What is this fascination with claiming to be Satoshi Nakamoto?

[0t3p0t]

Craig Wright is the only claimant I know to this day the rest on the list, I never heard of em. I don't think the real legend Satoshi Nakamoto was literally not on the list of people who claim themselves as the one. Satoshi even abandoned his Bitcointalk account and was inactive since then so why would he himself proclaim to be the founder of Bitcoin? Is it because he is tired of the fake ones? Satoshi himself is anonymous so why bother disclosing his real identity? Satoshi himself knew how risky it is to proclaim himself as the founder of Bitcoin. If only if Satoshi will make an activity on his wallet we will possibly believe he is alive and just hiding.

[Forever101]

As others have said that the self acclaimed Satoshi need attention, that's true , I will also say some may use that as means to exploit others, others may also have the agenda to gain public awareness in other to secure public office.

The true identity of Satoshi can not be known by anyone, since there are lots of useless claim even if the  real Satoshi comes out no one will believe him, we will all see him as another class of attention seeker.

As you have said @op if satoahi is actually known, there will be a lot of questions he will need to answer which will put his life at risk.

[retreat]

There are two ways for people to become famous, namely by their achievements or by their sensationalism. Maybe these faketoshi want to become famous in a sensational way which can increase the exposure of their name. Even though this method is not very good, there are still many people who want to become famous in a sensational way even if they become the laughing stock of people, and these Faketoshi are not ashamed of this.

[Blitzboy]

Putting on such mysterious shoes must be alluring to these "faketoshis," as they're called. They keep appearing, presenting no proof, but claiming Bitcoin's origin narrative.

You ask why. It may not be about controlling the Bitcoin network, but about gaining acknowledgment, approval, or even a strange type of respect in this tight-knit crypto community and beyond. Ironically, our ravenous want for recognition can often trump reason and logic.

Given Bitcoin's decentralised nature, can claiming to be Satoshi gain them influence or respect? As you noted, they'd face several risks?

[fuguebtc]

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;

The ultimate goal of people who always call themselves Satoshi is that they want to become famous, and when famous, there will be many ways to make money. I think money is still what those fakers are after. Although there are many opinions that if Satoshi appears, he will be investigated and imprisoned... but up to now it is all just speculation, there is no guarantee that will happen. So the fake Satoshis out there won't be afraid of that.

It's tiring just because a fake Satoshi twitter account has made the whole bitcoin community stir.

[Z-tight]

You ask why. It may not be about controlling the Bitcoin network

Yeah it definitely isn't about controlling the BTC network, Faketoshi's are all dumasses, but they know that nobody can control the BTC network, not even its real creator Satoshi, they only do this because they want to get fame for themselves and maybe money too.

Given Bitcoin's decentralised nature, can claiming to be Satoshi gain them influence or respect? As you noted, they'd face several risks?

It does not give them any respect because everyone who understands how BTC works know that they are lying, so instead of their claims giving them respect or influence, it makes people lose trust in their personality and they are called fraud and liars, they also don't face any risk because i don't think anyone would go after impostors like them.

[dothebeats]

Honestly, I have no idea what they were thinking when they claimed to be Satoshi Nakamoto but I'm sure their goal was to either get famous/get popularity for something, and of course the most obvious answer: to scam. It's honestly not new for some individuals to claim they are someone they are obviously not, some even chooses to do that for their own sick entertainment.

[Silberman]

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?

It is very simple, they want the credit regardless of any consequences they may suffer from it, now I know this does not make sense for people that are rational, however that is just the way it is, when high profile crimes happen the police gets a bunch of people that claim they have the evidence to solve the crime and it is a lie, and what is even worse, they get a lot of people providing false confessions about crimes they did not commit, and once you understand such a thing people claiming to be Satoshi is not surprising anymore.

[Abiky]

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?

Why? Because these people are looking to gain all of the attention from the public. After all, Bitcoin is an extremely-popular cryptocurrency worldwide. Imagine all of the fame and fortune a guy (or gal) like Satoshi will have if he/she reveals him/herself to the public. It's this reason why we see so many "Satoshi wannabes" who want to get a "piece of the pie". Particularly, Craig Wright which is named by many as "Faketoshi". This guy even wenT as far as forging cryptographic keys to fool a BTC developer (Gavin Andressen). And let me tell you, this developer really fell for it.

The community, however, will not be fooled. Smart people will ask for proof to determine whenever a person is the real Satoshi or a conman. If he/she is able to sign the keys belonging to the real Satoshi, then the community will be "sold". Why would it matter, anyways? Bitcoin has been doing fine without Satoshi. As long as it works as intended, there should be nothing to worry about.

[DeathAngel]

Grifters, scammers, fantasists, narcissists & a mixture of all of that I suppose. Bitcoin is perhaps the greatest innovation of the last 100 years. To be able to say you are Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of such a phenomenon is kind of a big deal. All of these people who want what comes with that, want what it would bring to be the great Satoshi. Ignore all the noise though, I don’t believe Satoshi will ever come out of hiding, it goes against everything that he is/was. Certainly none of the scammers who have claimed to be Satoshi so far are the great man.

