011.
2. A team of developers
A more popular theory that currently exists is the belief that Satoshi Nakamoto is actually a group of people that worked together to develop and deploy Bitcoin. This idea has gained traction due to the fact that many believe developing the entire Bitcoin network is simply too complex for one person to do.
Unfortunately, there is no evidence that suggests this is the case. If there was a team working with Nakamoto, he never mentioned it or gave anyone credit. However, this could be seen as intentional if the members of the group wished to avoid attention.
3. Elon Musk
Elon Musk’s name was eventually thrown into the ring when claims about him went viral on Twitter in 2017. Supposedly, a Space X intern had posted an article explaining why he believes Musk is Satoshi, but was quickly rejected by Musk himself.
Further posts from Twitter at the time show Musk was less interested in cryptocurrency in 2017. Since then, his opinions of cryptocurrency have changed but has been significantly more attracted to Dogecoin than Bitcoin.
4. Craig Wright
Wright became an infamous name in the debate over Satoshi when papers released in 2015 claimed he was the inventor. He went on to support these claims, but his home and office were raided by tax agencies instead.
Wright has largely been dismissed by the crypto community as a liar because he has shown no evidence of actually being Satoshi Nakamoto. These dismissals could easily be reversed by simply using Satsohi’s private keys, but nothing has occurred.
5. Dorian Nakamoto
The most interesting suggestion though comes from Dorian Prentice Satoshi Nakamoto who is a computer engineer in California. He was quickly assumed to be the inventor of Bitcoin after an interview went viral where he stated that he had stopped working with Bitcoin, leaving it to other people in 2014.
This led to massive speculation that Dorian Nakamoto was the real person, but he later claimed to have misinterpreted the question that was asked and said that he thought the question was related to work he had done for Citibank.
Will we ever know?
Chances are, the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto will remain unknown forever. There simply aren’t enough clues that exist for us to pinpoint exactly who it is; and while many will claim to be Satoshi, the only way we will ever know for certain is by seeing on-chain activity from Satsohi’s private keys.
Satoshi’s Bitcoin wallet is one of the largest stores of bitcoin in the network and will create massive headlines if it were to ever become active, reigniting the hunt for Satoshi’s identity; but until then, he is still a mystery.
