Written by: Wu Blockchain about Blockchain
This article summarizes the origin of Bitcoin and some of the current community's speculations about "Who is Satoshi Nakamoto". This article uses GPT to summarize the data, so there may be errors.
On December 5, the BTC price exceeded $100,000, setting a new all-time high.
1 Introduction
1.1 The birth and background of Bitcoin
The impact of the financial crisis
The global financial crisis that broke out in 2008 not only hit the financial system hard, but also caused widespread distrust among the public. The collapse of large financial institutions such as Lehman Brothers and the US government's emergency bailout plan revealed deep-seated problems in the financial system.
The rise of decentralized thinking
The rise of the Internet has provided fertile soil for the spread of the concept of decentralization. People have gradually recognized the benefits of a "decentralized control" system, believing that it is more in line with personal freedom, privacy protection and the free flow of information.
• Internet Liberalism: This ideology advocates that Internet users should have autonomy, digital freedom, and avoid excessive regulation by the government and enterprises. In this spirit, people hope that key issues such as payment and wealth distribution will not be interfered with by third-party authorities. The peer-to-peer payment advocated by Bitcoin is the best interpretation of this concept.
• Early attempts at electronic money: Before Bitcoin, there were several electronic money systems that attempted to achieve decentralization, such as DigiCash and B-money. However, most of these attempts failed due to the lack of true decentralized technology, strong control by banks, and inherent trust loopholes in the system.
• DigiCash: Invented by cryptographer David Chaum in 1989, DigiCash was an early electronic currency system that used innovative anonymity technology. However, DigiCash still relied on centralized financial institutions, and its business model made it unviable and ultimately bankrupt.
• B-money: Proposed by computer scientist Wei Dai in 1998, the concept of B-money is very similar to Bitcoin, including features such as decentralization, anonymity, and peer-to-peer transactions, but the system failed to achieve real results. The failure of B-money provided an important reference for the development of Bitcoin.
Although these early attempts failed, they inspired subsequent technological innovations, especially against the backdrop of the 2008 financial crisis, when Bitcoin emerged as the world's first fully decentralized digital currency.
The historic significance of Satoshi Nakamoto’s release of the white paper
The birth of Bitcoin can be traced back to October 31, 2008, when Satoshi Nakamoto published a white paper titled "Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System" on a cryptography mailing list. In this white paper, Satoshi Nakamoto described in detail the working principle of the Bitcoin system, including core concepts such as mining, blockchain, and proof of work mechanism.
• Release of the Bitcoin white paper: The white paper is concise and insightful, using minimalist language to describe a complex system, which has attracted the interest of cryptography enthusiasts, geeks and anti-authoritarians. Satoshi Nakamoto's innovation is to provide a truly feasible technical solution for decentralized currency - blockchain, to ensure that transaction records are transparent, secure and unchangeable.
• Innovation in decentralization and peer-to-peer payment: Satoshi Nakamoto successfully solved the double spend problem through Bitcoin. Double spend is a problem that must be solved by digital currencies, that is, to ensure that the same currency unit is not used multiple times. The traditional currency system relies on third-party verification, while Bitcoin cleverly builds trust on decentralized consensus through "proof of work" and blockchain.
• The ideal of decentralized currency: Bitcoin is not only a novel technological experiment, but also the beginning of an idealistic movement. The core idea of Bitcoin is a "decentralized currency system" that anyone can participate in without the approval or supervision of the government or banks. This idea makes Bitcoin not only a technical tool, but also a symbol of new financial freedom.
Through the white paper, Satoshi Nakamoto laid the foundation for the future decentralized economy, making Bitcoin quickly become the core of the cryptocurrency field in a short period of time. So far, the idea of decentralization, the promotion of the financial crisis, and the failed attempts of early electronic currencies have jointly shaped the historical background of the birth of Bitcoin.
1.2 The Mystery of the Name Satoshi Nakamoto
Name choice and confidentiality
The name "Satoshi Nakamoto" has sparked countless speculations since the beginning. Some people think it is a Japanese name, but judging from the language style of the Bitcoin white paper and code, it is difficult to determine whether Satoshi Nakamoto really has a Japanese background.
• Possibility of multiple interpretations: The name Satoshi Nakamoto may contain multiple meanings. It could be a disguise of Japaneseization, a symbolic code name, or even a code name to confuse others. Some people believe that Satoshi Nakamoto is not a single person, but a code name for a team.
• Characteristics of different candidates: There have been many speculations within and outside the Bitcoin community about the true identity of Satoshi Nakamoto, from early Bitcoin developer Hal Finney, smart contract expert Nick Szabo, to Dorian Nakamoto who was mistakenly identified by the media as Satoshi Nakamoto. Although these names each have their own technical expertise, there is no conclusive evidence pointing to a specific person.
Potential motivations for concealing one's identity
Satoshi Nakamoto chose to publish the Bitcoin white paper anonymously, which is not only a protection of personal privacy, but also a reflection of his philosophy.
• A symbol of decentralization: The decentralized nature of the Bitcoin system determines that it should not have a founder who is worshipped. Satoshi Nakamoto’s act of hiding his identity is consistent with the spirit of “decentralization” he pursued when designing the Bitcoin system. If Satoshi Nakamoto’s identity is made public, the entire Bitcoin project may be given a personal touch, affecting its breadth and openness.
• Avoid legal risks: The birth of Bitcoin is essentially a challenge to the traditional financial system. A form of currency that is out of the control of governments and banks may face legal and regulatory pressure. Anonymous identity enables Satoshi Nakamoto to effectively avoid legal issues caused by technology development and the issuance of new currencies.
• Technical hacker spirit: Cryptography and hacker culture advocate the spirit of anonymity and de-authorization. In these communities, anonymity is an important means to avoid personal worship and authoritativeness, and it also symbolizes rebellion and freedom. In this context, Satoshi Nakamoto's anonymous identity is not only for personal safety considerations, but also may be an identification with crypto culture.
2 Bitcoin’s technical foundation and Satoshi Nakamoto’s contribution
2.1 Interpretation of Bitcoin White Paper
Structure and core concepts of the white paper
On October 31, 2008, Satoshi Nakamoto released the white paper "Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System", which sparked great interest in decentralized currencies. The white paper is only 9 pages long, but it contains the core ideas and technical details of the Bitcoin system:
• Peer-to-peer network structure: The system proposed by Satoshi Nakamoto bypasses banks and payment processors, allowing transactions to take place directly between users. Peer-to-peer (P2P) networks are essentially decentralized networks, where each user node is both a provider and a verifier of information.
• This network structure eliminates the role of central institutions, making transactions independent of third parties and achieving truly decentralized payments.
• Each node is equal and has the right to publish, receive and verify transactions on the network, thus achieving a distributed power structure.
• Blockchain structure: Blockchain is the core of the Bitcoin system and is responsible for recording all transaction information. Satoshi Nakamoto stores all transaction data in a block structure. Each block contains a timestamp and the hash value of the previous block. This chain structure design ensures the continuity and immutability of the data.
• Block generation: Miners (network nodes) generate blocks through “mining”, generating a new block every 10 minutes, thereby fixing the rate at which Bitcoin is generated and preventing inflation.
• Immutability of transaction records: Once a transaction in the blockchain is confirmed, it is difficult to change. This means that there is no "rollback" operation in the Bitcoin system and it will not be interfered with by centralized institutions.
• Proof of Work (PoW): PoW is the key to achieving distributed consensus in the Bitcoin network. Miners verify transactions and generate blocks by solving mathematical problems (hash calculations) to ensure the fairness of transaction records.
• Mining process: Miners use computing power to perform hash operations and compete to solve mathematical puzzles. After finding a hash value that satisfies the conditions, the miner can add the block to the blockchain and receive Bitcoin rewards.
