What is this fascination with claiming to be Satoshi Nakamoto?

[Ale88]

Why are these people obsessed with being identified as Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of Bitcoin? In 2019 this website reported a list of self-proclaimed bitcoin founder;

• Ronald Keala Kua Maria
• Pakastani Bilal Khalid and his PR firm Ivy McLemore  
• Debo Jurgen Etienne Guido
• Jörg Molt
• Craig Wright
• Paul Calder Le Roux

There are more who have claimed to be Satoshi but why? Why do they want to be Satoshi so bad they look stupid to the public with all their self proclamation. In fact there are so many dangers in being Satoshi because he would be the center of every backlash, investigations, arrest warrants, and what have you. And besides, it would make no difference because he, Satoshi technically would have no say on how the bitcoin network should or should not run based on the consensus. Which other faketoshis do you know? And have you ever taken any of them seriously?

Some people are just attention seekers, it's stronger than them, they just want people to talk about them, they want to see their faces all around internet and television, no matter how much or how long they need to lie. Claiming to be Satoshi Nakamoto is pretty stupid because the only way to actually prove it would be moving the first bitcoins, and nobody has been able to do that but these people just don't care and they keep pretending anyway.

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[qwertyup23]

You might not remember how years ago everybody googled Dorian Nakamoto, but one of the reasons for every scammer claiming to be Satoshi is exactly that - popularity.
Dorian wasn't a scammer, but his case showed these people how you can use people's curiosity. After all, we'd all want to know who Satoshi was.

Have you noticed that whenever someone claims to be Satoshi, the press writes about it? You can be John Doe from Farmerville claiming to be the founder of Bitcoin and suddenly you're on Coindesk, CNBC, and so on... If you're notorious like Craig, you're going to be on Forbes, Wall Street Journal and invited to TV interviews.
It allows these people to make money because their social media get hits, projects that list them as founders or advisors amass more followers, they can promote all the scams they want because they have a popular name that comes up when you perform google searches.

So basically, the people who claim to be Satoshi are nothing but narcissists? That is what I am getting whenever I see someone claiming to be such- I mean, who would want to have that kind of popularity?

In all honesty, claiming to be Satoshi Nakamoto is just nothing but dangerous. The guy has thousands of BTC which are not yet transferred from his wallet. Such person would just compromise their own safety and security for a short-timed fame which basically does nothing if they cannot prove their identity and association.

[Text]

Maybe they have their own reasons for pretending or claiming to be Satoshi, whatever those reasons may be, we don't know. Perhaps they just want attention. It seems like they want credibility in the crypto space to attract investors and followers. Some of them seem to enjoy pranks and trolling in the community.

The most famous among them is Craig Wright, but his claim has been debunked, and he has faced legal challenges for his impersonation. I don't know why some people take this seriously, as no one has been able to provide concrete cryptographic proof of their identity as Satoshi Nakamoto.

The true creator of Bitcoin remains anonymous, and his real identity has not been proven. Perhaps this mystery will remain unsolved.

[Ruttoshi]

So many things are involved but money is the first followed by firm and respect. Eveyone one knows what Satoshi has done and that is why some persons are claiming to be him, so that they use that medium to extort people through fake identity.

I will say that those persons that are claiming to be Satoshi are scammers, and every scammer can do anything to get whatever that they want. They might even go to the extent of opening a university and claiming that they are teaching people about bitcoin technology to deceive and extort money from people.

[LogitechMouse]

Money? Popularity? Attention? I guess.

I mean with our current era right now where they will do everything for the sake of fame, I'm not surprised that there are still people who are claiming to be Satoshi, and yet they can't do the one thing people wanted them to do if they really is Satoshi.

I guess we who knows the truth will just ignore these stupid sh*ts who are claiming that they're Satoshi right? I don't know their true intention as to why they need to spend their time, and money just to claim it.

[panganib999]

They do this not only to become famous but mainly to have better chances to scam other people. By making noise and get attention of many people, they can become influencers, try to cooperate with scam projects and run scam fund raising, steal money from many victims.

Being famous by claiming as Satoshi Nakamoto is only a very small part and small reason why they want to take spotlight. They are financial incentivized to do those invalid claiming even they know they will fail. But by making noise, it's already enough for them because they think with noise, they will open some new gates for their career in blockchain community.

I say that those who use the Satoshi Nakamoto moniker to scam people are more often the ones who don't get people behind their backs. You're underestimating the amount of things that people will be more than willing to do for fame and notice, and that's more often the clear-cut reason why people want to be Satoshi Nakamoto lol. There's little money to be made from claiming you are Satoshi Nakamoto. The only one who holds the billion dollars' worth of bitcoin he has is no one but himself after all. There's no reason for these wanna-be Nakamotos to also scam people, cause they'd be found out from the get-go from the sheer amount of press that they'll be getting.

What's funny to me is that the very person we're using as a placeholder figure for Satoshi Nakamoto hates being called that too lol. That's a better discussion in my opinion. "Why this guy became Satoshi Nakamoto" or something along those lines.

