For years, bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto has avoided discovery. Now, a 10,000-word New York Times investigation may have unraveled the mystery, landing on British computer scientist Dr. Adam Back as Nakamoto.
Crypto newcomers and longtime industry veterans alike have speculated over the real identity of Satoshi Nakamoto for more than a decade. Countless articles, documentaries, and a few lawsuits have been volleyed at the quest.
Beyond pure curiosity, both crypto enthusiasts and skeptics have reason to care.
Nakamoto holds near-mythic status as a key figure in the world of digital assets. His invention has driven the $2.4 trillion crypto market. The pseudonymous creator is also known to control 1.1 million bitcoin, roughly 44% more than the world’s largest corporate bitcoin holder, Strategy (MSTR).
Even outside the Nakamoto connection, Back, who turns 56 in July, has made an invaluable contribution to crypto.
In 1997, Back invented an email spam filter known as Hashcash. Its underlying algorithm, known as proof of work, went on to shape cryptocurrency research for the next decade. It became the cornerstone of what made bitcoin work after years of failed attempts at creating a digital currency.
Satoshi even emailed Back in the months before releasing the bitcoin white paper to make sure he cited Back’s work correctly. And the connections between the two cryptographers go much deeper, according to the report.
The main takeaway from the New York Times investigation is that Satoshi’s writing most closely lined up with Back’s. Finnish programmer Martti Malmi, who worked with Satoshi in bitcoin’s early days, had released hundreds of email exchanges as part of a court case.
New York Times investigative reporter John Carreyrou, with the help of AI expert Dylan Freedman, compiled all correspondence from three important internet mailing lists that span decades. They compared the material to all of Satoshi’s known writing. Back proved the closest match to him in each of the three writing analyses performed in the investigation.
Notable quirks Satoshi and Back shared include writing two spaces between sentences, using British spellings, and misusing hyphens the same way. Carreyrou proposes that Back wrote those emails to himself as a way to create a cover story.
Back has denied the NYT’s findings, both in the article and on X, where he posted, “i’m not satoshi, but I was early in laser focus on the positive societal implications of cryptography, online privacy and electronic cash, hence my ~1992 onwards active interest in applied research on ecash, privacy tech on cypherpunks list which led to hashcash and other ideas.”
But the similarities between Satoshi and Back are countless, according to the investigation.
As the NYT explains, what first spurred the Satoshi investigation was Carreyrou watching an HBO series that attempted to unravel the mystery of Satoshi. How Back acted during an interview in that documentary piqued Carreyrou’s interest.
“Having encountered my share of liars and developed something of an expertise in their tells, Mr. Back’s demeanor — his shifty eyes, his awkward chuckle, the jerky movement of his left hand — struck me as fishy. When the credits rolled up, I replayed the sequence several times on my TV,” Carreyrou wrote.
Representation of bitcoin cryptocurrency. (Reuters/Dado Ruvic/Illustration)
(Reuters / REUTERS)
More recently — and crucial to the investigation’s start — Back has become CEO of BSTR, a treasury company holding more than 30,000 bitcoin. It’s set to go public through a reverse merger with a Cantor Fitzgerald-controlled blank check company (CEPO).
The timing for that official merger has been pushed back numerous times in recent months and is now expected before the end of the second quarter.
Still, one implication is that as a CEO of a company in the process of going public, Back is required to disclose any information material to investors under US securities law. Carreyrou admits he wasn’t aware of this dynamic when he finally interviewed a mysteriously nervous Back.
“A secret stash of 1.1 million coins that could crash the Bitcoin market if it were suddenly sold, for example, would probably be considered material,” the article pointed out.
David Hollerith is a senior reporter at Yahoo Finance covering the cryptocurrency and stock markets. Follow him on X at@DsHollers.
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