Who is Satoshi Nakamoto?

[marcus_of_augustus]

I actually still believe that Satoshi Nakamoto is his real name, that he is japanese but probably lives in US or UK.

Given his expert cryptography and programming knowledge, I find it hard to believe that he has not published a single academic paper, not even a master thesis, not made a single conference presentation, not posted on a single forum (except this one), and not been involved in any other open source coding projects.

Why would he use his real name just with Bitcoin and not other projects?

Perhaps he is a 15-year old self-taught genius, but the more plausible explanation is that he is a professional cryptographer who chose a pseudonym to protect himself against bullying.

Also, why would a 15-year old genius use LaTeX to publish the Bitcoin white paper? LaTeX is a specialised package used almost exclusively in academia.

His first paper got rejected and then after writing umpteen grant applications to lesser minds who didn't have a clue what he was talking about, he gave up on institutionalised scientific work and went his own path. From more than 10 years in the wilderness researching problems of his own choice and instincts, and living on miso soup, he had all the elements in his arsenal that were necessary for compiling bitcoin together.

Just a wild guess.

[BitcoinBonus]

Satoshi has a page on the Peer to Peer Foundation's NING site.  He even has two friends.  Perhaps they know whats up.

http://p2pfoundation.ning.com/profile/SatoshiNakamoto

Does anyone know where the CypherPunk Mailing Lists archives are ?  It would be nice to see his posts there.

[cypherdoc]

I actually think my previous analogy to Zorro is not as absurd as it might sound.

It is an individual who was chocked by the abuses of a power humgry governmental organisation.   As a result, he developped particular skills (programming for Satoshi, swordsmanship for zorro), and when he was ready, he used it to fight against the organisation anonymously.

The striking point imo is the developpement of the skills.  I'm convinced that Satoshi has worked very hard during a long time to come up with this code.  It was a lonely difficult work that probably looked like what did the fictional and yet very symbolic figure of Zorro when he started working on his mastering of the sword.

You can laugh if you want, but I'm more or less serious.



Zorro is a symbol of individual talent raising against collective force.  I think it pretty well describes Satoshi.


If you have any doubt, remember the string he used in order to make a timestamp in the Genesis block:

Code:

Chancellor of what nation do u think?
const char* pszTimestamp = "The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks";

[PHPAdam]

If Satoshi wants to remain anonymous that's fine by me, i bet the people or person behind the name still lurk. Register and post every now and then, or maybe theirs a regular user, adopting a new identity.

Is he a guy called Harry?
http://website.informer.com/ANONYMOUSSPEECH++ANONYMOUSSPEECH+Anonymousspeech+LLC.html

[epii]

I actually think my previous analogy to Zorro is not as absurd as it might sound.

It is an individual who was chocked by the abuses of a power humgry governmental organisation.   As a result, he developped particular skills (programming for Satoshi, swordsmanship for zorro), and when he was ready, he used it to fight against the organisation anonymously.

The striking point imo is the developpement of the skills.  I'm convinced that Satoshi has worked very hard during a long time to come up with this code.  It was a lonely difficult work that probably looked like what did the fictional and yet very symbolic figure of Zorro when he started working on his mastering of the sword.

You can laugh if you want, but I'm more or less serious.



Zorro is a symbol of individual talent raising against collective force.  I think it pretty well describes Satoshi.


If you have any doubt, remember the string he used in order to make a timestamp in the Genesis block:

Code:

Chancellor of what nation do u think?
const char* pszTimestamp = "The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks";

You need to pay to view the article, but: http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/public/sitesearch.do?querystring=Chancellor+on+brink+of+second+bailout+for+banks&p=tto&pf=all&bl=on

"Alistair Darling" apparently.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alistair_Darling
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chancellor_of_the_Exchequer

[Raoul Duke]

Is he a guy called Harry?
http://website.informer.com/ANONYMOUSSPEECH++ANONYMOUSSPEECH+Anonymousspeech+LLC.html

Man, i see people here are confused about one little detail.

Anonymousspeech LLC is a company that specializes in anonymization.

That's their business, register stuff on their name when the owners want to remain anonymous. Just that.

Probably not even them know who Satoshi Nakamoto is 

[ribuck]

You need to pay to view the article, but: http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/public/sitesearch.do?querystring=Chancellor+on+brink+of+second+bailout+for+banks&p=tto&pf=all&bl=on

You can read it here without paying:
http://www.news-review.co.uk/cgi-bin/gen5?runprog=wcpr&access=30865892900099&type=story&id=883|1001

[grondilu]

You need to pay to view the article, but: http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/public/sitesearch.do?querystring=Chancellor+on+brink+of+second+bailout+for+banks&p=tto&pf=all&bl=on

You can read it here without paying:
http://www.news-review.co.uk/cgi-bin/gen5?runprog=wcpr&access=30865892900099&type=story&id=883|1001

Thanks for that.

I think it worths transcripting it here, as this has historical value for the bitcoin community:

The Times
Saturday 03 Jan 2009
Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks
Alistair Darling is considering a second major bailout for UK banks, as last year's £37bn part-nationalisation has clearly failed to keep credit flowing. The Treasury is likely to consider such options as cash injections, cheaper state guarantees for private fund-raising and buying up `toxic' assets. The moves follow the BoE's disclosure on Friday that banks continued to curb lending in the final quarter of 2008, in spite of intense pressure by the government to increase the supply of credit. The MPC is also expected this week to cut the base rate to below 2%.

The final Woolworths stores are set to close on Tuesday - a day later than planned - and will add to the surge in unemployment as companies in all sectors come under pressure. More retail chains are also expected to collapse in the next few weeks as even the late surge in demand over the holidays failed to compensate for overall weakness in the High Street. Meanwhile, JD Wetherspoon is to cut the prices of some beers to 99p a pint or bottle in a move likely to trigger a price war among pub chains.