[oktana]

So many people have claimed to be the real Satoshi, and it’s not going to stop but trust me, when the real Satoshi Nakamoto comes, we will all know cause he wouldn’t even need to do a lot of talking. There’ll be a lot of evidence from about the time he created bitcoin. All these claims want attention which will eventually turn into wealth, I guess. Forget these claims anyway… let’s talk of Bitcoin itself. That’s all that matters right now.

[Woodie]

Besides the fame that comes with being identified as the real Satoshi...I think these guys are obsessed of claiming this identity because of greed of which they can easily monetize this fame and it all starts with selling the world a fake identity !! It might not seem obvious but several news outlets , brands , technology companies would want to be associated with such a name especially that Bitcoin has become a household name so these guys want to make an easy score.

[JunaidAzizi]

Why are these people obsessed with being identified as Satoshi Nakamoto......

As far as I go I think that these people just simply want to be famous and for that, they simply try to be Satoshi Nakamoto because they know he is the most knowledgeable person as he developed the blockchain and bitcoin system and gave them to the world. But these person does not how risky all this and as we all know satoshi is anonymous after some time of Bitcoin inceptions and maybe he did it just for the purpose of saving if he is knowable then he will face a lot of cases the banks, from the financial companies, from the individuals who lose their money in bitcoin, from the government to funding or use of bitcoin in illegal activities or maybe some persons target him just to steal his bitcoins. So in the possibilities of all this be he wants to stay hide and if some person wants to be stasohi and his claim is right then I think he will go all these throughs. These are just a few there are also many other cases through which he will go if he is knowledgeable.

[hd49728]

As far as I go I think that these people just simply want to be famous and for that, they simply try to be Satoshi Nakamoto because they know he is the most knowledgeable person as he developed the blockchain and bitcoin system and gave them to the world.

Satoshi Nakamoto invented Bitcoin and brought the blockchain technology to life with a first successful cryptocurrency but he is not a most knowledgeable person on this planet. Maybe he was in 2008, 2009 but years later, I believe more people can do better developments in blockchain for Bitcoin blockchain than Satoshi Nakamoto.

But these person does not how risky all this and as we all know satoshi is anonymous after some time of Bitcoin inceptions and maybe he did it just for the purpose of saving if he is knowable then he will face a lot of cases the banks, from the financial companies, from the individuals who lose their money in bitcoin, from the government to funding or use of bitcoin in illegal activities or maybe some persons target him just to steal his bitcoins.

Bitcoin is Bitcoin. 1 bitcoin is 1 bitcoin, forever. People lose money because they lost their cash, bitcoins to scammers in peer to peer traders, phishing sites. They lost it because they did not hold their bitcoin but use it to trade or worse use leverages and futures with trading. It's not responsibility of Satoshi Nakamoto or Bitcoin.

Bitcoin is not a scam coin. Satoshi Nakamoto is not a scam developer. They can not blame their losses on Satoshi Nakamoto or Bitcoin.

If they want to hunt someone, it should be exchanges that liquidated their positions in either Leverage or Futures trading or scammers who stole their bitcoin through scam trades or phishing links.

[Iroh]

There are various reasons but a common reason on why someone would claim to be someone he’s not. Selfishness. As the founder of bitcoin, he has influenced people with his work and unwittingly drawn to himself an enormous number of people who loves, supports and appreciates bitcoin.
There are people who has recognized the influence and respect Satoshi wields and wouldn’t hesitate to abuse and manipulate for their own personal gains which would definitely includes but not limited to money.

[Darker45]

Well, first, I guess they're all crazy. You wouldn't claim to be somebody else if you are completely sane. That's something that's unreasonable.

Second, I can compare them with those who claim to be Jesus or some deity. A crazy person won't just claim to be his/her unknown neighbor. He/she will certainly claim to be somebody who is great and respected. In the case of CSW and this group, they're somehow exposed to the idea of Bitcoin and they're completely fascinated. It's not a wonder, therefore, when of all people they chose to be Satoshi Nakamoto.

Third, it also helps, of course, that Satoshi Nakamoto is anonymous. The real identity/identities behind the name is still unknown until now. In other words, it's available. Hence, their claim. They can't claim to be Hal or Nick or Wei Dei.

[GreatArkansas]

Well, first, I guess they're all crazy. You wouldn't claim to be somebody else if you are completely sane. That's something that's unreasonable.

Second, I can compare them with those who claim to be Jesus or some deity. A crazy person won't just claim to be his/her unknown neighbor. He/she will certainly claim to be somebody who is great and respected. In the case of CSW and this group, they're somehow exposed to the idea of Bitcoin and they're completely fascinated. It's not a wonder, therefore, when of all people they chose to be Satoshi Nakamoto.

