- Satoshi Nakamoto is speculated to be British cryptographer Adam Back, who denies this claim
- Back and Satoshi share writing traits like no hyphens and mixed British-American spelling
- Satoshi mined about 1.1 million Bitcoins, roughly 5% of the total supply in early days
Satoshi Nakamoto, the mysterious creator of Bitcoin, is back in the spotlight after a new report claimed the figure could be British cryptographer Adam Back. However, he has denied the claim, stating that the report is just "confirmation bias".
The identity of Satoshi is still unknown and has been a mystery for years. Most theories were based on similarities such as writing style, technical knowledge or personal beliefs, but none could be proven.
The analysis shows that Back's writing style is similar to Satoshi's, both avoid hyphens in words, sometimes mix British spelling and idioms with American expressions and use double spacing after a full stop.
Satoshi left behind many written clues, including the Bitcoin white paper and posts explaining how Bitcoin works. Later, even more emails were revealed by Martti Malmi, who had worked with Satoshi in the early days, the New York Times report revealed.
He said on X that these similarities are just a coincidence. According to him, people who come from the same backgrounds (like working in cryptography and digital money) often use similar words and phrases.
"I'm not Satoshi, but I was early in laser focus on the positive societal implications of cryptography, online privacy and electronic cash, hence my ~1992 onwards active interest in applied research on ecash, privacy tech on cypherpunks list which led to hashcash and other ideas," he wrote on X.
The report also claims that Back appeared less active around the time Satoshi disappeared after publishing Bitcoin's white paper, and became more visible later. However, Back rejected this claim, saying he was actually very active on forums at the time.
The report revealed that Satoshi is believed to have mined around 1.1 million Bitcoins, around 5 percent of the total supply, in the early days of Bitcoin, making him one of the richest figures in crypto.
He also jokes about not mining enough Bitcoin in 2009. "Kicking myself for not mining in anger in 2009," he joked.
The analysis showed that Back started coding at a young age and developed a strong interest in cryptography during his studies. He worked on encryption tools like PGP, the same core technology behind Bitcoin. He also studied distributed computer systems and used the programming language C++, both of which are key elements of Bitcoin's design.
Satoshi introduced Bitcoin in 2008 through a white paper explaining a new form of digital money. He mined the first Bitcoin in 2009, quickly gaining attention in the tech world.
But, in 2011, at the peak of Bitcoin's popularity, Satoshi suddenly disappeared and has not communicated since. Since then, his identity has been considered one of the biggest mysteries in technology.
But there have already been rumours about Satoshi's identity. A number of people have been connected to Bitcoin's creation over the years.
An HBO documentary from 2024 claimed that Peter Todd, a Canadian cryptocurrency expert, might be Satoshi. A British man named Stephen Mollah even claimed to be Satoshi at a news appearance in London the same year, but the majority of people did not believe him, reported BBC.
Earlier in 2014, Dorian Nakamoto was recognised as Satoshi in a Newsweek story. Later, Australian computer scientist Craig Wright was linked to Satoshi in 2015 by tech websites Wired and Gizmodo; however, a UK High Court judge later dismissed his claims.
