Who is the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto?

Everyone invested or owning Bitcoin would have come across this name, Satoshi Nakamoto.

Who is he, really?

Who is this mysterious genius that has written and created what could be the most disruptive force in the coming years, Bitcoin and blockchain technology?

What Satoshi Nakamoto Did

In Oct 2008, at the height of the subprime financial crisis, Satoshi Nakamoto published the Bitcoin whitepaper.

In Jan 2009, Satoshi Nakamoto created the bitcoin network and its corresponding currency, bitcoins.

He then created the website Bitcoin.org and continued working on the source code, together with the other developers on the Bitcoin protocol until the middle of 2010s.

In short, Satoshi Nakamoto was the founder, author of bitcoin, and blockchain for that matter, which was the birth of the disruptive technology we see today.

What is also important to note was that the bitcoin software code was left open sourced – which means that any developer could inspect the code and check for flaws anytime they wanted to. (you can find the code here)

This dispels the myth that so many people that Satoshi Nakamoto can ‘steal the money’ from you anytime like how a bank can freeze your funds.

Being left up for scrutiny by tens of thousands of developers (if not more), it meant that the software had to stand up to the tightest scrutiny, and if there were a single flaw in its code, you can be sure you’ll be hearing about it.

The Brillance of Open Source Bitcoin Code

The brilliance of such a move meant that it did not matter who Satoshi Nakamoto was anymore.

Let me give an example: If I asked you today who was the creator of the modern car engine, you would probably not know the answer. But it doesn’t matter anymore because millions of engineers know how it works, and how to create it and improve on it.

In the same way, by leaving the source code open means that everyone can dissect the code, improve the code, use the code to make their own cryptos. Whoever who made it does not matter anymore.

Who IS then the genius behind bitcoin code?

Yet, it did not matter to the thousands of people who still wanted to know who was the genius behind the code.

In a P2P Foundation site, Satoshi Nakamoto claimed he was a 37-year old male living in Japan.

However, some digging from curious investigators concluded he may not be as what he claimed.

People have believed he could be staying in the West (i.e. America, UK).

They claim that his English was impeccable, something that would not be common if he were a Japanese. Also, Satoshi Nakamoto uses British phrases, to indicate he might be British or be living in the U.K.

In the end, no one even knows if he is a man, a woman, or the possibility could be that he represents a group of developers.

In fact, many people are saying right now he could be that, given his ability to articulate masterfully the topics on cryptography, coding, economics and psychology. It is possible but unlikely that a 37-year old man could be strong in all these disciplines.

If that were the case, team Satoshi Nakamoto must be one of the most single-minded teams, and highly expert at covering their tracks.

Identity Theft

Given that Satoshi Nakamoto has never revealed himself, someone naturally would want to claim the ‘crown’. After all, there are a lot of benefits to being known as the founder of Satoshi.

Imagine the kind of reward, recognition and honour that would be given to the man who created one of the most disruptive technologies of the 21st century (till now)!

There were many, like Nick Szabo, Dorian Nakamoto and Hal Finney whom people thought to be Satoshi, but denied they were. They were a lack of evidence to prove so too.

The most famous one was  Craig Steven Wright claiming himself to be Satoshi Nakamoto on 2 May 2016 on his blog. It was covered by news outlets like Wired, Gizmodo, and even the Economist.

It was a long drawn out drama, but eventually, it was debunked.

What were Craig Steven Wright’s intentions? It remains to be decided, but many have accused him of doing it for personal profit.

The quest to find Satoshi continues

In the interest of media spins and stories to tell, it is unlikely that the search will ever stop. As long as there is a story to tell, there will always be speculation.

But for the rest of us who are interested in the bitcoin and the blockchain protocol, the instructions have already been left out in the open.

Any coder can use the same instructions to build bitcoin, or even start a new one themselves. The era of blockchain and distributed ledger technology has begun, and it has come to a point where what has been created is far more important than who created it.

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