By : Where’s Satoshi? Henry Ford fathered the auto industry, and Steve Jobs launched a cultural obsession with smartphones. Yet the crypto industry, now at $170 billion, doesn’t know who fathered bitcoin.
A new website is making the rounds on the social web, stoking speculation about what it could mean for the mystery of Satoshi Nakamoto. launched around this past weekend with no hint as to who built the site, or what it’s for.
The only clues are a ticking clock and promise of a “live unveiling.” Is this a hoax, or an epic unmasking?
Let’s break down some theories.
I am right now staying less than a quarter of a mile from Craig’s partner – Calvin Ayre. I strongly recommend that Craig stop by for a cup of tea so he can expound on that statement in person.
— John McAfee (@officialmcafee)
Satoshi site – a stealth move
The man, woman, or group behind the Japanese pseudonym has accomplished the near-impossible by remaining anonymous for a decade. That’s quite a feat in the digital age.
There are many theories. But Satoshi Nakamoto’s true identity is key to unlocking why bitcoin was created in the first place.
The whitepaper talks about BTC as peer-to-peer cash system. Some have suggested that its brilliant design means that only the CIA, NSA, or other state sponsor has the capability to architect the bitcoin decentralized network.
Perhaps it’s an investigative tool by law enforcement to track illegal peddlers (i.e., Silk Road). And therefore, the person or group behind the Satoshi mask must remain anonymous or risk retaliation from some scary people, like drug cartels and weapons dealers.
That’s one theory.
Others (like Craig Wright) as bitcoin inventor. Perhaps to bask in undeserved glory (if you don’t believe his claims).
All throughout April, anti-virus software entrepreneur John McAfee and bitcoin SV proprietor have hurled allegations, insults, and even lawsuits. The former says the real Mr. Nakamoto, while Wright has long claimed that he’s “the one.”
Many such claims , and serve as fodder to revisit the topic again and again.
In an April 16 tweet, McAfee said:
There [are] at least a dozen crypto adherents who know the true identity of Satoshi. I can assure you, 100%, it is NOT Craig Wright.
Enough is enough! There at least a dozen crypto adherents who know the true identity of Satoshi. I can assure you, 100%, it is NOT Craig Wright. This absurd claim of Craig’s is incomprehensible. Mr wright: Have you no shame? Seriously sir! Have you no shame?
— John McAfee (@officialmcafee)
McAfee then promised to true identity:
I protected the identity of Satoshi. It’s time, though, that this be put to bed. Imposters claim to be him, we are spending time and energy in search of him – It’s a waste. Every day I will narrow down the identity of Satoshi until he reveals himself, or I reveal him.
But shortly thereafter, McAfee shared a letter from his attorney advising against outing Mr. Nakamoto.
Trolls claim that the letter from my attorney regarding releasing the identity if Satoshi is bogus. I’ve never heard such idiocy. The letter includes phone numbers and addresses of 5 of his firm’s offices and he is one if the premiere lawyers in the Bahamas. Get real people!
— John McAfee (@officialmcafee)
To add to the confusion, is the Satoshi group even from North America, or a ?
A clever ploy?
Back to gotsatoshi.com.
Is the new site a way to anonymously reveal Nakamoto from a distance?
Or is it a diversion to accomplish another agenda? Such as to accuse the wrong person as Satoshi … so that the real bitcoin inventor (who is perhaps a recluse) can relax in peace, and stay away from media and regulatory scrutiny.
The countdown seems to correspond to CoinDesk’s Consensus 2019. It’s one of the largest blockchain conferences in the world. And it’s possible that a PR team is trying to drum up attention by hinting at an epic unmasking.
A ghost among us
Big claims have consequences. Because anonymity has long been Nakamoto’s security bubble.
For now, he’s a ghost who walks invisibly at blockchain conferences and meetups. A crypto-god who perhaps introduces himself as a shopkeeper, tourist, or schoolteacher, but who nonetheless owns nearly 700,000 bitcoins according to 2018 BitMEX .
If Satoshi were to reveal himself, perhaps it’s to stop the destructiveness of pretenders claiming to have built a disruption that’s still in its infancy, and which still needs guidance. Innovation, according to this line of thinking, shouldn’t be influenced by false claimants or soothsayers.
At bitcoin’s peak valuation, Satoshi ranked as the 90th richest person in the world at $14 billion. Yet there has been no movement of bitcoins spent from his purported wallet address.
Is he dead? Who knows. (Hope not.)
The countdown timer of gotsatoshi.com is racing towards zero. Let’s see if anyone comes out of this labyrinthian maze of speculations.
Published at Fri, 03 May 2019 11:04:26 +0000
