Who is behind the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto?

Recently, Edward Snowden, the US computer scientist and activist, has been involved in the creation of the crypto Zcash (ZEC) and in the possible identity of Satoshi Nakamoto.

His involvement in the blockchain world has consequently put him in a position to express opinions regarding the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonym of the person (or group) who created the prestigious Bitcoin crypto. 

According to Snowden, while he does not know who Satoshi Nakamoto really is, he is absolutely sure he knows it isn’t Craig S. Wright (CSW). Speculation about the identity of the mysterious Bitcoin creator had, ahem, fallen on the Australian computer scientist. 

All it took was a tweet from Snowden on the subject to spark controversy and arguments. 

Snowden’s tweet about Satoshi Nakamoto’s identity ignites controversy

It all started with Edward Snowden’s simple and happy celebration of the 14th anniversary of the White Paper of Bitcoin on his Twitter account. In fact, the White Paper of Bitcoin was first published on 31 October 2008, by the still anonymous and unknown Satoshi Nakamoto. 

“Fourteen years have passed today, yet Satoshi remains anonymous. Awesome.

It was this Snowden’s tweet for Bitcoin’s anniversary celebration that provoked a response from Wright, a leading supporter of the BSV project (a fork of Bitcoin Cash): 

“I’ve never been anonymous, traitorous piece of shit.”

The virtual argument between the two did not end there, as Snowden felt compelled to respond further to defend his position. Probably because he is a respected whistleblower who has exposed state crimes. 

Consequently, as Satoshi Nakamoto is steeped in the anarcho-libertarian philosophy of the Cypherpunk movement, which preceded (and led to) the advent of Bitcoin, he would undoubtedly support a personality like that of Snowden. 

At the very least, he would never go so far as to insult him in that way, the whistleblower reckons. Thus, Snowden further clarified his position with another tweet: 

“Remember two weeks ago, when the court ruled that Hodlonaut called you a “pathetic scammer”, a “shiver”, “clearly mentally ill” and (repeatedly) “scammer” was acceptable? And ordered you to pay $ 348,257?”

Snowden’s reference in his tweet was to the very recent lawsuit won by Hodlonaut. The latter had been violently (also judicially) harassed by Craig Wright for calling him a “liar.” 

The so-called “Faketoshi” (the fake Satoshi) never lived up to his nickname, according to the whistleblower. Snowden finally concluded his hypothesis by remarking: 

“This guy doesn’t even know how to cheat properly. It’s just embarrassing.”

This is because Wright apparently “revealed” (without proof) that he was Nakamoto in 2016, so he would have remained anonymous for 8 years. 

Was there really evidence to support that Wright was Satoshi Nakamoto?

Craig S. Wright has repeatedly claimed to be the secret identity behind the creator of Bitcoin. According to Wright, it was he along with fellow cybersecurity expert Dave Klaiman, who passed away in 2013, who created Bitcoin.

To his words, Wright added evidence to support his thesis. For example, the famous book published by Craig Wright, which is registered with the copyright of Bitcoin.

However, given the strong doubts that Wright’s claims have always aroused, lately there had been claims that the truth about Nakamoto’s secret identity could be obtained through mathematical calculations. 

The mathematical technique used is the Bayesian technique, which is used to estimate the veracity of a hypothesis, and the factors to be used are the evidence available. The mathematical model, in its simplest form, assumes the complete credibility of any attestation.

According to this model, there is a starting point of a very small probability, about one in ten billion, of being Satoshi Nakamoto. In this way, any person could be Nakamoto, mostly without evidence to attest to that fact. 

However, if we continue with the model by adding new posterior probabilities in light of new relevant data, these are continually updated with additional independent evidence.

In this way, with Craig Wright’s case, it is estimated that certainty is soon reached that he is Satoshi Nakamoto, given the multiple pieces of valuable evidence linking him to the mystery identity. 

Theories behind the identity of Bitcoin’s creator

Theories about Satoshi Nakamoto’s true identity are numerous, as no one really knows whether he is a man, a woman, a group of people, or whatever. To trace the identity, some initially started from the origin of the Japanese name. 

In fact, in Japanese “satoshi” means “a clear, quick and wise thought.” “Naka” can mean “medium,” “within,” or “relationship.” “Moto” can mean “origin” or “foundation.”

However, there has never been any certainty as to whether these meanings are useful in tracing back to the person who invented Bitcoin.

At a later stage, it was thought to be Michael Clear, a graduate student in cryptography at Trinity College, but he denied being one. Others suspected Vili Lehdonvirta, a former Finnish game developer, but he too denied any connection to Satoshi.

In 2017, after a tip from a SpaceX employee, the idea surfaced on the web that Elon Musk was hiding behind the pseudonym, a theory later denied by the entrepreneur himself on his Twitter account. 

Theories over the years have leaped from one person to another until Wright’s statements in 2016. It is worth noting that Wright is the most credited personality at the moment to be the identity behind Nakamoto. 

So far there are few clues and many doubts. No certain data on Satoshi’s identity. Will we ever know who the creator of Bitcoin really is?