• Tamper resistance: Because each block of the blockchain depends on the hash value of the previous block, tampering with any transaction record requires tampering with all subsequent blocks at the same time and re-performing the PoW calculation, which is almost impossible to achieve.
Technical problems solved
The technical solutions proposed by Satoshi Nakamoto in the white paper not only respond to the decentralization and security requirements of the cryptocurrency system, but also make breakthroughs in multiple technical problems:
• Double spend problem: Traditional digital currency systems rely on intermediaries such as banks to ensure the validity and uniqueness of each transaction to avoid the risk of "double spend" (that is, the same currency is used twice).
• Satoshi Nakamoto uses blockchain and PoW mechanism to make every transaction verified by the whole network, and only verified transactions can be added to the blockchain. In this way, any Bitcoin can only be used once, preventing duplicate payments.
• Byzantine Generals Problem: The Byzantine Generals Problem refers to how to achieve consistency in an untrusted network. Satoshi Nakamoto used the PoW mechanism to enable the Bitcoin network to reach consensus without central control, solving this classic problem in computer science.
• In the Bitcoin system, miners verify transactions through the PoW mechanism and form a unique “longest chain” (that is, the blockchain with the most cumulative PoW), thereby ensuring data consistency and reliability of the entire network.
Through these technical designs, Satoshi Nakamoto built a complete decentralized currency system framework, providing technical support for the circulation and liquidity of Bitcoin.
2.2 The architecture and development of the early Bitcoin network
Network construction and expansion
•Generation of the Genesis Block: On January 3, 2009, Satoshi Nakamoto generated the Bitcoin Genesis Block(block height 0), which contained a special message: "The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks". This message was widely interpreted as Satoshi Nakamoto's distrust of the traditional financial system and his expectation for decentralized currency.
• Release of Bitcoin Client: On January 9, 2009, Satoshi Nakamoto released the first version of Bitcoin client software and launched the Bitcoin network. In the early days, the Bitcoin network was very small, with only a few nodes and users, and most users did not have a clear understanding of the value and potential of Bitcoin.
Code design style and functionality
• Programming language and concise code: Satoshi Nakamoto's coding style is extremely simple, written in C++, with almost no redundant and superfluous comments in the code, which shows that his programming level is quite high. The Bitcoin code is open source and can be consulted and modified by anyone, providing valuable technical resources for the encryption community and developers.
• Security and functional design: Bitcoin’s code focuses on security in terms of functionality, including important functions such as signature verification and private key protection. In the absence of a central server, these designs ensure the data security of the Bitcoin network and the uniqueness of transactions.
The creation of the Bitcoin community
• Interaction with early developers: Satoshi communicated with early cryptography enthusiasts and developers through email and the Bitcointalk forum, patiently answering technical questions. The early Bitcoin community was mainly composed of technical geeks, cryptography researchers, and a few anti-authoritarians.
• Satoshi’s interactions with developers helped others understand the technical features of Bitcoin and deepened people’s understanding of how it works.
• Gradual expansion of the community: As Bitcoin gained attention in the technical community, more and more users began to run nodes and mine Bitcoin. The early community culture placed great emphasis on decentralization and free transactions, which also attracted more participants who opposed the traditional financial system.
2.3 Satoshi Nakamoto’s innovative contribution to cryptocurrency
Bitcoin's key technological innovations
• Introduction of blockchain: Satoshi Nakamoto first proposed the concept of "blockchain" in the Bitcoin system. By recording transaction information in the form of blocks and connecting them into a chain in chronological order, each block contains the hash value of the previous block, forming a "chain-like and tamper-proof" structure.
• Blockchain solves the problem of data trust in distributed systems, allowing each participant to view and verify transaction data, improving the transparency of the system.
• Uniqueness of the Proof of Work Mechanism: Satoshi Nakamoto realized the trust foundation of the distributed network through the PoW mechanism. The PoW mechanism requires miners to consume computing power to verify transactions, ensuring the security and decentralization of the network through economic incentives.
• The successful implementation of the PoW mechanism not only ensures the security of the Bitcoin system, but also encourages miners to spontaneously maintain the system operation, so that the system does not need to rely on a single authority.
Comparison with earlier attempts at electronic money
The reason why Bitcoin stands out among many early attempts at electronic currency is closely related to Satoshi Nakamoto’s technological breakthrough:
• Decentralization: Early electronic currency systems such as DigiCash and B-money failed to achieve true decentralization. DigiCash relied on a central server, while B-money was only a theoretical concept. Bitcoin realizes a decentralized peer-to-peer payment network through blockchain and PoW mechanism.
• Anti-censorship and anonymity: Transactions in the Bitcoin system are anonymous, and user privacy is protected through encryption algorithms. In contrast, early electronic currency systems were difficult to achieve complete anonymity and needed to rely on a centralized verification system.
Satoshi Nakamoto’s Impact on the Technology Community
• Open source concept and the spirit of "code is law": Bitcoin's code is open source. Satoshi Nakamoto advocated "code is law" through open source technology - that is, all authority and rules in the network are determined by code. This concept has far-reaching influence and set an example for subsequent blockchain projects.
• Inspiration from technological innovation and the development of cryptocurrency: The Bitcoin system designed by Satoshi Nakamoto pioneered cryptocurrency and greatly promoted the spread of blockchain technology. The success of Bitcoin triggered the "blockchain revolution", and its core ideas and technologies became the technical template for other cryptocurrencies and decentralized projects.
3 Clues to Satoshi Nakamoto’s Identity
3.1 Early Network Activities
Satoshi Nakamoto's online activities have left many clues to his identity. Here is how to analyze these clues:
Messages on Bitcoin forums and mailing lists
• Bitcointalk Forum and Crypto Mailing List: Satoshi Nakamoto’s main activity platform is the Bitcointalk forum and crypto mailing list. He posted a lot of technical discussions and discussions on the direction of Bitcoin development on these platforms.
• Language style: Satoshi Nakamoto speaks very fluent English with British spelling and often uses refined words. This has led many to speculate that he may be from an English-speaking country and is likely to have received a systematic education or live in an area where English is the main language.
• Technical simplicity: His messages mostly use concise technical terms and often avoid complex explanations, which shows that he has a deep understanding of cryptography, computer science, and financial systems.
Timestamp analysis
• Posting and activity time: Researchers found that Satoshi Nakamoto’s online activity time was roughly concentrated between 5 a.m. and 10 p.m. Greenwich Time, and he was almost never active on weekends.
• Time zone speculation: Based on this activity pattern, some people speculate that Satoshi Nakamoto may live in a time zone close to GMT+0 (such as the UK, Portugal, etc.). Some researchers believe that his daily routine is consistent with the time schedule of the UK or other parts of Europe.
Linguistics and writing style analysis
• Vocabulary and grammar usage: Satoshi Nakamoto has a unique language style in white papers and emails. For example, he tends to use British spellings such as "whilst" and "colour", and his sentences are mostly concise and clear declarative sentences.
• Linguistic analysis: Some linguists have analyzed Nakamoto’s word choice and language structure and believe that he may have a British or Commonwealth background. The use of British spellings makes his identity more likely to be “non-Japanese”.
3.2 Bitcoin Code and Writing Style
• Use of C++ language: Bitcoin’s initial code was mainly written in C++, which is a relatively classic programming language that is often used to develop high-performance systems.
• Minimalist style of code: Satoshi Nakamoto has fewer lines of code, concise comments, and almost no extra explanations. This shows that he has extremely high programming skills and may have rich experience in developing large-scale projects or operating systems.
• Less reliance on standard libraries: Satoshi’s code does not heavily rely on the C++ standard library, indicating that he is accustomed to directly manipulating underlying system resources and may have experience in operating system development, network engineering, or embedded system programming.
