Who is Satoshi? Why did he hide his identity?

[greatestwhitetwinpack]

Why did Satoshi hide his identity? Has anyone seen Satoshi in real life?
Is Satoshi one person? Or is it a community?

I'm not him, so I don't know. Watching what is happening to the poor guy Newsweek attacked last week, it looks like it was a good decision to remain anonymous. There is so much misinformation in the media, regarding Bitcoin, I don't think I would want to be in a position where I was expected to defend my creation over and over again.

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[xander ford]

Why did Satoshi hide his identity? Has anyone seen Satoshi in real life?
Is Satoshi one person? Or is it a community?

why did he hide his identy because If his identity was revealed, then he would not have a good life, because of all the media/government interference. The community has it's way, and everything is alright.

[hajar]

I  believe he has his reason to hide his identity and he could be the only one to answer the real reason why he is in hiding any other thing we might say or write will only be some guessing. For me, I think its better that way because if someone had produce something that is "ANONYMOUS" how are we suppose to believe that if he is just around for us to see couple with the popularity that the project has been able to amass over the years...

[enterprevic]

Why did Satoshi hide his identity? Has anyone seen Satoshi in real life?
Is Satoshi one person? Or is it a community?

Lol, this isn't the first time I'm seeing this kind of question, the main reason is because he's probably scared of losing his life, he created a currency that has defeated a lot of other currencies. So it's better he doesn't reveal his true identity even if he's alive

[Alok Yadav]

y of Satoshi Nakamoto, the computer programmer who created the virtual currency bitcoin, is one of the most compelling stories in technology. In 2008, Nakamoto launched bitcoin with a white paper; in 2011, he vanished, just as the project was hitting its stride, his frequent forum posts and e-mails tapering off to silence. (In his last known correspondence, he told a bitcoin developer that he had “moved on to other things.”) The search for Nakamoto has a tinge of irony: it’s an old-school mystery born in an age of Internet-enabled access to all world knowledge, which threatens to make the entire concept of mystery obsolete. An endless series of apparent misidentifications by journalists over the years has only increased the intrigue. When an Australian entrepreneur named Craig Wright came forward last week to confirm claims made by Wired and Gizmodo last year that he is Nakamoto, his name trended for hours on Twitter, while his crisply parted hair and his generically handsome face were on the front page of Web sites around the world.


Then all digital hell broke loose. The bitcoin community is a hive of intensely opinionated geeks, and they began to poke holes at the evidence that Wright provided. Amid the torrent of skepticism—one respected security researcher labelled the whole thing a “scam”—Wright pulled a Nakamoto. He disappeared without delivering on a promise to provide “extraordinary proof” of his identity. He deleted his blog and replaced it with an apology, writing that he didn’t “have the courage” to continue to try to prove his case.

A definitive ruling on the identity of Nakamoto thus waits for another day, but for many it might as well never come. Amid the frenzy that surrounded the Wright saga was a refrain that pops up any time the latest candidate for Nakamoto is rolled out: Why does it matter? “At the end of the day, knowing the identity of Satoshi is about as important as knowing who created HTTP or HTML,” a bitcoin entrepreneur named Jason Weinstein told Slate. “Every day people communicate, socialize, get information, move money, and transact business over the Internet using these protocols without knowing how they work or who created them.”

In investigating the background of an inventor, we hope to learn something about innovation that can’t be gleaned from the thing itself. But to the bitcoin faithful the search for Nakamoto can add nothing of value. Bitcoin’s chief innovation is decentralization; its transactions are overseen by a distributed network of computers, which theoretically means that no central authority, such as banks or governments, can control it. The search for Nakamoto, the argument goes, undermines the anti-authoritarian premise of bitcoin. Andreas Antonopoulos, a well-known bitcoin entrepreneur, laid out this argument in a post on Reddit explaining why he declined an offer to meet Wright:
Identity and authority are distractions from a system of mathematical proof that does not require trust. This is not a telenovela. Bitcoin is a neutral framework of trust that can bring financial empowerment to billions of people. It works because it doesn't depend on any authority. Not even Satoshi's.
But the idea that Nakamoto’s identity is irrelevant is wishful thinking. Most obviously, Nakamoto’s identity matters because he is estimated to control four hundred and forty-eight million dollars' worth of bitcoin, which, if it were unloaded quickly, could seriously depress the value of the notoriously volatile currency.

The real Nakamoto could have a more fundamental impact as well: as _The _Economist pointed out, this latest saga unfolded during a heated “civil war” that has broken out among bitcoin developers over how to deal with an increase in transaction volume in the bitcoin network. The network processes transactions in batches known as “blocks.” As the number of blocks has increased, the network has become in danger of being overloaded. One side in the dispute wants to change the bitcoin code, increasing the block size to allow the system to process transactions more quickly. The other side sees this as a betrayal of the integrity of the original code, arguing that a change would lead to more centralization in the system (the greatest sin for a bitcoin believer) and consequent problems.


