The Enigmatic Figure of Satoshi Nakamoto: A Decade-Long Quest for Identity
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The quest to meet Satoshi Nakamoto, the elusive creator of Bitcoin, weighed heavily on me; the journey would require long flights and tense drives. If the person I suspected he was, he would likely evade acknowledgment and possibly refuse to communicate with me. Still, a personal meeting was necessary.
Nakamoto’s mysterious disappearance in early 2011 haunted Bitcoin enthusiasts. My first exposure to Nakamoto was during the summer of that same year while I was writing one of the earliest feature articles about Bitcoin—a new currency operating independently of banks. Twelve years later, Nakamoto remained anonymous and had not touched the multibillion-dollar fortune he had amassed. His absence was unprecedented in the history of innovation.
The mystery surrounding Nakamoto resulted in a cult-like reverence from Bitcoin supporters. This fascination led to various public displays, such as Kanye West donning a Satoshi Nakamoto baseball cap and a statue being unveiled in Budapest. Moreover, some libertarians even attempted to establish a Bitcoin society aboard a retired cruise ship named MS Satoshi. Proposals for Nakamoto to receive a Nobel Prize circulated within tech circles.
In 2011, I could not have predicted that more than a decade later, Nakamoto’s true identity would still be a topic of intense speculation. Numerous attempts to unveil him had ended in failure, notably when Newsweek mistakenly identified a California engineer. Even high-profile investigative programs found themselves unsuccessful. Yet, as luck would have it, I believed I had finally unraveled the riddle.
My investigation stemmed from an unexpected email received on New Year’s Eve 2021, hinting at new information regarding Satoshi. Although I typically dismissed such claims, this particular message contained a blog post suggesting that Elon Musk might be Nakamoto. The author’s conviction in his theory brought me to reconsider the credibility of the argument—and ultimately, I decided to delve deeper into the identities of those linked to Nakamoto.