• Technical preferences in the code: Satoshi used specific design patterns and cryptographic functions in his code, showing a deep understanding of cryptography, network security, and distributed systems. These technical preferences further narrowed down his possible career backgrounds - such as senior developer, cryptography expert, or network security expert.
• No redundant functions: Only necessary functions are included in the Bitcoin code. This precise design style shows that Satoshi Nakamoto has a high level of control over the project. This minimalist coding style reflects his efficiency and focus on the project architecture.
3.3 Satoshi Nakamoto’s network traces
In the early days of Bitcoin’s development and promotion, Nakamoto communicated with some early cryptocurrency experts and developers, and these communications provided more indirect clues to his identity.
Early developer interaction
• Hal Finney: Hal Finney was one of the key figures in the early days of Bitcoin. He was the first developer to run the Bitcoin software after Satoshi Nakamoto and was one of Satoshi’s initial email correspondents. Finney himself is a veteran in the cryptocurrency space, which has led many to speculate that he may have a direct connection to Satoshi Nakamoto’s identity, or even be a partner of Satoshi Nakamoto.
• Nick Szabo: Szabo is an early explorer of cryptocurrency and smart contracts. He proposed the concept of "bit gold" before the emergence of Bitcoin, which is very similar to the design concept of Bitcoin. Although Szabo has repeatedly denied that he is Satoshi Nakamoto, his technical background and early research make him widely regarded as one of the candidates for Satoshi Nakamoto.
Satoshi Nakamoto’s Decentralized Thought
• Influence in the technical community: Satoshi Nakamoto actively participated in discussions and answered technical questions on the forum, gradually establishing his influence in the technical community. In the early days of the Bitcoin community, since Satoshi Nakamoto remained anonymous, his influence relied more on technical contributions and the spread of ideas rather than personal worship.
• Disappearance of network traces: Satoshi Nakamoto stopped public communication on Bitcoin forums and emails in 2010, and suddenly disappeared from the public eye. The Bitcoin network continued to operate stably after Satoshi Nakamoto left. The continuation of this decentralized management model is considered to be in line with Satoshi Nakamoto's decentralized concept.
3.4 Comprehensive analysis of linguistics, writing style and technical characteristics
• The correlation between writing style, programming habits and technical expertise: By comparing the language style and programming habits of Satoshi Nakamoto in white papers, forum messages and Bitcoin code, some researchers have tried to piece together Satoshi Nakamoto’s personal image. For example, the use of British English, the way C++ code is written and the depth of cryptography knowledge make people speculate that Satoshi Nakamoto may have an academic background in mathematics or computer science.
• Time inference and research on technical communities: Satoshi Nakamoto’s activity time, language characteristics, and technical knowledge all provide rich clues to his identity. For example, through time analysis and linguistic analysis, some people speculate that Satoshi Nakamoto may be from the UK, or at least lived in the UK for a long time.
• Finney, Szabo, and other possibilities: In terms of linguistics, writing style, and technical expertise, Hal Finney and Nick Szabo both have traits that match Satoshi Nakamoto to some extent.
• Despite this, researchers have not found conclusive evidence to directly link Satoshi Nakamoto’s identity to any specific individual. Satoshi’s identity remains vague, and this ambiguity neatly echoes the decentralized nature of Bitcoin.
4 Analysis of Potential “Satoshi Nakamoto” Candidates
4.1 Candidate 1: Hal Finney
At the dawn of cryptocurrency, Hal Finney was already a legendary technologist. His life was filled with innovation, geek spirit, and a persistent pursuit of privacy and freedom. As a pioneer in the field of cryptocurrency, Finney has been involved in encryption technology since the 1990s and has been active in the Cypherpunk community, which advocates information freedom and decentralization. Its members firmly believe that encryption technology can bring about a "centerless and unconstrained" society. Finney believed in this concept so much that he devoted almost his entire life to it.
Finney's career was not initially limited to cryptocurrency, but he worked as a software engineer in a game company called RPG. But outside of work, he spent a lot of time exploring cryptography. In his eyes, encryption technology is not only a tool to protect information, but also a weapon to help people defend their privacy. Because of this, he later participated in the development of the PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) project, a system for encrypting emails and files, which became one of the important tools for global privacy protection. This experience also made him famous in the cryptography community.
In 2008, a mysterious figure named "Satoshi Nakamoto" published the Bitcoin white paper. This peer-to-peer electronic cash system aroused Finney's keen interest. For him, Bitcoin is not only a technological innovation, but also a tool to fight against centralization. This is not just about digital currency, it symbolizes the encryption ideal that Finney has always advocated - people can freely control their wealth and privacy without being controlled by centralized institutions.
On January 3, 2009, Satoshi Nakamoto mined the Genesis Block of Bitcoin, and the Bitcoin network was officially launched. Finney was very enthusiastic about this and quickly contacted Satoshi Nakamoto. Soon, Satoshi Nakamoto made the Bitcoin code public, and Finney immediately downloaded the software and ran it. He became the second person in the world to run a Bitcoin node after Satoshi Nakamoto. On January 12, he received 10 Bitcoins from Satoshi Nakamoto, which was the first Bitcoin transaction recorded on the blockchain. Finney described his feelings at the time: "I sat in front of the computer and saw the 10 Bitcoins in my wallet. I felt unprecedented excitement." This transaction is considered to mark the official entry of Bitcoin into the practical use stage.
As the Bitcoin network gradually started running, Finney began to have technical discussions with Satoshi Nakamoto. They frequently communicated in Bitcoin forums and emails, sharing each other's programming experience and solutions. During this time, Finney became a loyal "debugger" of the Bitcoin code, constantly helping Satoshi Nakamoto optimize the Bitcoin network and making improvement suggestions for its future development. Although they never met in real life, the technical exchanges between the two seemed close and efficient.
During this process, Finney always remained puzzled about the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto. This mysterious "friend" rarely revealed personal information, acted low-key and cautious, and hardly revealed any clues about his background. Finney sometimes speculated that Satoshi Nakamoto might be a crypto geek with the same ideals as him, or a representative of a superb programming team. But he did not ask more questions, because he knew that asking further questions might make this mysterious partner no longer trust him, and might even cause him to disappear.
Just as Bitcoin was gradually coming into the public eye, fate played a cruel joke on Finney. In 2011, he was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). This rare disease gradually deprived him of the ability to control his body, but Finney still fought tenaciously against the disease. His hands gradually became unable to type on the keyboard, but his mind remained active. Even in his hospital bed, Finney still cared about the progress of Bitcoin and kept thinking about the future of decentralized currency.
As the price of Bitcoin soared and its influence expanded, Finney gradually attracted the attention of the media and the public. Many members of the crypto community believe that his relationship with Satoshi Nakamoto is unusual. Some even speculate that Finney is Satoshi Nakamoto himself, and his ALS explains why "Satoshi Nakamoto" suddenly disappeared in 2010. Finney denied this, saying that he was just an early user of Bitcoin and assisted in system debugging, not the founder of Bitcoin. Despite this, many researchers still doubt Finney's statement and believe that he may be one of the "co-Satoshi Nakamoto" or "pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto".
On August 28, 2014, Finney died of ALS. His death caused strong grief in the cryptocurrency community, and many Bitcoin supporters spontaneously organized memorial activities to commemorate the contributions of this technical master. The Bitcoin community even launched a fundraising for Finney to help his family with medical expenses. Although Finney always denied that he was Satoshi Nakamoto during his lifetime, his death made the mystery even more mysterious, and the possibility of Finney being the founder of Bitcoin was recognized by more people.
