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'''Satoshi Nakamoto''' is the pseudonymous person or group of people who designed and created the original [[Bitcoin]] software, currently known as [[Bitcoin-Qt]].
:''For the unit, see [[satoshi (unit)]].''
'''Satoshi Nakamoto''' is the founder of [[Bitcoin]] and initial creator of the [[Original Bitcoin client]]. He has said in a P2P foundation profile<ref name="p2p_f_profile">[http://p2pfoundation.ning.com/profile/SatoshiNakamoto Satoshi Nakamoto profile on P2P Foundation]</ref> that he is from Japan. Beyond that, not much else is known about him and his identity. He has been working on the Bitcoin project since 2007.<ref>[https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=13.msg46#msg46 Re: Questions about Bitcoin]</ref>


His involvement in the original [[Bitcoin]] software does not appear to extend past mid-2010.
His involvement in the Bitcoin project had tapered and by late 2010 it has ended.  The most recent messages reportedly indicate that Satoshi is "gone for good"<ref>[http://bitcoinstats.com/irc/bitcoin-dev/logs/2011/04/26#l1303826036.0 Transcript of #bitcoin-dev for 2011/04/26]</ref>.


==Identity==
==Possible Motives==
He left some clues about why he is doing this project with the inclusion of the following text in the [[Genesis block]], "The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks".


There are no records of Nakamoto's identity or identities prior to the creation of [[Bitcoin]]. On his [http://p2pfoundation.ning.com/profile/SatoshiNakamoto P2P foundation profile], Nakamoto claimed to be an individual male at the age of 37 and living in Japan, which was met with great skepticism due to his use of English and his Bitcoin [[software]] not being documented nor labeled in Japanese.
Some interesting quotes:
<blockquote><p>Yes, [we will not find a solution to political problems in cryptography,] but we can win a major battle in the arms race and gain a new territory of
freedom for several years.</p>


British formatting in his written work implies Nakamoto is of British origin. However, he also sometimes used American spelling, which may indicate that he was intentionally trying (but failed) to mask his writing style, or that he is more than one person.
<p>Governments are good at cutting off the heads of a centrally controlled
networks like Napster, but pure P2P networks like Gnutella and Tor seem to be
holding their own.<ref>[http://www.mail-archive.com/cryptography@metzdowd.com/msg09971.html Re: Bitcoin P2P e-cash paper Fri, 07 Nov 2008 09:30:36 -0800]</ref></p></blockquote>


The first release of his original [[Bitcoin]] software is speculated to be of a collaborative effort, leading some to claim that Satoshi Nakamoto was a collective pseudonym for a group of people.
<blockquote>It's very attractive to the libertarian viewpoint if we can explain it
properly.  I'm better with code than with words though.<ref>[http://www.mail-archive.com/cryptography@metzdowd.com/msg10001.html Re: Bitcoin P2P e-cash paper Fri, 14 Nov 2008 14:29:22]</ref></blockquote>


Investigations into the real identity of Satoshi Nakamoto have been attempted by ''The New Yorker'' and ''Fast Company''. ''The New Yorker'' arrived at Michael Clear, a young graduate student in cryptography at Trinity College in Dublin, who was named the top computer-science undergraduate at Trinity in 2008. The next year, he was hired by Allied Irish Banks to improve its currency-trading software, and he co-authored an academic paper on peer-to-peer technology.<ref>[http://betabeat.com/2011/10/did-the-new-yorkers-joshua-davis-nail-the-identity-of-bitcoin-creator-satoshi-nakamoto/ The New Yorker’s Joshua Davis Attempts to Identify Bitcoin Creator Satoshi Nakamoto]</ref>
==Possible identity==
His identity and nationality are unknown.


''Fast Company'''s investigation brought up circumstantial evidence that indicated a link between an encryption patent application filed by Neal King, Vladimir Oksman and Charles Bry on 15 August 2008, and the bitcoin.org domain name which was registered 72 hours later. The [http://www.google.com/patents/US20100042841 patent application] contained networking and encryption technologies similar to Bitcoin's. After textual analysis, the phrase "...computationally impractical to reverse" was found in both the patent application and bitcoin's whitepaper.<ref name="whitepaper">{{cite web |last= Nakamoto |first= Satoshi |title= Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System |url= http://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf |date= 24 May 2009}}</ref> All three inventors explicitly denied being Satoshi Nakamoto.<ref>{{cite web|last= Penenberg |first= Adam |title= The Bitcoin Crypto-Currency Mystery Reopened |url= http://www.fastcompany.com/1785445/bitcoin-crypto-currency-mystery-reopened |publisher= FastCompany |accessdate= 16 February 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last= Greenfield |first= Rebecca |title= The Race to Unmask Bitcoin's Inventor(s) |url= http://www.theatlanticwire.com/technology/2011/10/race-unmask-bitcoins-inventors/43535/ |publisher= The Atlantic |date=11 October 2011|accessdate= 16 February 2013}}</ref>
He is entirely unknown outside of Bitcoin as far as anyone can tell, and his (never used) PGP key was created just months prior to the date of the genesis block. He seems to be very familiar with the cryptography mailing list, but there are no non-Bitcoin posts from him on it. He has used an email address from an anonymous mail hosting service (vistomail) as well as one from a free webmail account (gmx.com) and sends mail when connected via Tor. Some have speculated that his entire identity was created in advance in order to protect himself or the network. Perhaps he chose the name Satoshi because it can mean "wisdom" or "reason" and Nakamoto can mean "Central source".


