There are many theories about who could have created the first cryptocurrency. Some of them seem absurd, others believable. However, so far none of them have received conclusive evidence.
Every movement has an iconic face. Gandhi led the Indian independence campaign, Professor Xavier was the driving force behind the X-Men, and Rosa Parks led the African American rights activists. In the case of Bitcoin, decentralization has become one of the most important principles of the movement. Therefore, no one knows or speaks publicly who founded the currency: this is no coincidence.
Bitcoin and blockchain were created by a person or group of people under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto. In December 2017, when the price of BTC reached $ 20,000, Nakamoto was ranked 44th on the list of the richest people in the world. There are dozens of legends and rumors, and new fan theories appear every now and then. But in more than ten years, not a single conclusive proof of who the mysterious creator of Bitcoin is has emerged.
Satoshi was not only a brilliant technologist, but also an outstanding marketer. In 2008, people were overwhelmed by the world situation and needed an alternative to recover from financial losses. At this time, bitcoin appeared. It was a reaction to the collapse of the business: the article "Bitcoin: Peer-to-Peer Electronic Monetary System" was published a month after the onset of the crisis, in October 2008.
Satoshi served bitcoin for three years, and then "moved on to other things." Communication with Satoshi ended in 2011. The last thing he said in a letter to another Bitcoin developer, Gavin Andersen:
“I would like you to stop talking about me as a mysterious shadow figure, the press turns it into pirate currency. Perhaps it would be better to talk about the open source project and give credit to the developers instead; it helps to motivate them. "
"Feyktoshi"
The brightest candidate for the role of Satoshi Nakamoto is the Australian entrepreneur, programmer and scientist Craig Wright. In 2015, he burst onto the scene, claiming that Satoshi was actually two people, Wright himself and his colleague Dave Kleiman. Kleiman died in 2013 and cannot confirm or deny this information.
Wikileaks later told that Craig is not who he claims to be. Wright tried to present his old post as proof that he developed a cryptocurrency. The irony is that the word "cryptocurrency" was added to the post much later. The crypto community found a lot of evidence of Craig's lies, for which he received the nickname Feiktoshi.
Dorian Nakamoto
In 2014, Newsweek's Leah McGrath Goodman published an investigation according to which the creator of Bitcoin is California resident Dorian Nakamoto, a 64-year-old retired Japanese-American physicist and well-educated engineer. Dorian agreed to speak to the journalist only in the presence of the police officers. He answered questions evasively, and then said:
“I am no longer involved in this and cannot discuss it. <…> It was passed on to other people. They are responsible for it now. "
Later, he issued a statement, where he said that he had misunderstood the questions of the journalist. Dorian's statements highlight that he was embarrassed when Goodman asked questions and that his comment “I'm not involved in this anymore” was taken out of context. The community fell in love with Dorian and raised over $ 1 million in donations to him.
Hal Finney
The first Bitcoin transaction was sent to Hal Finney. He received 50 BTC in January 2009. A libertarian and member of the cypherpunk community, Finney seemed like the perfect candidate to be the inventor of Bitcoin. The appearance of Dorian Nakamoto next door, and they lived in the same town, added fuel to the fire. In May 2020, two news items denied the programmer's involvement in the creation of the first cryptocurrency. First, it ran on a Windows system. Secondly, Finney developed a Bitcoin client for Mac OS for Satoshi Nakamoto.
Scam from companies
One of the most popular theories is that Satoshi Nakamoto is a combination of the first letters of the names of Samsung-Toshiba-Nakamichi-Motorola companies. Proponents of this theory say that bitcoin was created for the purpose of fraud. There is no evidence.
Was there a boy?
Satoshi Nakamoto is an almost religious figure. Everyone can proclaim themselves to be one. Satoshi is everyone and nobody at the same time. Most religions, nations, institutions and associations have a history of origin, such as the book of Genesis or the story of Buddha's enlightenment. These origin stories are not necessarily accurate; they exist rather as archetypal stories, myths, or images. In fact, one of Bitcoin's ideas is to free the world from idolatry.