Introduction

Satoshi Nakamoto is the name used by the unknown person or people who designed bitcoin and created its original reference implementation.

As a part of the implementation, in addition, they devised the primary blockchain database. Nakamoto turned energetic withinside the improvement of bitcoin up till December 2010.

Around this time, he/she/they handed over control of the code repository and network alert key to Gavin Andresen, transferred several related domains to various members of the bitcoin community, and stopped his/her/their involvement in the project altogether.

Since then, no one has heard from Nakamoto nor seen any activity from his/her/their known online accounts.

Many theories have been put forth as to who Satoshi Nakamoto is, but no one knows for sure.

 

Who is Satoshi Nakamoto?

Satoshi Nakamoto is the creator of Bitcoin, the first and most widely used decentralized cryptocurrency. He is a pseudonym, and very little is known about him apart from his involvement in the development of Bitcoin.

He is believed to be a Japanese man who was born on April 5th, 1975, but this is unconfirmed.

Satoshi Nakamoto has never revealed his true identity, and it is unknown if he is still alive or dead but there is a piece of document that leads us to the origin of Bitcoin.

The Bitcoin Whitepaper is a document that was published by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008. The paper outlines the process of how Bitcoin works, as well as the benefits of using cryptocurrency.

The paper has been highly influential in the development of Bitcoin and has been cited by many people as the reason why they became interested in the currency. The paper is also notable for its clear and concise explanation of the technology behind Bitcoin.

 

Satoshi’s Email Correspondence

In 2008, Satoshi Nakamoto sent an email to Wei Dai, the creator of b-money, asking for help with designing a peer-to-peer electronic cash system.

This email correspondence is one of the few pieces of evidence we have that suggests Satoshi was interested in creating a digital currency before Bitcoin.

In the emails, Satoshi discusses various aspects of designing a digital currency, including how to prevent double-spending and how to ensure that participants can remain anonymous.

He also expresses interest in Dai’s b-money proposal, which would have used a decentralized network of computers to track account balances.

Satoshi’s email correspondence with Wei Dai provides valuable insight into his thought process as he was developing the idea for Bitcoin.

It’s clear from these emails that Satoshi was deeply interested in creating a digital currency that could be used by anyone, anywhere in the world.

See also: The Crypto Trade Market at Risk Due to Banks Shutdown

 

What is Satoshi Nakamoto’s net worth?

Satoshi Nakamoto was the one who mined the majority of the new blocks when he/she/they created Bitcoin. He used multiple addresses, and as a result, he has a large amount of Bitcoin.

Satoshi Nakamoto has about 1.1 million Bitcoin spread across his various addresses.

This is worth approximately 23 billion dollars right now, and approximately $76 billion at Bitcoin’s all-time high.

Keep in mind that only 21 million Bitcoin will ever be in circulation, implying that Nakamoto controls approximately 5% of the total supply of Bitcoin.

If Bitcoin reaches the price of, such as $1 million per coin, Satoshi Nakamoto could easily become the wealthiest person, or entity, in history.

 

See also: The Top 5 Cryptocurrencies to Buy and Hold in 2023

As of the time of writing this blog post, nobody knows who the real Satoshi Nakamoto is. However, many people have been suspected or even come out and claimed to be Satoshi over the years.

 

Here, I’ve highlighted only three of the major speculations. They are:

 

Hal Finney

There have been speculations that he was the first person to receive a Bitcoin transaction in history. He was also involved with the project before and after Bitcoin’s launch.

Hal Finney coincidentally lived close to a person named Dorian Satoshi Nakamoto, which can have served as a suggestion for the pseudonym. His writing was just like the writing fashion of Satoshi Nakamoto.

However, after tons of evidence was compared, and Hal Finney himself denied being Nakamoto, most people have come to the agreement that he is not Satoshi Nakamoto.

Sadly, Hal Finney died in 2014.

 

 

Dorian Nakamoto

Dorian Nakamoto was identified as the currency’s creator in March 2014. It was the first effort by a popular publication to discover the identity of bitcoin’s creator.

According to Newsweek, Satoshi Nakamoto and Dorian Nakamoto have many similarities. For instance, they both allegedly had ties to Japan and were libertarians.

The author of the article also claimed that Nakamoto stated that he was “no longer” involved with bitcoin and that he had “turned it over” to others.

Later, Dorian Nakamoto denied the quote, claiming that he had misunderstood the question. “I have nothing to do with it,” he told the Press.

 

Craig Wright

Craig Steven Wright is a computer scientist and businessman from Australia, Queensland. Within the Bitcoin community, Wright’s claim sparked interest and skepticism. Some people agreed with him.

For example, Gavin Andresen, a Bitcoin Foundation director who corresponded with Nakamoto while doing early Bitcoin programming work, stated that he was “convinced beyond a reasonable doubt” that Wright was Satoshi.

However, critics have remained skeptical of Wright’s story and have demanded conclusive proof.

Craig Wright owns the Bitcoin white paper and the very first Bitcoin code, and he has the legal right to sue anyone who calls him a fraud.

If someone truly believed they were Satoshi Nakamoto, they could easily prove it by transferring some of the Bitcoin held in his known addresses.

There is no proof of the true Satoshi Nakamoto because no one has done so.

See also: Bitcoin Price Jumps 15% Following US Regulatory Moves

 

Conclusion

Bitcoin was created by Nakamoto as an alternative to the traditional financial system.

Coincidentally, Bitcoin was launched during the Great Recession, following the collapse of the US housing market.

Satoshi Nakamoto currently owns approximately 1.1 million Bitcoin, but his wallets have been inactive for many years. The next major surge in Bitcoin popularity occurred in late 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Long-term closures of entertainment and leisure businesses such as sports and casinos, combined with multiple rounds of government economic stimulus payments, left many younger Americans with extra disposable income and time on their hands, fueling another surge in Bitcoin prices in late 2020.

In December 2020, Bitcoin reached new all-time highs of over $20,000.

Later, in November 2021, it reached a peak of $68,990.

There have been numerous Satoshi Nakamoto suspects, including Hal Finney, Dorian Nakamoto, and Craig Wright, but no one has been proven to be the real Satoshi Nakamoto.