Wright told The Economist that he supports an increase in the block size. So do two bitcoin insiders—the former lead bitcoin developer Gavin Andresen and Jon Matonis, a former director of the Bitcoin Foundation—who publicly announced their support of Wright’s claim. In this context, the fight over Nakamoto looks more like the jostling of courtiers to install a sympathetic heir to the throne than an objective analysis of the cryptographic proof. Suggesting that it doesn’t matter who created bitcoin because no authority controls it obscures the political struggle that is already shaping the technology. If someone could prove that he or she was Nakamoto, that person could wield great influence in the controversies that surround the future of bitcoin.

There is a more abstract reason that one should care about the identity of Nakamoto. Unlike HTML or HTTP, bitcoin was an ideological project from the start. Bitcoin began in the imaginations of a group of geeks known as Cypherpunks. Beginning in the early nineteen-nineties, Cypherpunks promoted an extreme form of libertarianism, in which all forms of commerce—in anything imaginable—existed beyond state control. This would be enabled by advances in cryptographic software that could utterly obscure users’ identities, creating a state that Tim May, one of the founding Cypherpunks, called “crypto-anarchy.” Cypherpunks believed that a decentralized currency was needed to allow their crypto-anarchic utopia to exist, and bitcoin began as a technical implementation of this vision.

It is no surprise that bitcoin has found many backers in Silicon Valley; the founders of today’s billion-dollar tech companies often espouse a milder form of the Cypherpunks’ techno-libertarianism. It is most evident in the Silicon Valley fetish for “disruption,” the buzzword that celebrates technological innovation as an end in itself, with little regard for the costs to existing social relations. This ideology has motivated the development of amazing new technologies in the face of legal and economic hurdles, but it is also at the root of Silicon Valley’s widely criticized arrogance. It leads to missteps like Facebook’s ham-fisted, neocolonial “free basics” disaster, and the blinkered view that many tech elites have toward the lack of diversity in their field. Turning away from the question of Nakamoto’s identity is a way to deny the fact that bitcoin, like all technology, is ultimately, imperfectly, human. The world could use this reminder now more than ever.

[Aniik]

I think Satoshi is a one person not a group. If it is a group,it will not able to hide its identity. He hide his identity. Firstly, I'm not Satoshi.Probably, I think that he is not interested to publish his identity. I also think that he help the people who are interested to work in online sector.He increased it's length

[Faroxx]

I think Satoshi Nakamoto is one person and he did the right thing, that left no trail. If he had stayed, the government could pull it and use bitcoin for their own purposes.

[shiningstar]

I'm curious about that too! Like who the hell is he? At first when i know bitcoin, i heard that 'name' a lot. I think it's another coin like bitcoin, but nah, satoshi is a person.
I think he didn't want to be wellknown? I mean it'll be hard for you to be famous. Moreover for something like this. And also, who knows it may threat your life if someone know your identity? Satoshi may has his own reasons why. Let's just respect it and not trying to find out more.

[Babylon]

I'm curious about that too! Like who the hell is he? At first when i know bitcoin, i heard that 'name' a lot. I think it's another coin like bitcoin, but nah, satoshi is a person.
I think he didn't want to be wellknown? I mean it'll be hard for you to be famous. Moreover for something like this. And also, who knows it may threat your life if someone know your identity? Satoshi may has his own reasons why. Let's just respect it and not trying to find out more.

Or that name is just a pseudonym just to hide the real identity.  Jist like you said, he just do not want the attention and does not want to become famous although he is already.  Maybe it is just his nature not to be known.  Maybe programmers are like that.  Whatever his reason and whoever he is, thanks to him for his brilliant work.

[Mahanton]

I think Satoshi Nakamoto is one person and he did the right thing, that left no trail. If he had stayed, the government could pull it and use bitcoin for their own purposes.

This is why government is still seeking out of him until into these days but they do still end up on failing because satoshi do really knows how to hide himself without any trace just like on his creation which is bitcoin. If he decide to hide then lets respect on the actions have been made but im sure he was happy now seeing on his work that did succeed and now its being slowly accepted or adopted.

[maman09]

Why did Satoshi hide his identity? Has anyone seen Satoshi in real life?
Is Satoshi one person? Or is it a community?

bitcoin peak is this year.
we all know satoshi, like the ever-evolving rumor. whether or not there is a satosi. has become a legend of bitcoin creators.

[tiggytomb]

Why did Satoshi hide his identity? Has anyone seen Satoshi in real life?
Is Satoshi one person? Or is it a community?

