NYT revives Adam Back theory in latest bid to identify Bitcoin creator

The New York Times published an probe connected Wednesday arguing that Adam Back, the British cryptographer who invented Hashcash, is the astir apt idiosyncratic down the Satoshi Nakamoto pseudonym utilized by Bitcoin’s creator.

Back denied the claim, telling Cointelegraph helium was referring reporters to his post connected X aft antecedently rejecting akin attempts to place him arsenic Satoshi. Back reiterated successful the station that helium is not Satoshi, adding that helium “was aboriginal successful laser absorption connected the affirmative societal implications of cryptography, online privateness and physics cash, hence my ~1992 onwards progressive involvement successful applied probe connected ecash, privateness tech connected cypherpunks database which led to hashcash and different ideas.”

The probe was conducted by John Carreyrou, a French-American investigative writer champion known for exposing the Theranos fraud. In the report, helium claims that Back, who was cited successful Nakamoto’s Bitcoin achromatic paper, actively discussed physics currency for years, past vanished conscionable arsenic Bitcoin (BTC) emerged, lone to reappear aft Satoshi disappeared.

The communicative revives 1 of Bitcoin’s oldest mysteries by putting 1 of the protocol’s earliest and astir influential cryptographers astatine the halfway of a caller effort to place Satoshi, but the lawsuit remains circumstantial without cryptographic proof.

The probe besides leaned connected stylometric analysis, arguing that Back’s penning shared features with Satoshi’s, including formatting habits, hyphenation quirks and overlapping method language. The study did not contiguous that investigation arsenic conclusive proof.

Adam Back talking astir physics money. Source: NYT

Among the mailing-list participants, radical who posted messages connected the Cypherpunks, Cryptography and Hashcash mailing lists, lone Back hyphenated “proof-of-work” and referenced the obscure Russian currency WebMoney, some appearing successful Satoshi’s emails, the study claimed. Similarly, Back was 1 of conscionable 2 to constitute “partial pre-image,” mirroring Satoshi’s usage, and the lone 1 to sermon “burning the money” for integer coins.

Related: Bitcoin miner wallets awaken aft implicit 15 years — Is this Satoshi?

Adam Back’s vocation mirrors Satoshi’s path

Back’s nonrecreational vocation reinforces the suspicion that helium is the elusive Bitcoin creator, according to Carreyrou. He noted that Back avoided Bitcoin early, past successful 2013 rapidly engaged, co-founding Blockstream, poaching apical developers and raising implicit $1 billion.

“It each seemed accordant with what Satoshi mightiness bash if helium decided to reappear nether the screen of his existent sanction and instrumentality backmost the reins of his creation,” the study claimed.

Back has consistently and repeatedly denied that helium is Satoshi. “I’m not. But besides the documentary volition presumably beryllium wrong, arsenic nary 1 knows who Satoshi is,” helium wrote successful 2024 successful effect to an HBO documentary that identified Peter Todd arsenic Bitcoin’s pseudonymous creator. Todd besides denied the assertion astatine the time.

Source: Adam Back

Related: Disappearing Satoshi statue successful Lugano took 21 months to create, says artist

Crypto assemblage remains skeptical

The crypto assemblage has been skeptical astir the caller assertion by Carreyrou. Jameson Lopp, co-founder and main information serviceman astatine self-custody level steadfast Casa, said Nakamoto “can’t beryllium caught with stylometric analysis.”

Carreyrou besides acknowledged that the lawsuit does not magnitude to definitive proof, saying cryptographic grounds would beryllium the lone existent smoking gun, helium wrote connected X.

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