Although there is no longer any solid evidence to prove whether Finney is Satoshi Nakamoto, his story has become a symbol of the spirit of Bitcoin. Finney's persistence, secret help, and final silent departure embody the belief in Bitcoin's decentralization. For the Bitcoin community, Finney represents all pioneers who firmly believe in technological freedom and personal privacy. His name is inseparable from the early history of Bitcoin and has become a footnote to the identity of "Satoshi Nakamoto".
OK, let's tell the story of Nick Szabo as a candidate for "Satoshi Nakamoto". Szabo is a highly influential computer scientist and cryptographer. The concept of "bit gold" he proposed is considered the predecessor of Bitcoin. Szabo's pioneering research on smart contracts and his consistent low-key style make him one of the popular candidates for Satoshi Nakamoto. The following is a story-based description of Szabo.
4.2 Candidate 2: Nick Szabo
Years before the birth of Bitcoin, computer scientist Nick Szabo was already thinking about how to create a "native currency" based on the Internet. He believed that with the development of the Internet, information can be spread freely, but transactions still need to rely on third-party institutions such as banks and governments. Szabo firmly believes that currency should be free from centralized control and become a decentralized, open and transparent existence. His idea is deeply rooted in the ideals of "Cypherpunk", a community that encourages personal privacy and autonomy and advocates the use of technology to build a free economic system that is free from centralized control.
In 2005, Szabo published a paper proposing the concept of "bit gold". In the paper, he described a peer-to-peer digital currency that does not rely on banks or governments, but instead uses a mechanism called "Proof of Work" to ensure the validity of transactions and the security of the system. The design of bit gold introduced the prototype of blockchain: a string of data records generated by proof of work are connected in sequence to form a decentralized ledger. This system can not only record transactions, but also prevent forgery and tampering. Although bit gold was not realized, this concept became an important beginning of a decentralized currency system, and Szabo was later considered to have all the technical foundations for creating Bitcoin.
In 2008, the release of the Bitcoin white paper attracted widespread attention. When people read the white paper carefully, they found that the design of Bitcoin was very similar to Szabo's bit gold - so similar that Bitcoin could almost be considered an upgraded version of bit gold. Both use the proof-of-work mechanism, advocate decentralized peer-to-peer networks, and have tamper-proof distributed ledgers. The concept of Bitcoin seems to be the perfect realization of Szabo's idea of bit gold.
When Satoshi Nakamoto, the author of Bitcoin, appeared in the crypto community, Szabo was already very familiar with this emerging "virtual gold". He not only actively commented on the technical basis of Bitcoin in the early days, but also participated in the early promotion of Bitcoin. In his personal blog, he praised the working mechanism of Bitcoin and analyzed in detail the financial revolution it might bring. Many researchers therefore speculated that Szabo was not only a staunch supporter of Bitcoin, but might even be its inventor "Satoshi Nakamoto" himself. After all, no one knows the design principles of bit gold better than Szabo, and no one knows the specific implementation of proof of work better than him.
In order to verify whether Szabo might be Satoshi Nakamoto, researchers conducted a linguistic analysis of the Bitcoin white paper and Szabo's early blog posts. The results showed that the two were highly similar in language style, especially in the use of technical terms and sentence structure. Szabo and Satoshi Nakamoto showed amazing consistency. For example, Satoshi Nakamoto used "chain of blocks" to describe the construction of the blockchain in the white paper, and Szabo used a similar expression in his article many years ago. Such wording and sentence structure, even including the description of certain technical details, make people think that Szabo is very likely to be Satoshi Nakamoto.
In addition, the unique academic and technical style of the Bitcoin white paper makes people feel that the author not only has knowledge of computer science and cryptography, but also may have a background in law and economics, which are Szabo's professional fields. Many researchers believe that Szabo may have deliberately adjusted the style of the white paper to make it look like an "independent and non-academic technical document", which makes the white paper more readable and technically attractive.
Although the outside world suspected that Szabo might be Satoshi Nakamoto, he always kept a low profile and did not make any public response. Even in media interviews, Szabo never directly admitted or denied his relationship with Bitcoin. This "ambiguous" attitude further deepened the outside world's doubts about his identity. As a cryptographer, Szabo is extremely sensitive to privacy protection. He rarely discloses his private information in his life, and even rarely has activities on social platforms, which is highly consistent with Satoshi Nakamoto's anonymous characteristics.
There are rumors in the crypto community that Szabo chose to remain anonymous and keep a low profile, perhaps for personal safety and legal risks. Bitcoin's decentralized design is essentially a tool to fight the traditional financial system, which may attract attention and even intervention from governments and banks. For Szabo, remaining anonymous is not only a form of self-protection, but also a practice of the concept of "decentralization." By not revealing his identity, he avoids personality cults and ensures that Bitcoin will not be affected by a specific person.
In the crypto community, Szabo is known as the "philosopher of cryptocurrency". His Bitcoin philosophy has deeply influenced the spread of decentralized ideas, making many technology geeks and libertarians regard Bitcoin as a symbol of resistance to centralized financial control. Despite his repeated silence, many Bitcoin supporters still firmly believe that Szabo is one of the strongest candidates for the founder of Bitcoin. Since the birth of Bitcoin, Szabo's status in the community has become increasingly high, and every speech or technical presentation of his will trigger an in-depth discussion of Bitcoin and blockchain technology.
What is puzzling is that Szabo has never officially participated in the technical development of Bitcoin. Although he is familiar with the concept and technology of Bitcoin, he has never publicly claimed that he is a developer or contributor of Bitcoin. The outside world believes that this calm and low-key attitude may be his personal style, or it may be his way of maintaining anonymity. In the face of the questioning of doubters, Szabo just smiled and responded without any admission or denial, and continued to provide knowledge and inspiration to the crypto community as a "Bitcoin supporter."
To date, there is no conclusive evidence that Szabo is Satoshi Nakamoto. However, his influence in the crypto space and the similarities between Bitcoin and bit gold have always kept him at the top of the list of Satoshi Nakamoto candidates. It is believed that Szabo may have played the role of a "behind-the-scenes promoter" in the design of Bitcoin, and may even have directly participated in the development of Bitcoin at some stage. His silence has become part of the mystery of Bitcoin, making the story of its birth more mysterious and fascinating.
4.3 Candidate 3: Dorian Nakamoto
In March 2014, Newsweek published a sensational article claiming to have found the mysterious founder of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto. In the article, the reporter pointed the finger at an elderly Japanese American, Dorian Nakamoto. He was a small-town resident living in the San Gabriel Valley of California, with a simple life, a gentle appearance, and a secluded life. The author pointed out that Dorian's full name, Dorian Prentice Satoshi Nakamoto, seemed to coincide with the name of Bitcoin's founder, Satoshi Nakamoto. This coincidence made the outside world curious, and the media quickly followed up and pushed Dorian to the forefront of public opinion.
In the Newsweek report, Dorian Nakamoto was portrayed as a retired engineer who knows programming and acts low-key. He has worked for some high-tech and government projects and focuses on system and security engineering. The article stated that Dorian has accumulated rich technical experience in his decades-long career, especially in privacy and security, which made it possible for him to design Bitcoin's decentralized system. This "revelation" has attracted widespread attention around the world, and the media has swarmed around Dorian's doorstep, trying to uncover the mystery of the founder of Bitcoin.
Faced with the media raid, Dorian Nakamoto was shocked and helpless. In subsequent interviews, he repeatedly stated that he had never heard of Bitcoin and knew nothing about cryptocurrencies. Dorian looked tired and helpless in front of the camera, saying that he had no ability or interest in creating Bitcoin. "I'm just an ordinary engineer and I don't understand what you are talking about at all," he said to the camera. Dorian's family was also angry about his identity being exposed, pointing out that the media's accusations were unfounded. Dorian was just an old man who lived a simple life and focused on his family, and had nothing to do with Bitcoin.