==Work==
Ultimately the design of Bitcoin and its use of cryptographic proof and fully open implementation is one that makes its creator, in a sense, irrelevant and only of interest for historical reasons.


Nakamoto has claimed that he has been working on [[Bitcoin]] since 2007. In 2008, he published a paper on The Cryptography Mailing List at metzdowd.com describing the Bitcoin [[digital currency]]. In 2009, he released the first Bitcoin software that launched the network and the first units of the Bitcoin currency.
==External links==
 
* [http://bitcointalk.org/Satoshi_Nakamoto.asc Satoshi's PGP public key]
Version 0.1 was for Windows only and had no command-line interface. It was compiled using Microsoft Visual Studio. The code was elegant in some ways and inelegant in others. The code does not appear to have been written by either a total amateur or a professional programmer; some people speculate based on this that Satoshi was an academic with a lot of theoretical knowledge but not much programming experience. Version 0.1 was remarkably complete. If Satoshi truly only worked on it alone for two years, he must have spent a massive amount of time on the project.
* [http://www.bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System] Paper
 
* <s>[http://sourceforge.net/users/s_nakamoto SourceForge page]</s> <i>this link is invalid as of [https://timestamps.glencooper.com/ 20190522T0153Z] :-(</i>
Nakamoto was active in making modifications to the Bitcoin software and posting technical information on the [[Bitcoin Forum]] until his contact with other Bitcoin developers and the community gradually began to fade in mid-2010. Until a few months before he left, almost all modifications to the source code were done by Satoshi -- he accepted contributions relatively rarely. Just before he left, he set up [[User:Gavinandresen|Gavin Andresen]] as his successor by giving him access to the Bitcoin SourceForge project and a copy of the [[Alerts|alert key]].
* [http://nakamotoinstitute.org Satoshi Nakamoto Institute]
 
==Motives==
 
Nakamoto's work appears to be politically motivated, as quoted:
 
"Yes, [we will not find a solution to political problems in cryptography,] but we can win a major battle in the arms race and gain a new territory of freedom for several years. Governments are good at cutting off the heads of a centrally controlled networks like Napster, but pure P2P networks like Gnutella and Tor seem to be holding their own." - Satoshi Nakamoto
 
"[Bitcoin is] very attractive to the libertarian viewpoint if we can explain it properly. I'm better with code than with words though." - Satoshi Nakamoto
 
In the Bitcoin network's transaction database, the original entry has a note by Nakamoto that reads as:
 
"The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks"
 
Some claim this quote implies Nakamoto had great concern or contempt for the current [[central banking]] system.
 
==Influence==
The smallest unit of the [[Bitcoin]] currency (1/100,000,000) has been named "satoshi" in collective homage to his founding of [[Bitcoin]].


==References==
==References==
<references/>
<references/>
*[http://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/11/mf_bitcoin/ The Rise and Fall of Bitcoin]
*[http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/10/10/111010fa_fact_davis The Crypto-Currency: Bitcoin and its mysterious inventor]
*[http://www.mail-archive.com/search?l=cryptography@metzdowd.com&q=from:%22Satoshi+Nakamoto%22 Satoshi's posts to Cryptography mailing list]


[[Category:Pseudonyms]]
[[de:Satoshi Nakamoto]]
[[de:Satoshi Nakamoto]]
[[es:Satoshi Nakamoto]]
[[es:Satoshi Nakamoto]]


[[Category:Individuals]]
[[Category:People]]

Latest revision as of 16:10, 8 April 2022

For the unit, see satoshi (unit).

Satoshi Nakamoto is the founder of Bitcoin and initial creator of the Original Bitcoin client. He has said in a P2P foundation profile[1] that he is from Japan. Beyond that, not much else is known about him and his identity. He has been working on the Bitcoin project since 2007.[2]

His involvement in the Bitcoin project had tapered and by late 2010 it has ended. The most recent messages reportedly indicate that Satoshi is "gone for good"[3].

Possible Motives

He left some clues about why he is doing this project with the inclusion of the following text in the Genesis block, "The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks".

Some interesting quotes:

Yes, [we will not find a solution to political problems in cryptography,] but we can win a major battle in the arms race and gain a new territory of freedom for several years.

Governments are good at cutting off the heads of a centrally controlled networks like Napster, but pure P2P networks like Gnutella and Tor seem to be holding their own.[4]

It's very attractive to the libertarian viewpoint if we can explain it properly. I'm better with code than with words though.[5]

Possible identity

His identity and nationality are unknown.

He is entirely unknown outside of Bitcoin as far as anyone can tell, and his (never used) PGP key was created just months prior to the date of the genesis block. He seems to be very familiar with the cryptography mailing list, but there are no non-Bitcoin posts from him on it. He has used an email address from an anonymous mail hosting service (vistomail) as well as one from a free webmail account (gmx.com) and sends mail when connected via Tor. Some have speculated that his entire identity was created in advance in order to protect himself or the network. Perhaps he chose the name Satoshi because it can mean "wisdom" or "reason" and Nakamoto can mean "Central source".

Ultimately the design of Bitcoin and its use of cryptographic proof and fully open implementation is one that makes its creator, in a sense, irrelevant and only of interest for historical reasons.

External links

References

  1. ↑ Satoshi Nakamoto profile on P2P Foundation
  2. ↑ Re: Questions about Bitcoin
  3. ↑ Transcript of #bitcoin-dev for 2011/04/26
  4. ↑ Re: Bitcoin P2P e-cash paper Fri, 07 Nov 2008 09:30:36 -0800
  5. ↑ Re: Bitcoin P2P e-cash paper Fri, 14 Nov 2008 14:29:22
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