The cryptocurrency phenomenon took the 2020 world by storm. Two years back it seemed like you couldn’t have a single conversation without somebody bringing up Bitcoin, Ether, NFTs, or some other development in the crypto world. Many believed that they had discovered something new. And indeed, quite a lot of cryptocurrencies that gained prominence were rather new at the time. However, the cryptocurrency phenomenon can be traced back all the way to 2008, when the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto first published his seminal paper “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System”. Within this work, Nakamoto espoused his beliefs about digitized currencies, decentralization, and the future.
Ever since, Satoshi Nakamoto has become a sort of symbol for cryptocurrency. And with more and more people buying XRP in the UK and more broadly, a lot of people are becoming interested in who Satoshi Nakamoto is, or was? If you can believe it, more than 10 years after he mined his first Bitcoin, Nakamoto’s identity has remained a secret. That isn’t to say that many haven’t tried to expose him or determine who he is. Indeed, the identity of the mysterious cypherpunk is one of the great mysterious of the internet. So, in this article, we would like to go over Satoshi Nakamoto’s history, philosophy, and some possible candidates that might secretly be behind the façade.
Nakamoto’s Philosophy
When Satoshi Nakamoto issued the paper that we previously mentioned, he made no secret about which side of the political and philosophical spectrum he falls on. The person behind the mask was heavily inspired by the economic teachings of Austro-British economist and philosopher, Friedrich Hayek. Hayek’s most notable work, the Denationalization of Money: The Argument Redefined was a major inspiration behind the creation of Bitcoin, and other similar cryptocurrencies.
In terms of philosophy, Nakamoto also espoused some heavily right-wing libertarian beliefs. Free markets and free people is the simplest we can put it. The purpose of Bitcoin was to create an alternative to the Central Bank-issued fiat currencies, and give people the ability to truly be in charge of their own cash. Whether the theory was successful in practice is up to us all to determine.
However, this leaves us with a very interesting dilemma. There must be a reason behind Mr. Nakamoto’s refusal to go public. Many believe it to be cowardice. And certainly, the fear of being doxed and exposed is a legitimate one. But what if it was more than that? What if the reason Nakamoto remained anonymous was because he wanted to show that cryptocurrency does not need a figurehead? He created it, sure. But it is up to individual crypto traders to determine its use and function.
For this reason, many believe that it is good that Satoshi Nakamoto never went public. Still, human curiosity prevails, and campaigns to discover the man’s identity have been launched since 2009. So, the following is a list of few people who were once believed to be the creator of what might be the greatest cryptocurrency of all time.
Nakamoto’s Identity
It is of paramount importance that we stress that Nakamoto’s identity is still a mystery. The following people have been suspected of being behind Bitcoin. However, evidence has come up to disprove most of these beliefs and allegations. Still, allegations there were. So, let us take a look at a few guys that might just be Satoshi Nakamoto.
- Hal Finney
Hal Finney is a life-long cypherpunk, frequent collaborator of Nakamoto’s and the first recipient of Bitcoin. Naturally, with all of this in mind, many people came to the conclusion that Hal Finney must be Satoshi Nakamoto, with a notable news source even publishing an article with the evidence. However, as new information came to light, it was proven that Finney and Nakamoto were separate people. Hal Finney had ghost written a few of Nakamoto’s articles, and they had collaborated on several occasions.
- Nick Szabo
Nick Szabo today is notable for his development of smart contracts. However, once upon a time he became somewhat popular in the computer world for coming up with the idea for the first decentralized digital currency. Suspiciously, the name he gave this concept was BitGold. There isn’t much evidence for or against Szabo being Nakamoto. It could be that the real Nakamoto was heavily inspired by Szabo’s concept, or the whole thing could just be a major coincidence.
- Dorian Nakamoto
There are a few reasons why Dorian Nakamoto is suspected of being Satoshi. Apart from the name, Dorian has all of the know-how to come up with and create a concept like Bitcoin. However, a few things just don’t make sense. First of all, if Satoshi Nakamoto wanted to remain anonymous, why wouldn’t he change his last name? Second, when Dorian Nakamoto was questioned about his involvement in Bitcoin, he gave a vague answer. It later became apparent that the line of questioning was misleading, and Mr. Dorian Nakamoto had trouble with the English language. To this day, Dorian maintains that he had nothing to do with Bitcoin or its creator.