Despite Dorian's repeated denials, the media reports still sparked public doubts and controversy. People have discussed the identity of the founder of Bitcoin. Some people believe that Dorian's denial may be a cover-up, while others sympathize with him and believe that he is just an innocent person who was wrongly identified by the media. The Bitcoin community expressed understanding and support for Dorian's situation, and some supporters even raised funds for Dorian online to help him cope with the sudden pressure of life and financial difficulties.
Although Dorian insisted that he had nothing to do with Bitcoin, some "coincidences" between him and the founder of Bitcoin still aroused the curiosity of the outside world:
• Similarity of name: Dorian’s name does contain “Satoshi Nakamoto”, which is the name of the founder of Bitcoin. This coincidence of name aroused people’s doubts about his identity and became the direct reason why Newsweek chose him.
• Technical background match: Dorian worked as a system engineer in the defense sector, responsible for developing security and communication systems, and has a certain background in cryptography and computers. Newsweek believes that he may have the expertise needed by the founder of Bitcoin, especially the understanding of decentralization and network security technology.
• Mystery of behavior: Dorian reportedly said “I’m no longer involved” when asked by a reporter, and this answer was interpreted as a hint between him and Bitcoin. However, Dorian later clarified that this statement was because he misunderstood the reporter’s question and understood Bitcoin as one of his past work projects. This explanation did not completely eliminate the outside world’s doubts about him.
As the news continued to ferment, the Bitcoin community showed great sympathy and support for Dorian Nakamoto. Community members believed that the Newsweek report lacked solid evidence and there was a possibility of over-interpretation. Dorian's life was in trouble because of this report, and many people felt that he was a victim of the media, so the Bitcoin community launched a fundraising campaign called "Dorian Fundraiser" to help him through the difficulties. This fundraising campaign was supported by a large number of Bitcoin users and eventually raised tens of thousands of dollars, which were used for Dorian's daily life and legal fees.
This fundraising activity reflects the humanitarian concern of the Bitcoin community. Many community members believe that Bitcoin is not just a technology or currency, it is also a symbol of decentralization, and supporting Dorian is the practice of this decentralized spirit. They believe that Dorian's experience reminds people that the power of decentralization does not lie in the identity of a certain person, but in the independence of the technology itself and the cohesion of the community.
The Dorian Nakamoto incident was ultimately proven to be a misunderstanding, but it revealed the unique appeal of the mystery of the Bitcoin founder. Media interest, public speculation, and the Bitcoin community’s response all reflect people’s strong curiosity about the identity of the Bitcoin founder. Although Dorian is not the founder of Bitcoin, his story adds a layer of drama to the mystery of the Bitcoin founder’s identity.
This incident reminds people that Bitcoin's decentralized nature makes it independent of any specific individual or team, and its value lies in its independence, transparency, and distributed network structure. Even without a known founder, or even if Satoshi Nakamoto himself never appears, Bitcoin can still operate autonomously. The Dorian Nakamoto incident proved to the world that Bitcoin is not only a decentralized technical tool, it has also evolved into a symbol of information transparency, decentralized management, and the protection of personal privacy.
Dorian Nakamoto's life was completely changed by this misunderstanding. His daily life was disrupted, he became the focus of the media, and then gradually faded out of the public eye. The Dorian incident added a layer of humor and absurdity to the mystery of the identity of the founder of Bitcoin, reminding people that they may never find a definite answer in the process of searching for Satoshi Nakamoto. This ordinary old man accidentally became part of the Bitcoin myth, making people's identity of Satoshi Nakamoto even more confusing.
4.4 Candidate 4: Adam Back
Adam Back is one of the pioneers in the field of cryptocurrency and decentralized technology. As early as the 1990s, he was active in the forefront of cryptography and computer science. As a doctor of cryptography, Back focuses on how to solve Internet privacy, information security and other issues through technical means. In that era when the Internet was gradually emerging and the speed of information dissemination was accelerating, Back realized that online privacy and information security would become the focus of increasing attention.
In 1997, Back published his groundbreaking research results - "Hashcash", an innovative Proof of Work (PoW) mechanism. Initially, Hashcash was designed to reduce spam and prevent denial of service attacks (DDoS). Hashcash increases the cost of sending spam by requiring senders to perform complex calculations before sending emails, paying a certain amount of "work". The proof of work requires that the calculated hash value meet the specified conditions, and only users who successfully answer the questions can continue to send emails. In this way, the cost of sending spam is significantly increased, while network resources are effectively protected, and Hashcash has gained wide recognition.
Although Hashcash was originally intended to reduce spam, Back had a deeper understanding of its future potential. He believed that the proof-of-work mechanism was not only applicable to email, but could also be applied to digital currencies to ensure the security of decentralized networks. This idea seemed avant-garde and radical at the time, but it also laid the theoretical foundation for the development of cryptocurrency and became an important source of inspiration for the Bitcoin PoW mechanism.
In 2008, Satoshi Nakamoto published the Bitcoin white paper, proposing a decentralized currency system based on proof of work. Many people noticed that Bitcoin's PoW mechanism is very similar to Back's Hashcash design, and can even be said to be an "upgraded version" of Hashcash. The Bitcoin system verifies transactions by having miners perform proof of work to prevent double spend and network attacks, and this design is highly consistent with Back's Hashcash concept. Not only was Back not surprised by Bitcoin, but he quickly became interested in it. He recognized the potential of Bitcoin in its early days and publicly supported the concept of Bitcoin.
Bitcoin's proof-of-work design directly references Back's Hashcash, and the white paper does not mention the design source in detail, which has also aroused people's suspicion of Back. Some researchers believe that the founder of the Bitcoin system is obviously very familiar with the technical principles of Hashcash, and there are only a handful of people with such technical expertise in the encryption field. More importantly, Back himself is passionate about decentralized systems and cryptocurrencies, and his technical background and personal ideals almost coincide with Satoshi Nakamoto's ideas.
As Bitcoin gradually gained attention, Adam Back was considered one of the most likely candidates for Satoshi Nakamoto. Back not only played an indirect and key role in the design of Bitcoin technology, but also actively promoted Bitcoin technology in its early stages. He spoke out in the media many times, explaining in detail how Bitcoin works and the advantages of a decentralized system, which made people more suspicious whether he had some kind of relationship with the designer of Bitcoin, or even whether he was the founder of Bitcoin himself.
However, in the face of outside speculation, Back has always kept a low profile and repeatedly denied it. He has repeatedly stated that he is not Satoshi Nakamoto, emphasizing that he is just a technical expert who supports Bitcoin and has never participated in the creation of Bitcoin. Back pointed out that his support for Bitcoin is based on the ideals of decentralization and personal privacy, not because he is the inventor of Bitcoin. Even so, many members of the crypto community still believe that Back may have played an important role in the creation of Bitcoin, or at least was a member of a "core technical team."
Adam Back's technical philosophy and work style are highly consistent with the decentralized spirit of Bitcoin. He has always believed that a decentralized system should be "without a single authority" in order to ensure that information freedom and personal privacy are respected. In his technical philosophy, no individual or organization should have a monopoly on information, and a decentralized system should be jointly maintained by users. This concept is also reflected in the design of the Bitcoin network.
Back maintained close contact with Satoshi Nakamoto in the early stages of Bitcoin. This relationship was not limited to technical support, but also his deep understanding of Bitcoin's design ideas. Many experts in the cryptography community believe that Satoshi Nakamoto's reference to Hashcash in the Bitcoin white paper may be a "tribute", which also means that he is likely to have a direct connection with Back. In the "cypherpunk" concept of the crypto community, respecting the technical achievements of predecessors and maintaining anonymity is a generally recognized culture, which may have prompted some kind of secret "academic exchange" between Back and Satoshi Nakamoto.