Anne Ashworth reveals that homeowners are turning to `warm-coloured soft furnishings' in response to the downturn, rather than the neutral decor favoured during the boom years.

Editorial: The Times says the banks must start lending again and give up the `reckless caution' that is slowing the system down.

[marcus_of_augustus]

You need to pay to view the article, but: http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/public/sitesearch.do?querystring=Chancellor+on+brink+of+second+bailout+for+banks&p=tto&pf=all&bl=on

You can read it here without paying:
http://www.news-review.co.uk/cgi-bin/gen5?runprog=wcpr&access=30865892900099&type=story&id=883|1001

Thanks for that.

I think it worths transcripting it here, as this has historical value for the bitcoin community:

The Times
Saturday 03 Jan 2009
Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks
Alistair Darling is considering a second major bailout for UK banks, as last year's £37bn part-nationalisation has clearly failed to keep credit flowing. The Treasury is likely to consider such options as cash injections, cheaper state guarantees for private fund-raising and buying up `toxic' assets. The moves follow the BoE's disclosure on Friday that banks continued to curb lending in the final quarter of 2008, in spite of intense pressure by the government to increase the supply of credit. The MPC is also expected this week to cut the base rate to below 2%.

The final Woolworths stores are set to close on Tuesday - a day later than planned - and will add to the surge in unemployment as companies in all sectors come under pressure. More retail chains are also expected to collapse in the next few weeks as even the late surge in demand over the holidays failed to compensate for overall weakness in the High Street. Meanwhile, JD Wetherspoon is to cut the prices of some beers to 99p a pint or bottle in a move likely to trigger a price war among pub chains.

Anne Ashworth reveals that homeowners are turning to `warm-coloured soft furnishings' in response to the downturn, rather than the neutral decor favoured during the boom years.

Editorial: The Times says the banks must start lending again and give up the `reckless caution' that is slowing the system down.

And if you knew the cypher, the exact, original text of this article contains a coded message from Satoshi himself revealing his true identity and a few more secrets of the Bitcoin protocol? lol.

[tashlan]

http://www.pbfcomics.com/?cid=PBF045-Wise_Shitashi.jpg

[em3rgentOrdr]

http://www.pbfcomics.com/?cid=PBF045-Wise_Shitashi.jpg

That's pretty funny!!!  And relevant to this thread.  Here's that cartoon embedded so other forum readers can see it:

[abstraction]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8h_v_our_Q
Who is John Galt? Why?

[em3rgentOrdr]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8h_v_our_Q
Who is John Galt? Why?

Oh, thank god that was not one of those damn annoying "who is john galt" videos...

[abstraction]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8h_v_our_Q
Who is John Galt? Why?

Oh, thank god that was not one of those damn annoying "who is john galt" videos...

Haha, hopefully the point got through, even though it's something totally unrelated superficially.

[BitcoinBonus]

I just friended someone on Facebook by the name of Satoshi Nakomoto, but I'm doubtful that it is actually him.  But who knows!

[wobber]

What if it's Grigori Perelman? Cryptography and programming wouldn't be hard to learn and he also fits the behavioral profile.

[chickenado]

Satoshi is everywhere and nowhere.
Satoshi could be all of us, or none of us.
Satoshi came from nowhere and dissappeared to nowhere, but his coins are everywhere.
Satoshi has no past, no future, and no present, but his creation is immortal.
Satoshi is an idea.  Satoshi has inspired all of us.  Satoshi is a legend.

Who is Satoshi? Why is Satoshi? When is Satoshi?
Will the real Satoshi please stand up?
Satoshi isn't a person, it's a whole way of life.
There is a little bit of Satoshi in all of us.
Live Satoshi, breathe Satoshi.

Satoshi is now.

 

[Alex Beckenham]

I'm Sa-Toshi, yes I'm the real Toshi
All you other Sa-Toshis are just a bad copy
So won't the real Sa-Toshi please stand up,
please stand up, please stand up?

[marcus_of_augustus]

I heard a rumour that the Satoshi was a dance ... here's the pseudo-code:

The instruction set goes as follows:

    * You put your left leg in
    * Your left leg out
    * In, out, in, out,
    * you shake it all about.
    * You do the Sa-Toshi and you turn around
    * That's what it's all about...

On 'you do the Sa-Toshi' each participant joins his/her hands at the fingertips to make a chevron and rocks them from side to side.

Each instruction set would be followed by a chorus, which is entirely different from other parts of the world:

    * Whoa, the Sa-Toshi!,
    * Whoa, the Sa-Toshi!,
    * Whoa, the Sa-Toshi!,
    * Knees bent, arms stretched, rah! rah! rah!

For this chorus all participants are stood in a circle and hold hands, on each "whoa" they all raise their joined hands in the air and run in toward the centre of the circle and on "the Sa-Toshi" they all run backwards out again. On the last line they bend knees then stretch arms, as indicated, and for "rah rah rah!" they either clap in time or raise arms above their heads and push upwards in time. Sometimes each subsequent verse and chorus is a little faster and louder, with the ultimate aim of making people chaotically run into each other in gleeful abandon. Invariably, somebody ends up on the floor.[citation needed]

[em3rgentOrdr]

I heard a rumour that the Satoshi was a dance

...

Sometimes each subsequent verse and chorus is a little faster and louder, with the ultimate aim of making people chaotically run into each other in gleeful abandon. Invariably, somebody ends up on the floor.[citation needed]

Oh dear.  Let's all *NOT* do the Satoshi...