Third, it also helps, of course, that Satoshi Nakamoto is anonymous. The real identity/identities behind the name is still unknown until now. In other words, it's available. Hence, their claim. They can't claim to be Hal or Nick or Wei Dei.

This is also what I am thinking, everyone is becoming crazy about the true Satoshi Nakamoto, it's becoming like Jesus Christ where most are mysteries, some are still thinking it's still a matter of knowing who is real Satoshi Nakamoto while some don't care anymore.
I'm the latter, because for me right now, I'm already happy on what Satoshi Nakamoto left us.

[SquirrelJulietGarden]

This is also what I am thinking, everyone is becoming crazy about the true Satoshi Nakamoto, it's becoming like Jesus Christ where most are mysteries, some are still thinking it's still a matter of knowing who is real Satoshi Nakamoto while some don't care anymore.

It is common interest and curiosity of everyone who join Bitcoin community recently. It's solid curiosity for all newbies and I used to be like this. It is a part of newbie due diligent research before spending money to buy bitcoin. If they don't do it, don't have that basic curiosity, they blindly spend money to invest in bitcoin that is not good at all.

I'm the latter, because for me right now, I'm already happy on what Satoshi Nakamoto left us.

I am with you too. I was curious who is/ are Satoshi Nakamoto but after many years here, certainly less than you, I no longer care who is/ are Satoshi Nakamoto.

Satoshi Nakamoto left the Bitcointalk, Bitcoin community as a donation for everyone like he said "Lost bitcoin is donation to everyone". Without Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoin actually becomes a more decentralized project. No longer has a founder, the community including developers no longer have to look at, rely on Satoshi Nakamoto for future developments of Bitcoin protocol.

[bluebit25]

Because this is a story that has been established before when people always want to take advantage of fame to gain attraction, those who try to claim to be Satoshi I know are all just lies. And after coming into contact with this market, I realized that Satoshi wanted to send a message ''dont to care too much about who I am? ''And seeing what we bring to people, the demand and response makes this space bigger and more people want to get involved in it.

[Sarah Azhari]

Why are these people obsessed with being identified as Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of Bitcoin?

Maybe because the media are curious and want to know the amount of bitcoin Satoshi has, not because curious about his ideas and thoughts. The media always looking for bad news to get lots of clicks, therefore they write about fake satoshi to lure people to the article. I was not surprised to read this because the fact is not in accordance with the real even if it looks like the truth. Now, because the media is curious, many people want to be popular and claim to be satoshi. The people like this want to be famous for selling their products, not showing the advantages of Bitcoin. So, people like Craig are not good for the Bitcoin ecosystem, he even destroyed itself, and making things worse after claiming his coin (bsv) better than bitcoin.

[adaseb]

They do it most likely to be famous, not necessarily for Monitary gains. Since satoshi is anonymous you cannot prove you are not satoshi. Hence many people claim to be him.

Look how much fame CSW has gotten throughout the years, he was in so many magainzes and interviews because people believed he was satoshi. It’s this attention he was craving.

[peter0425]

Why are these people obsessed with being identified as Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of Bitcoin? In 2019 this website reported a list of self-proclaimed bitcoin founder;

• Ronald Keala Kua Maria
• Pakastani Bilal Khalid and his PR firm Ivy McLemore  
• Debo Jurgen Etienne Guido
• Jörg Molt
• Craig Wright
• Paul Calder Le Roux

There are more who have claimed to be Satoshi but why? Why do they want to be Satoshi so bad they look stupid to the public with all their self proclamation. In fact there are so many dangers in being Satoshi because he would be the center of every backlash, investigations, arrest warrants, and what have you. And besides, it would make no difference because he, Satoshi technically would have no say on how the bitcoin network should or should not run based on the consensus. Which other faketoshis do you know? And have you ever taken any of them seriously?

do we really need to  answer this? of course because now that bitcoin evolved from cocoon , pricing from almost nothing and now going to Hundred of thousands, how do they really deny the fact of claiming to be the creator/founder of this great technology?
and besides there are so many that is not listed in your OP that claims to be Satoshi that turns to be faketoshi.

[DapanasFruit]

Well, one thing for sure: nothing can attract attention more then success! And with the fact that the guy named Satoshi Nakamoto has hidden his presence and identity so well, this all have become a big invitation for some people to claim they are the real deal. Unfortunately, all of them could not prove their claims. Craig Wright continues to be on the news with his shenanigans but we know that the cryptocurrency industry don't have a love affair with him.

[Kakmakr]

"Money and Power ..... that is the two reasons why these people are doing this.

If you can prove that you are the real Satoshi Nakamoto, you can basically have the world media at your feet. You will be bombarded with requests to be interviewed and you will also receive large payments for that. (Not that you need money, because you have millions of coins to sell)

You will also step back into the Lead maintainer role for Bitcoin development, so that comes with power and money too... but it will all come at a cost. A lot of Bitcoin enemies will target the centralized figure head at the top of the Bitcoin ladder.... and that is why the real identity of Satoshi Nakamoto are unknown.