Adam Back has always maintained a low-key lifestyle. Despite his extensive academic achievements and technical expertise, he rarely mentions his personal life in public and never publicizes his cryptographic achievements. Back himself once said that the value of technology lies not in a person's reputation, but in its impact on society. He believes that decentralized systems are the future development direction of society, and Bitcoin happens to be the best interpretation of this concept. Regarding the speculation about the identity of "Satoshi Nakamoto", Back seems indifferent: "The existence of Bitcoin itself is important enough. As for who the founder is, it does not affect its value."
This attitude makes people think that Back may be deliberately keeping a distance to avoid too much personal connection with Bitcoin. This "alienation" is very similar to the behavior of Satoshi Nakamoto's "disappearance", both of which hint at the true meaning of decentralization: Bitcoin does not belong to anyone and does not need to rely on personal authority.
Although Back is not the direct founder of Bitcoin, his influence on the future of Bitcoin cannot be ignored. The Hashcash mechanism created by Back and the spread of his decentralized concept have made the Bitcoin community always focus on technological innovation and decentralization. In addition, he has an important position in the Bitcoin core developer group and has repeatedly expressed key opinions on technical discussions on Bitcoin expansion, transaction speed, privacy protection and other issues. As one of the founders of Blockstream, Back has promoted the innovation of Bitcoin technology and is committed to promoting the promotion and popularization of Bitcoin around the world.
After Satoshi Nakamoto disappeared, Back became one of the key figures in the development of Bitcoin. His influence is not limited to technical contributions, but also reflected in the cultural shaping of the Bitcoin community. Back's low profile and persistence made him one of the spiritual pillars of Bitcoin, symbolizing Bitcoin's ability to develop itself in a decentralized state.
4.5 Candidate 5: Gavin Andresen
Gavin Andresen was originally a low-profile computer scientist who made achievements in graphics programming and virtual reality technology in his early career. As a software developer, he has worked in the fields of 3D graphics and virtual reality for many years and has participated in the development of several well-known virtual reality projects. However, Andresen has not been complacent with his technical expertise. He has always had a strong interest in cutting-edge technologies and emerging things, and is eager to find more influential technical projects.
In 2009, Bitcoin quietly emerged as a new type of decentralized digital currency, which aroused Andresen's great interest. At that time, Bitcoin was still unknown, and only a few technology geeks paid attention to this innovative technology. Andresen was attracted by the concept of Bitcoin: decentralization, open source, and no need for third-party trust, which fully met his ideal pursuit of the future currency system. In 2010, Andresen officially joined the Bitcoin development team and quickly became a core member of the project.
As the Bitcoin network continued to develop, Satoshi Nakamoto gradually faded out of the community. At the end of 2010, Satoshi Nakamoto decided to hand over the management of the Bitcoin code base to Andresen and announced that he would "move on to other things." This move made Andresen the new technical leader of the Bitcoin community, responsible for the daily maintenance and code updates of the Bitcoin network. Although the outside world is not clear why Satoshi Nakamoto chose Andresen, most of the Bitcoin community recognized this arrangement and believed that he was a technically solid and enthusiastic developer.
After taking over the management of the code base, Andresen maintained the open source and decentralized principles of Bitcoin on the one hand, and promoted the improvement and expansion of Bitcoin through technological innovation on the other. Under his maintenance, the Bitcoin code has become more stable, and the development of the community has become more dynamic. As the successor appointed by Satoshi Nakamoto, Andresen has gradually become a symbol of the Bitcoin community, especially after Satoshi Nakamoto's "retirement", he is widely regarded by Bitcoin supporters as the "spokesperson" of Bitcoin.
During the early development of Bitcoin, Andresen had communicated with Satoshi Nakamoto many times via email and forums, and the technical details of Bitcoin and its future direction were among their discussions. Andresen has repeatedly stated that Satoshi Nakamoto is a respected technical expert with extremely high programming skills and innovative spirit, but he knows nothing about Satoshi's identity. Although they have communicated many times via email, Satoshi Nakamoto has always kept a low profile and never revealed any private information.
Before Satoshi Nakamoto gradually retired, he reminded Andresen to "keep a low profile and don't talk too much about yourself publicly." This reminder has impressed Andresen to this day. He believes that this is not only for the decentralized design of Bitcoin, but also for Satoshi Nakamoto's insistence on privacy protection. Shortly after Satoshi Nakamoto left, Andresen began to propose a broader plan for the future of Bitcoin, committed to promoting the popularization of Bitcoin and expanding the scope of Bitcoin's application.
After Satoshi Nakamoto retired, Andresen injected new vitality into the Bitcoin community. For the long-term development of Bitcoin, he founded the Bitcoin Foundation in 2012, hoping to promote Bitcoin's technological innovation, industry standardization, and education. The original intention of establishing the Bitcoin Foundation was to support Bitcoin developers and promote the popularity of Bitcoin around the world. However, as the value and popularity of Bitcoin increased, the foundation gradually caused some controversy.
Some Bitcoin supporters believe that the establishment of the foundation deviates from Satoshi Nakamoto's decentralization concept. Although the Bitcoin Foundation does not directly control the operation of the Bitcoin network, its existence means that the Bitcoin community may gradually lean towards centralization. This view has caused disagreements within the Bitcoin community, and some members questioned Andresen's original intention, believing that he had inadvertently deviated from Satoshi Nakamoto's decentralization ideal.
Due to Andresen's prominent position in the Bitcoin community, many people began to suspect that he might not only be the "manager" of Bitcoin, but more likely the real Satoshi Nakamoto or a member of his core team. Andresen has repeatedly denied this, saying that he is only a developer and supporter of Bitcoin, not the inventor of Bitcoin. He believes that Satoshi Nakamoto's decentralized concept is the real reason for the success of Bitcoin, and his role is only to inherit and maintain the development of Bitcoin.
Although he has repeatedly stated that he is not Satoshi Nakamoto, the outside world still has doubts about his identity. In 2016, Australian businessman Craig Wright claimed to be the inventor of Bitcoin and received some support from Andresen. After listening to Wright's evidence, Andresen once expressed his approval of Wright's identity. However, due to insufficient evidence, Craig Wright's claim was ultimately considered false, and Andresen was also questioned in this incident. This incident made the Bitcoin community more suspicious of Satoshi Nakamoto's true identity, and also made Andresen's relationship with Satoshi Nakamoto more mysterious.
Although Andresen's identity has always been controversial, his contribution to Bitcoin is undeniable. After taking over the management of Bitcoin code, Andresen continued to promote innovation and improvement of Bitcoin technology. In order to solve the scalability problem of the Bitcoin network, Andresen proposed a series of optimization solutions, such as improving transaction processing efficiency and enhancing the network's anti-attack capabilities. These technical innovations enable the Bitcoin network to operate stably under higher loads.
In addition, Andresen's suggestions for improvements in Bitcoin privacy protection, transaction speed, etc. have promoted the technical development of Bitcoin. As one of the founders of the Bitcoin Foundation, he is not only committed to the promotion of the Bitcoin community, but also actively participates in the formulation of Bitcoin standards to promote the compliance and stability of Bitcoin in the technical field.
4.6 Candidate 6: Wei Dai
In the 1990s, cryptocurrency had not yet entered the public eye. The Internet had just emerged, and the openness and freedom of cyberspace made a group of technology geeks and cryptographers realize that while information is freely disseminated, privacy and security are becoming increasingly important. These people gathered in the "Cypherpunk" community to discuss encryption technology and information freedom. Wei Dai is a member of this community. As a low-key and intelligent computer scientist, his interest in cryptography and decentralized systems goes far beyond ordinary technology development, involving deep thinking about social structure, economics, and personal freedom.
