Satoshi Nakamoto Essentials
- The pseudonym used by the creator of Bitcoin.
- The founder and creator of Bitcoin platform and cryptocurrency.
- Mined the first Bitcoin block in 2009.
- Their identity remains hidden.
What did Satoshi Nakamoto do?
Satoshi Nakamoto designed and created the Bitcoin cryptocurrency and blockchain platform. They claimed to have worked on the Bitcoin project since 2007.
Satoshi published the famous Bitcoin whitepaper on October 31, 2008. The first people who they informed of the publication was an exclusive group of individuals with firm beliefs in decentralization and cryptography. The whitepaper on the Bitcoin project subsequently got a lot of attention in the cryptography community.
Satoshi then worked together with a select group and a close-knit community of cryptographic experts to complete the project. All of the correspondence was held on online forums and via email and not a single person who worked with Satoshi ever met them in person. Furthermore, Satoshi never revealed any personal information, making it extremely difficult to pin down their identity.
He released the Bitcoin platform to the public on January 3, 2009. When they released the software to the public, Satoshi also mined the first ever Bitcoin block. This block, also called the genesis block, marked the creation of the bitcoin cryptocurrency. Interestingly enough, Satoshi Nakamoto left a message on the genesis block to mark its inception. That message read: “The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks.”
This message is the title of an article published in the British newspaper, The Times, and constitutes proof that the first block was mined no sooner than on 3 January 2009. Conveniently, the article covers a bailout of banks, demonstrating the failures of the traditional financial system and the need for an alternative.
He continued to work on the project with several talented people for two more years, improving and updating the project. Then they suddenly stopped all communication and disappeared in April 2011. No one knows why they decided to distance themselves from the project. Before leaving, one of the last emails they sent read: “I’ve moved on to other things…” They have not been heard from since.
What is the true identity of Satoshi Nakamoto?
The identity of Satoshi Nakamoto is a true modern-day mystery that many are determined to solve. There were many candidates for Satoshi Nakamoto – Nick Szabo, a decentralized currency enthusiast, Dorian Prentice, a computer engineer specializing in defense projects and financial services, and Hal Finney, a pre-bitcoin cryptographic pioneer and the first person other than Nakamoto to use the Bitcoin platform, among them. However, none of them have been proved to be the mysterious Satoshi.
A popular candidate is also Adam Back, a British cryptographer and CEO of Blockstream, and, after Finney, the second person ever to have “corresponded” with Nakamoto. But unlike some who have claimed to be Satoshi, but have later been proven to have been trying to deceive the public, Adam vehemently denies that he has anything to do with the founder of Bitcoin.
While we do not know who the creator of Bitcoin is, there are a few things that we can safely speculate about Satoshi Nakamoto. Despite their name sounding like it could be Japanese, they are unlikely to be Japanese or to have been stationed in Japan. In fact, there is evidence that points to them being British.
After analysing the Bitcoin whitepaper, it was determined that Satoshi’s use of English is on a native level. They also used many common British phrases like “bloody hard” in the correspondence with their team. The text they included in the genesis block also originates from a British newspaper.
Though there are many theories, and several individuals who have proclaimed themselves to be the mysterious Satoshi, none have yet been proven. Some even believe Satoshi Nakamoto has passed away, leaving behind a massive wealth in bitcoins that are located at addresses connected to them.
Regardless of who they are, or if they are still alive, they've left a major impact on the world of cryptography, digital currencies and decentralization, in the form of the first blockchain and cryptocurrency, Bitcoin.