Update, 9 December 2015:听Documents leaked to Gizmodo and Wired seem to point to a new identity for Satoshi Nakamoto; Craig Wright, a cryptographer and software developer from Australia. Emails and conversations in which Wright appears to admit to being infamous Bitcoin founder were leaked to the two publications, but still don鈥檛 form conclusive proof that he is Satoshi Nakamoto.
An anonymous group of crypto-hackers? A lone mathematician? The US National Security Agency? No 鈥� Satoshi Nakamoto, the mysterious pseudonym behind the digital currency Bitcoin, has been revealed as Dorian Prentice Satoshi Nakamoto, a 64-year-old Japanese man living in Los Angeles, California.
That is the claim published in , as part of a splashy relaunch for the magazine鈥檚 first print edition in over a year. Investigative reporter Leah McGrath Goodman spent two months tracking Nakamoto, speaking to his friends and family, before eventually confronting him.
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According to Goodman, Nakamoto acknowledged his role in Bitcoin but refused to answer questions. 鈥淚 am no longer involved in that and I cannot discuss it,鈥� he is reported to have said.
Online unmasking
Now the story seems to be unravelling. Yesterday reporters swarmed on Nakamoto鈥檚 home. He was pursued by them after getting in a car with an Associated Press reporter. and had never heard of it until his son was contacted by Newsweek three weeks ago. 鈥淚 got nothing to do with it,鈥� he said, and claimed the quote in Goodman鈥檚 story has been misinterpreted 鈥� he had been referring to his classified military engineering work, he says.
It remains to be seen whether Dorian Nakamoto is Satoshi Nakamoto, but does the identity of Bitcoin鈥檚 creator really matter? The code behind Bitcoin is open-source, meaning anyone can edit it, and a team of developers took over from Nakamoto in 2010 to maintain and improve the software. If the true Nakamoto wishes to slip away quietly, why not?
That was the attitude of many Bitcoin supporters, who accused Goodman of 鈥渄oxing鈥� Dorian Nakamoto, online slang for outing someone鈥檚 true identity by posting revealing information about them. But arguably, that is another word for journalism. Newsweek stumbled by posting a picture of Nakamoto鈥檚 house online with an unblurred car registration 鈥� within minutes of the story being posted, his full address had been traced.
Secret power
Even if the story proves to be incorrect, that doesn鈥檛 mean it shouldn鈥檛 have been investigated. Identifying the true Nakamoto is not an idle curiosity, it is of significant public interest. As the first person to use Bitcoin, Nakamoto holds large amounts of the currency. No one knows exactly how much, but because all bitcoin transactions are recorded on a public ledger, suggests it could be as many as one million 鈥� around eight per cent of the present total number of bitcoins and valued at around $650 million, given current prices.
For a currency that is supposed to be decentralised, that puts a large amount of power in Nakamoto鈥檚 hands. It is frowned upon for other currencies based on Bitcoin to be distributed like this. Should Nakamoto decide to sell these holdings, prices will tumble as the market floods with bitcoins. If Bitcoin is to be taken seriously, as it increasingly is, this could be a pivotal moment in which Nakamoto, whoever that is, should provide assurances that the whole thing won鈥檛 be brought crashing down.
Perhaps the Newsweek story will prompt such an assurance. Following the publication, a in the past, has been reactivated after several years to post just five words: 鈥淚 am not Dorian Nakamoto.鈥� While this account may have been hacked by a third party, it could be that Nakamoto is ready to return.