In 1998, Wei Dai published a groundbreaking article proposing the concept of "B-money". This was the first time in the history of the Internet that a decentralized digital currency was described. The core concept of B-money is to create a currency system that does not require third-party trust through decentralization and cryptography. Dai described the design principle of B-money in detail in the article: In the network, all transactions and account records are conducted anonymously and verified by all nodes to ensure the security and transparency of the system.
This idea is radical because it attempts to completely subvert the traditional financial and banking system through technological means. Dai proposed that the operation of the B-money system does not require a central bank or any centralized regulatory agency. All participants obtain B-money through proof of work and achieve autonomy in the network. This concept lays the theoretical foundation for decentralized currency and is considered by many researchers to be the "ideological prototype" of Bitcoin.
Ten years later, in 2008, a person named "Satoshi Nakamoto" published the Bitcoin white paper, proposing a decentralized currency system that is almost identical to the concept of B-money. Bitcoin not only surpassed B-money in terms of technical implementation, but also became a benchmark for cryptocurrency with its decentralization, anonymous transactions, proof of work and other designs. In the white paper, Satoshi Nakamoto explicitly mentioned that the design of B-money inspired Bitcoin and paid tribute to Dai's contribution.
Since the concept of Bitcoin is strikingly similar to B-money, it is widely speculated that Satoshi Nakamoto is likely Dai himself. Although the Bitcoin system is more complex in its specific implementation, its core logic is almost the same as B-money. This similarity has deepened people's suspicion of Dai's identity. Although Dai himself has never claimed to have a direct connection with Bitcoin, in the eyes of many members of the crypto community, Dai's "prophet" status in Bitcoin design is almost undeniable.
Although Dai is regarded as the inspiration for Bitcoin's design, he has always kept a low profile. He rarely accepts interviews, is not interested in outside attention, and did not publicly express any opinions even when Bitcoin was popular all over the world. His mysterious and low-key style is very similar to Satoshi Nakamoto's style: never talking about private life, rarely making public appearances, focusing on the spread of technology and ideas rather than personal fame.
Dai's low profile is not uncommon in the cypherpunk community. This group of people generally believe that decentralized systems should not be controlled or represented by a specific individual, but should be maintained by the community. Dai's low profile is not only a lifestyle, but also a persistence in cryptography and decentralization. He has always believed that technology should serve human freedom and privacy, rather than become a tool for some people to gain power. This concept coincides with Satoshi Nakamoto's original design intention, further deepening people's speculation about his identity as Satoshi Nakamoto.
Although the concept of B-money was highly groundbreaking, it failed to take off due to the lack of specific technical implementation. Dai only proposed the concept of B-money in theory, but did not implement it, which may be due to technical limitations and insufficient resources. However, the emergence of Bitcoin changed this situation. Bitcoin not only realized a decentralized trading network based on B-money, but also overcame the technical difficulties of distributed ledgers, recording transactions through blockchain and ensuring that the ledgers cannot be tampered with.
B-money failed to solve the "double spend" problem in its design and could not guarantee that transaction records in the network would not be reused. Bitcoin solved this problem through the proof-of-work mechanism and miner reward system. This not only makes Bitcoin surpass B-money in technology, but also makes the idea of decentralized currency a reality. Many people believe that the reason why Satoshi Nakamoto was able to design the Bitcoin system is because he deeply understood the limitations of B-money, and this understanding enabled him to make technical breakthroughs.
After the Bitcoin network was launched in 2009, Satoshi Nakamoto and early developers frequently communicated in forums and emails, constantly improving the Bitcoin system. As the popularity of Bitcoin gradually increased, Satoshi Nakamoto suddenly disappeared in 2010, leaving only the Bitcoin code and network. Since then, Satoshi Nakamoto has not appeared in public again, nor has he revealed any clues to his identity. This departure has made the founder of Bitcoin an unsolvable mystery. Many researchers have begun to look for the true identity of Satoshi Nakamoto in the cryptography community, and Wei Dai has become one of the primary candidates.
However, Dai has remained silent in the face of outside speculation. He has neither admitted nor denied his relationship with Bitcoin, and this ambiguous attitude has made him regarded as a "possible Satoshi Nakamoto" in the Bitcoin community. Unlike other candidates, Dai's low profile not only makes him a mysterious figure in the history of cryptocurrency, but also makes people's speculation about Satoshi Nakamoto's identity more confusing.
Even though Dai is not the direct founder of Bitcoin, the influence of Dai's B-money concept on cryptocurrencies is undeniable. The concept of B-money has triggered discussions and research on decentralized currencies in the cryptography community, and inspired the development of various cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. The introduction of B-money not only laid the theoretical foundation for Bitcoin, but also spread the ideas of "decentralized autonomy" and "information freedom" in the crypto community, making more people believe that the autonomy and democratization of the financial system can be achieved through technology.
After the boom of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, Dai still kept a low profile. He did not participate in the subsequent development of Bitcoin, and never claimed his role in the creation of Bitcoin. However, the ideological legacy he left behind made him an indispensable "ideological founder" in the history of Bitcoin. For the crypto community, Dai is both an academic pioneer and an enlightener in technological philosophy. His pursuit of decentralized currency still influences generations of crypto scholars.
4.7 Candidate 7: Dave Kleiman
Dave Kleiman was a computer security expert from Florida, USA, who was highly respected in the field of computer forensics and cryptography. Kleiman joined the army as a computer technician at a young age, and after retiring, he devoted himself to computer science and security technology, leaving a deep mark in the field of encryption and network security with his outstanding technical talent. Although his life took a major turn due to a motorcycle accident, Kleiman's physical limitations have continued, but he still continued to engage in encryption research and computer forensics with amazing perseverance.
As a technical wizard, Kleiman is not only a technical advisor to many members of the crypto community, but also has written several professional papers on computer forensics and security. His expertise in computer security and keen technical perspective have earned him the respect of many of his peers. At the same time, Kleiman provides consulting services to several crypto technology companies and participates in the design of multiple cryptocurrency projects. In the eyes of his friends, he is a calm and helpful technical genius who is always committed to contributing his wisdom to the crypto technology community.
The reason why Dave Kleiman became one of the candidates for "Satoshi Nakamoto" is inseparable from his connection with Craig Wright, another well-known figure in the field of cryptocurrency. Craig Wright is an Australian businessman who calls himself "Satoshi Nakamoto". He has publicly claimed that he is the founder of Bitcoin many times and presented some technical evidence. In this process, Wright claimed that Kleiman was his partner. The two of them participated in the creation of Bitcoin and designed its technical architecture.
According to Wright, he and Kleiman jointly developed the Bitcoin system, and reached an agreement on "joint anonymous release" around 2011, deciding to attribute the creation of Bitcoin to the pseudonym "Satoshi Nakamoto". According to Wright, Kleiman was responsible for some debugging and optimization of the Bitcoin code, and the two discussed the decentralized design concept and proof-of-work mechanism of Bitcoin. However, Kleiman never publicly claimed to be the founder of Bitcoin during his lifetime, nor did he leave any direct records of the Bitcoin development process. It is this silence that makes the outside world full of doubts about his possible identity as "Satoshi Nakamoto".
After Kleiman's death, his family and friends found a mysterious hard drive containing a large number of encrypted files when sorting out his belongings. Some people suspect that these encrypted files may contain early development records of Bitcoin, or even private keys, holding a huge amount of Bitcoin "vault". However, the contents of these files have not been decrypted to date, and the outside world cannot know for sure whether there is any evidence of the creation of Bitcoin.
Wright claimed that these hard drives during Kleiman's lifetime contained records of his technical cooperation with Kleiman, as well as technical discussions between the two during the development of Bitcoin. However, due to the extremely high encryption layer of the files in the hard drives, the Kleiman family has not been able to open these files to date, and the real evidence about Bitcoin has never been obtained. Therefore, many people believe that Kleiman's hard drive may be the key to cracking the mystery of Satoshi Nakamoto's identity, but it may also be a "technical legacy" that can never be solved.