[icalical]

Claiming to be Satoshi Nakamoto guarantees attention, even if debunked.

Yeah, I think that's the main purpose, they just seeking for attention. By doing that, people who doesn't even heard of their name now know them. Bad publicity is still publicity, and all publicity is good publicity. Tho, I believe that most people won't believe them, especially members of this forum, no one will believe them. But their follower who already 'pledge their loyalty' will still believe any lies they say.

[OgNasty]

To be fair we are all satoshi. More seriously, I’m sure everyone on that list probably had some financial reason to claim to be satoshi. I don’t think anyone would shame themselves with public lies otherwise. We’re seeing the final result of this claim now with the lawsuits surrounding Craig Wright and it isn’t pretty.

[ChiBitCTy]

There is a simple answer to this.  Take the extinguished "Dr" Craig Wright. The man is first of all a pathological liar.  He has his own shitcoin (BSV) and is going to continue to keep his lie up because this means more money for him.  He tricks people in to believing that he's Satoshi, then they are more willing to buy his products, donate money to his "foundation" etc. 

Simple as that for this fraudster.

[BITCOIN4X]

To be fair we are all satoshi. More seriously, I’m sure everyone on that list probably had some financial reason to claim to be satoshi. I don’t think anyone would shame themselves with public lies otherwise. We’re seeing the final result of this claim now with the lawsuits surrounding Craig Wright and it isn’t pretty.

I agree, it is clearly motivated by financial factors. I don't find a good reason why they dare to embarrass themselves in public without a clear motive, it doesn't make sense other than they need money. They may gain someone's traction and trust, but the bitcoin community can't seem to be fooled by such nonsense anymore. The main motive is money and making money, but of course there are other motives they have in mind.

[bocyaj]

If you get the chance of saying the US president in the social media,did you do or skip the opportunity.By saying you don’t get any financial benefit,you will become the public figure and more famous in the social media.If you try to scam the people using the famous and make money means,this will help you in very manner.The real Sathoshi never share his identity in the public,because the next hour he get kidnapped by the topper kidnapping team in this world.Because the real Satoshi will have real bitcoin in their wallet.

[The Cryptovator]

No, I haven't taken anyone seriously who claimed to be Satoshi Nakamoto. The fact is, everyone who claims to be Satoshi Nakamoto just wants to be popular. Because they know it very well, they can't provide valid evidence to prove themselves. Also, they are aware of the risk associated with being a real Satoshi Nakamoto. So they falsely claim to be the creators of Bitcoin and become public figures. Till now, whoever claimed to be Satoshi Nakamoto went wrong. They failed to provide the necessary documentation. I will say just ignore any claim to be a Bitcoin cretaor. We really don't need to discover Satoshi Nakamoto. It would have a negative impact on the crypto industry, and most probably that's the reason why Satoshi Nakamoto hid himself forever.

[BitDane]

I believe it is more on popularity.  If they are verified to be Satoshi Nakamoto, their name will be embedded in the annals of history and may receive lots of recognition.  By getting the acknowledgement of people, their legacy will be imprinted in the history.

Which other faketoshis do you know?

The earlier replies already given their name.

And have you ever taken any of them seriously?

No, as long as they can't sign the known address of Satoshi, they should be ignored.

[Rruchi man]

There are more who have claimed to be Satoshi but why?

For clout, for the attention and popularity that it can bring.

Many people are looking for ways to be popular and they know that since the identity of Satoshi is unknown, claiming to be him/her will attract a lot of interest from people who know the name Satoshi Nakamoto and are interested in knowing the face behind the identity.

We cannot take people who are claiming to be Satoshi serious because the real deal will know exactly how to make everybody believe, they will not need to make empty claims.

[Rengga Jati]

That is one of human nature, when something is extraordinary successful, then as much as possible he will be known as the one who made it/raised it, and is associated with it. Likewise with Bitcoin. We know very well that Bitcoin's journey is not easy, it even had to go through several painful years to be known by many people globally like it is today. However, when Bitcoin was still in its infancy and not as big as it is now, were there people who actually constantly claiming that he is Satoshi? No. Meanwhile, as time goes on, Bitcoin becomes more and more known throughout the world and has a fantastic price and is very hyped, several people who don't know themselves appear, claiming to be Satoshi, without any strong and acceptable evidence. And maybe this will happen again.

[Raflesia]

We as ordinary people will not know what benefits can be gained from such recognition but for those who are already seen and have authority then the addition of the nickname "Satoshi Nakamoto" to them clearly adds to their attractiveness and influence will be even more pronounced.
In the end, such personal benefits can be used because when someone is regarded as Satoshi Nakamoto then indirectly media traffic will go up for them and that is a good advantage for businessmen.
We know that people who claim to be Satoshi are mostly entrepreneurs so when there are people who believe and assume they are the real Satoshi then the income for them in terms of business will of course be greater.