Satoshi Nakamoto

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6 Apr 2024

Satoshi Nakamoto is the name used by the presumed pseudonymous[1][2][3][4] person or persons who developed Bitcoin, authored the Bitcoin white paper, and created and deployed Bitcoin's original reference implementation.[5] As part of the implementation, Nakamoto also devised the first blockchain database.[6] Nakamoto was active in the development of bitcoin until December 2010

Developmentof bitcoin

Nakamoto said that the work of writing Bitcoin's code began in the second quarter of 2007.[9] On 18 August 2008, he or a colleague registered the domain name bitcoin.org,[10] and created a web site at that address. On 31 October, Nakamoto published a white paper on the cryptography mailing list at metzdowd.com describing a digital cryptocurrency, titled "Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System".[11][12][13]

On 9 January 2009, Nakamoto released version 0.1 of the Bitcoin software on SourceForge and launched the network by defining the genesis block of bitcoin (block number 0), which had a reward of 50 bitcoins.[14][15][7][16] Embedded in the coinbase transaction of this block is the text: "The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks",[17] citing a headline in the UK newspaper The Times published on that date.[18] This note has been interpreted as both a timestamp and a derisive comment on the alleged instability caused by fractional-reserve banking.[19]: 18

Nakamoto continued to collaborate with other developers on Bitcoin's software until mid-2010, making all modifications to the source code himself. He then gave control of the source code repository and network alert key to Gavin Andresen,[20] transferred several related domains to various prominent members of the Bitcoin community, and ended his recognized involvement in the project.[citation needed]

Nakamoto owns between 750,000 and 1,100,000 Bitcoin. In November 2021, when Bitcoin reached a value of over $68,000, his net worth would have been up to $73 billion, making him the 15th-richest person in the world at the time

Characteristics and identity

Nakamoto has never revealed personal information when discussing technical matters,[7] but has at times commented on banking and fractional-reserve banking. On his P2P Foundation profile as of 2012, Nakamoto claimed to be a 37-year-old man who lived in Japan;[8] some speculated he was unlikely to be Japanese due to his native-level use of English.[7]

Some have considered that Nakamoto might be a team of people. Dan Kaminsky, a security researcher who read Bitcoin's code,[22] said that Nakamoto was either a "team of people" or a "genius";[23] Laszlo Hanyecz, a developer who had emailed Nakamoto, had the feeling the code was too well-designed for one person;[7] Andresen has said of Nakamoto's code: "He was a brilliant coder, but it was quirky."[24]

The use of British English in both source code comments and forum postings, such as the expression "bloody hard", terms such as "flat" and "maths", and the spellings "grey" and "colour",[17] led to speculation that Nakamoto, or at least one person in a consortium claiming to be him, was of Commonwealth origin.[7][11][23] The reference to London's Times newspaper in the first Bitcoin block suggested to some a particular interest in the British government.[17][25]

Stefan Thomas, a Swiss software engineer and active community member, graphed the timestamps of each of Nakamoto's Bitcoin forum posts (more than 500); the chart showed a steep decline to almost none between 5 a.m. and 11 a.m. Greenwich Mean Time (midnight to 6 a.m. Eastern Standard Time). This was between 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Japan Standard Time, suggesting an unusual sleep pattern for someone living in Japan. As this pattern held even on Saturdays and Sundays, it suggested that Nakamoto was consistently asleep at this time.

Pomona, Nakamoto worked as a systems engineer on classified defense projects and computer engineer for technology and financial information services companies. According to his daughter, Nakamoto was laid off twice in the early 1990s, turned libertarian, and encouraged her to start her own business "not under the government's thumb". The article's seemingly biggest piece of evidence was that when Goodman asked him about Bitcoin during a brief in-person interview, Nakamoto seemed to confirm his identity as its founder, saying: "I am no longer involved in that and I cannot discuss it. It's been turned over to other people. They are in charge of it now. I no longer have any connection."[30][33]

The article's publication led to a flurry of media interest, including reporters camping out near Nakamoto's house and chasing him by car when he drove to an interview.[34] Later that day, the pseudonymous Nakamoto's P2P Foundation account posted its first message in five years: "I am not Dorian Nakamoto."[35][36] During the subsequent full-length interview, Nakamoto denied all connection to Bitcoin, saying he had never heard of it before and that he had misinterpreted Goodman's question as being about his previous work for military contractors, much of which was classified.[37] In a Reddit "ask-me-anything" interview, he said he had misinterpreted Goodman's question as related to his work for Citibank.[38] In September, the P2P Foundation account posted another message saying it had been hacked, raising questions over the authenticity of the message six months earlier

which Wired acknowledged "cast doubt" on its suggestion that Wright was Nakamoto.[55] Bitcoin developer Peter Todd said that Wright's blog post, which appeared to contain cryptographic proof, actually contained nothing of the sort.[56] Bitcoin developer Jeff Garzik agreed that the evidence Wright publicly provided proves nothing, and security researcher Dan Kaminsky concluded Wright's claim was "intentional scammery".[57]
In May 2019, Wright started using English libel law to sue people who denied he was Bitcoin's inventor and called him a fraud.[58] In 2019, Wright registered US copyright for the Bitcoin white paper and the code for Bitcoin 0.1.[59] Wright's team claimed this was "government agency recognition of Craig Wright as Satoshi Nakamoto";[60] the United States Copyright Office issued a press release clarifying that this was not the case (as they primarily determine whether a work is eligible for copyright, and do not investigate legal ownership, which, if disputed, is determined by the courts).[61]
In March 2024, a British judge ruled that Wright was not Satoshi Nakamoto.[62]