As a computer security expert, Kleiman has all the technical qualifications to become "Satoshi Nakamoto". He not only has profound attainments in computer forensics and cryptography, but is also good at developing and using complex encryption systems. According to people familiar with Kleiman, he has extremely comprehensive knowledge in computer security, especially in decentralized network systems and data encryption. Kleiman's coding style is concise and efficient, and he has a strong sense of privacy protection, which is very similar to Satoshi Nakamoto's programming style.
In addition, Kleiman is low-key and does not like to show off, which is consistent with Satoshi Nakamoto's characteristic of always keeping anonymity. He rarely appears in public in his life, and even when he is ill, he still conducts technical research with a high degree of concentration. Many members of the crypto community believe that it is this taciturn character of Kleiman that makes him likely not to claim to be "Satoshi Nakamoto" even if he participated in the creation of Bitcoin. Kleiman's forbearing character is considered a major evidence that he "may be Satoshi Nakamoto."
After Kleiman's death, the controversy surrounding the identity of the founder of Bitcoin and the huge amount of Bitcoin continued to ferment. After learning about Craig Wright's self-declaration, the Kleiman family filed a lawsuit against him, claiming that the Kleiman family should own some of the Bitcoin generated during the creation of Bitcoin. Kleiman's brothers believe that Wright has no right to unilaterally declare the identity of the founder of Bitcoin, nor does he have the right to own all Bitcoins alone.
In this legal dispute, Kleiman's family disclosed many of his communication records with Wright, showing that the two had worked closely on multiple technical projects. However, Wright's self-identification as Satoshi Nakamoto lacked sufficient evidence, and the court ultimately failed to confirm whether Kleiman and Wright were the true founders of Bitcoin. Although the lawsuit did not reach a final conclusion, Kleiman's potential role in the development of Bitcoin has once again sparked a heated discussion in the Bitcoin community about the identity of "Satoshi Nakamoto".
In 2013, Kleiman died of illness at home at the age of 46. His death caused deep mourning in the Bitcoin community, and his departure also added to the mystery of Satoshi Nakamoto's identity. Many people believe that Kleiman's death has made the chance of cracking the identity of the Bitcoin founder even slimmer, and the encrypted files he left behind may be "secrets" that can never be opened. Some members of the crypto community believe that Kleiman may be a member of the Bitcoin founding team, or even Satoshi Nakamoto himself, but his death took the secret away with him.
After Kleiman's death, his friends and family discovered his potential contributions to Bitcoin and cryptocurrency, and the crypto community admired his technical talent and achievements even more. Although there is no evidence to date that Kleiman is Satoshi Nakamoto, his story and his role in the early development of Bitcoin have made people speculate more about the identity of the founder of Bitcoin.
4.8 Candidate 8: Peter Todd
Peter Todd is a computer scientist and cryptography expert known for his profound contributions to improving the security and privacy of the Bitcoin network. Todd developed a keen interest in cryptography from a young age and soon became involved in cryptography and the development of decentralized systems. He is very good at identifying and resolving security vulnerabilities in blockchain systems and is known as the "Bitcoin Security Guardian."
Todd was not a member of the Bitcoin founding team in the early days, but he was very concerned about the rise of Bitcoin. When Bitcoin gradually attracted the attention of the community and the market, Todd was keenly aware that it could trigger financial changes and soon joined the Bitcoin developer community. Soon after he joined, Bitcoin had become one of the most popular cryptocurrencies, but it also faced many technical challenges, especially security and scalability issues. As a result, Todd quickly emerged in the Bitcoin community and became one of the core developers of Bitcoin.
After joining the Bitcoin community, Todd has been committed to improving the security of the Bitcoin protocol. He advocates that Bitcoin's code should maintain strict security standards to ensure the stability of the entire system. He has proposed a number of improvements that provide innovative solutions for Bitcoin's scalability, privacy protection, and anti-censorship. His technical contributions include improving Bitcoin's transaction mechanism and proposing the concept of lightweight nodes, which allows users to participate in the Bitcoin network without running a full node, thereby increasing the decentralization of the network.
In addition to his technical contributions, Todd also plays the role of a "moral defender" in the Bitcoin community. He strongly advocates the transparency of the Bitcoin development process and has publicly opposed any changes that may lead to centralization. He is very persistent in the spirit of Bitcoin's decentralization, which makes him coincide with Satoshi Nakamoto's philosophy. Todd's development style is steady and conservative. He is not eager to pursue expansion, but prioritizes ensuring the security of the system. This cautious attitude is considered by many to be very similar to Satoshi Nakamoto's technical philosophy.
In the Bitcoin community, Peter Todd maintains relatively close contact with other "Satoshi Nakamoto" candidates. As a Bitcoin developer, he has had public or private technical discussions with Gavin Andresen, Adam Back, Nick Szabo and others. These discussions involved Bitcoin's expansion, privacy protection and security issues, and Todd's views on these issues are very consistent with Satoshi Nakamoto's design philosophy.
It is particularly noteworthy that Todd and Adam Back (the inventor of Hashcash) have close technical exchanges. In Bitcoin's PoW mechanism, Back's Hashcash is one of the core inspirations for Bitcoin's proof of work, and Todd is a loyal defender of Bitcoin's PoW mechanism. He believes that Bitcoin's PoW mechanism is an important design to ensure the security and decentralization of the Bitcoin network, and must be protected and improved.
The main reason why Todd is suspected of being Satoshi Nakamoto is his in-depth understanding of the Bitcoin network, his firm belief in decentralization, and his mysterious and low-key attitude in the community. Although Todd is one of the core figures in Bitcoin development, he rarely participates in personal publicity and public activities. His style of doing things is very similar to Satoshi Nakamoto, low-key and pragmatic, and he has an extremely clear vision for the future development of Bitcoin.
In addition, Todd's "cleanliness" in technology also makes people doubt whether he is Satoshi Nakamoto. He advocates that the core code of Bitcoin should be concise, efficient, and almost free of loopholes. This extreme security standard requires not only developers to have superb technical capabilities, but also a deep understanding of system architecture and unique ideas. This is very consistent with the rigorous style of the Bitcoin white paper and Satoshi Nakamoto's requirements for code quality.
In the face of speculation from the outside world, Peter Todd has never admitted that he is Satoshi Nakamoto. He has repeatedly stated that he is just a member of the Bitcoin community and hopes to use his technical expertise to ensure the security of the Bitcoin network. However, Todd has not publicly denied this possibility. He believes that the decentralized spirit of Bitcoin is the most important, and the identity of the founder is actually not important.
Todd believes that Satoshi Nakamoto's choice of anonymity is the "symbol of decentralization" of Bitcoin. He admires Satoshi Nakamoto's "retirement" and believes that the future of Bitcoin should not be affected by any individual, which has been verified in the development of Bitcoin. Todd always adheres to the open source characteristics and decentralized management of Bitcoin, and believes that this feature is the core value of Bitcoin. His response is implicit and mysterious, neither denying nor confirming the outside world's speculation. This attitude makes people believe that he may be one of the candidates for the identity of "Satoshi Nakamoto".
4.9 Candidate 9: Len Sassaman
Len Sassaman is a well-respected cryptographer and privacy activist who has left a deep mark on the field of computers and encryption technology. Born in 1976, Sassaman has been passionate about online privacy and personal information protection since he was young. He was an active member of Cypherpunk, exploring with other technology geeks and privacy advocates how to defend information freedom through technical means. As a computer scientist, Sassaman has always believed that technology can protect personal privacy rights, so he has invested a lot of time and energy in studying how to use encryption technology to ensure network security.
Sassaman in Cryptography