I have often wondered if it was a group or a single individual, I would like to think it is just one person.

Hiding their identity I think is a really good move on their part as now a few years on from it's creation we can see how desruptive bitcoin is and how it is worrying governments and the banking cartel, could you imagine if they had a figurehead for bitcoin, his or her life would be extremely stressful.

[1NV3ST0NM3]

Why did Satoshi hide his identity? Has anyone seen Satoshi in real life?
Is Satoshi one person? Or is it a community?

Its a person whose real name is obviously something else. Very few people really know him admin theymos is one of those few. I think he hide his identity so he can be safe in this cruel world of hackers and live in peace.

[Raju Ahammed]

I think shatoshi hide his identity for his sefty.because he is the owner of this electric technology and I think he has lot of coins.

[Cindy1983]

Nobody know who is Satoshi a lot of people think he is just a guy but in my opinion I think Satoshi is a group with several members cause I think to create Bitcoin is not easy and nobody can do it alone. Beside why he has to hide his identity I think because it's really dangerous cause if anyone know who is Satoshi they will let everyone in the world know it and some crime will try to attack Satoshi to get every Bitcoin being held by this group.

[BitcoinMoses]

No body knows who is Satoshi Nakamoto is incorrect.

Satoshi Nakamoto is his Japanese pseudonym. I am Moses ! BitcoinMoses. Only I know the real Satoshi Nakamoto who is the inventor of the  bloody Bitcoin. He is not any one of the bloody Bitcoin community leaders. Many of the bloody Bitcoin community leaders know who is Satoshi Nakamoto but they won't tell you that because they are the MF555.

[SixOfFive]

Nobody knew the real person behing developing the blockchain and BTC. Some says Satoshi Nakamoto is a pseudo name used for the developer of BTC. Other says it is the team of developers who is called as satoshi nakamoto. Many people around the world claimed to be Satoshi Nakamoto at timesbut none of them is able to prove that he is the real one that invented BTC.
So it seems to the next BIG mystery of the globe.

[SkyscraperFarms]

I think shatoshi hide his identity for his sefty.because he is the owner of this electric technology and I think he has lot of coins.

Is this for real? Is it just me or are nearly all the responses here just shit posters on signature campaigns or profile padding?


He did not have any reason to fear for his safety. He left when bitcoin was 24 cents. A fast food hamburger cost 20-30 more than a Bitcoin when he went silent here.  Bitcoin only had value of any kind for 4 months prior to his departure.
Adam Back, Hal Finney, Wei Dai, and Nick Szabo were not pseudonyms. Did they fear for their safety? No.
Why would he hide his identity if it wasn't for his safety?  Because he was employed by a tech giant that would be able to make the project proprietary through intellectual property claims. 
This is also why you are wrong by claiming he is not the owner.  He has made it so nobody owns it. Not Google. Not Coinbase. Not Gavin. Not Greg Maxwell. And especially not Satoshi.

So what about Google? Do you think they would have kept the blockchain private or open sourced it?
https://opensource.google.com/docs/iarc/
I am fairly confident they would have kept this thing closed source and proprietary.
Which is why I believe Mike Hearn is the most likely candidate to be Satoshi Nakamoto.
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2146520.0

[Gleb Gamow]

I think shatoshi hide his identity for his sefty.because he is the owner of this electric technology and I think he has lot of coins.

Is this for real? Is it just me or are nearly all the responses here just shit posters on signature campaigns or profile padding?


He did not have any reason to fear for his safety. He left when bitcoin was 24 cents. A fast food hamburger cost 20-30 more than a Bitcoin when he went silent here.  Bitcoin only had value of any kind for 4 months prior to his departure.
Adam Back, Hal Finney, Wei Dai, and Nick Szabo were not pseudonyms. Did they fear for their safety? No.
Why would he hide his identity if it wasn't for his safety?  Because he was employed by a tech giant that would be able to make the project proprietary through intellectual property claims. 
This is also why you are wrong by claiming he is not the owner.  He has made it so nobody owns it. Not Google. Not Coinbase. Not Gavin. Not Greg Maxwell. And especially not Satoshi.

So what about Google? Do you think they would have kept the blockchain private or open sourced it?
https://opensource.google.com/docs/iarc/
I am fairly confident they would have kept this thing closed source and proprietary.
Which is why I believe Mike Hearn is the most likely candidate to be Satoshi Nakamoto.
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2146520.0

+1 excepting your last sentence. I lean heavily toward James Simons of Renaissance being behind SN.

https://math.berkeley.edu/~berlek/pubs/bloomberg.pdf

James could've easily put together an A-team of cypherpunks to create Bitcoin with perhaps Nick Szabo being the public-facing voice of SN.

[trplzr]

KK, funny imagine the day he appears, it will be a lot of movie scene  .