IBS Journal June 2016


35


a July 2014 email the man himself denied the rumours.


While Szabo was still being touted as a potential candidate, a now infamous big break was being worked on by Newsweek journalist Leah McGrath Goodman. Goodman had tracked down one Dorian Prentice Satoshi Nakamoto, whose birth name matched that of the illusive Bitcoin creator. Goodman also pointed to Dorian Nakamoto’s training as a systems engineer, as well as his libertarian leanings, as evidence towards his involvement. Her trump card was an allegation that Dorian Nakamoto had told her that he was “no longer involved” in Bitcoin and could not discuss it.


Unfortunately for McGrath and Newsweek, something had been lost in translation and Dorian Nakamoto had assumed the journalist was asking about his work for the government and military, which was classified. The final nail in the coffin came when Satoshi Nakamoto posted their first message on the P2P Foundation in five years in March 2014, reading simply: “I am not Dorian Nakamoto”.


Nick Szabo, in a May 2011 article (before he was touted as the founder of Bitcoin), wrote: “Myself, Wei Dai and Hal Finney were the only people I know of who liked the idea [of cryptocurrency] enough to pursue it to any significant extent until Nakamoto (assuming Nakamoto is not really Finney or Dai).” Such was the spotlight shifted on Finney, an early Bitcoin adopter famous for having received the first ever transaction from Nakamoto. In 2014 Forbes journalist Andy Greenberg conducted some writing analysis on emails written by Finney and Nakamoto, discovering that stylistically they were a closer match than any other candidate. Further, it was discovered that Finney lived a few streets away from Dorian Nakamoto, who Greenburg concluded was a stooge for the developer. Another quick to denial this unwanted attention, Finney shared his history with Greenburg and allowed him to study his Bitcoin wallet, including the first transaction from Satoshi Nakamoto (which Finney had subsequently forgotten to pay back). Greenberg eventually concluded that Finney was telling the truth.


Most recently, and perhaps perplexingly, is Craig Steven


Wright. In late 2015, Wired and Gizmodo broke stories that the former academic and computer scientist was eager to convince people that he was the inventor of Bitcoin. Following the inevitable media attention, Wright took down his Twitter account and refused to respond to press enquiries. Hackers subsequently broke into his email accounts and revealed that Satoshi Nakamoto was a joint pseudonym for Wright and computer forensics analyst David Kleiman, who had passed away in 2013. Wright’s home was raided by Australian police mere hours after the initial story broke, in what the Federal Police called part of an investigation by the Australian Tax Office.


For a few months Wright and the media were silent on the matter, until on 2 May 2016 he reappeared, posting on his blog that he had irrefutable evidence proving he was Bitcoin’s creator. To add further credence to the claim, Bitcoin Foundation Chief Scientist Gavin Anderson penned a blog stating: “After spending time with him I am convinced beyond a reasonable doubt: Craig Wright is Satoshi.”


Journalists from the BBC and The Economist chimed in, saying that Wright had signed his messages using an encryption key associated with the first Bitcoin transactions. But he quickly backed down and the world has since turned away from Wright being a serious candidate. The search continues, then, with many a journalist, analyst and blogger hoping to catch the scoop and find the man behind one of the tech world’s most disruptive ideas. But perhaps the question should be “why?” Satoshi Nakamoto has made it abundantly clear that they do not want to be found, and it seems likely that a person described by security researcher and Bitcoin code know-all Dan Kaminsky as a “genius” would take the necessary steps to ensure it doesn’t happen. But there is always that little niggling feeling, entirely human, that drives people on. Who knows, as Bitcoin and its underlying blockchain technology begin to proliferate in traditional financial spaces, a shadowy figure might emerge to take their place as a technology visionary. Until then your guess is as good as mine.


www.ibsintelligence.com


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