Revealing Satoshi - Part II : Remasking Satoshi Nakamoto
In the previous part (Revealing Satoshi - Part I: The Many Faces Of Satoshi Nakamoto), we examined a video by Barely Sociable presenting a convincing case on the identity behind Satoshi Nakamoto.
Barely's story from 2020 was a perfect production, although it expanded in unnecessary details and required a leap of faith to accept all the evidence displayed as solid. Barely definitely deserves praise for an incredible documentary the internet was missing.
Until recently, I supported the Nick Szabo case as the person behind Satoshi, however, as someone that only entered crypto in 2017, I haven't lived parts of the Bitcoin history to perfectly understand it.
I have already expressed reservations about Adam Back being the main candidate in another article (The Futile Search For Satoshi) (and the previous part of this series).
With this part, we expand into some of the elements researchers discovered connecting Nick Szabo with Satoshi Nakamoto and a few more details concerning Barely Sociable's documentary.
"Back" to Barely Sociable
(source)
There is so much noise, accusations, and denial at this point that takes an eternity to read all the details and reports produced on Satoshi's identity.
Probably this was the intention of the Bitcoin cult, and indeed some worked towards adding to this confusion.
I have excluded information that at some point may become critical, however, this story progresses towards a certain outcome. I have already considered most of the clues, and the vast confusion generated concerning Satoshi's identity.
Coincidental evidence suggests Adam Back could be a primary target, however, there is a lot more to uncover, and we shouldn't forget there are more convincing cases as well.
For example, naming hashcash as evidence makes too little sense. It was Adam Back, once again, that mentioned the use of hashcash in Wei Dai's b-money just as he did with Bitcoin upon his arrival at bitcointalk.
There are plenty of discrepancies in many of the evidence, and we have to add that Adam Back categorically denies being Satoshi. Indeed too many facts relate Satoshi to Adam Back, but even Barely Sociable in public conversations has expressed doubts:
Some of the same facts expressed in Barely's video, though, also point to Szabo, and even Craig Wright still manages to convince individuals. A case we will also examine in this chapter.
A hypothetical non-disclosure agreement
There was one part in Barely's video that makes sense, this is the "hypothetical" NDA (non-disclosure agreement).
A non-disclosure agreement is probable. Although, as the nature of a non-disclosure agreement suggests, we will probably never learn if it exists or not.
Moreover, multiple attempts to obfuscate the identity of Satoshi throughout the years are evident, and leaking false data to reporters creates confusion.
It can't be Satoshi alone that creates this confusion aiming to increase the fog around what happened. The non-disclosure agreement mentioned by Barely Sociable is hypothetical, and (to my understanding) was first mentioned by Craig Wright, in 2016.
If a non-disclosure agreement exists, though, could it also involve Craig Wright (and a few more) from the current BSV side or some of the Blockstream founders?
About the claims, Craig Wright is Satoshi, though?
If Adam Back is Satoshi, this gets too complicated, since a written non-disclosure agreement could apply, and possibly multiple parties could be involved.
Ian Grigg (founder of Ricardian contracts and Tripple entry accounting) mentioned he was part of a team obfuscating information concerning Satoshi's identity. Ian Grigg is also a Satoshi suspect, but he also denies any involvement, although he has clearly supported the Craig Wright case, perhaps as part of his "agenda" to create further noise and divert attention from the real one.
Craig Wright was always a distraction. The motives of Gavin Andresen were not in bad faith, though, but as it turned out, Craig Wright could not provide valid proof for any of his claims.
(twitter)
That's kind of an unfortunate privacy bug.
It is highly likely that the Bitcoins held in the addresses related to the one million Bitcoins Satoshi mined will never move since odds suggest access to these Bitcoins is permanently lost.
(source)
Thats kind of an unfortunate privacy bug.
Coincidentally I thought about and fixed a few potential issues like this in hashcash ...
Anyway dont sweat people - he can probably get by on a few $M play money from his post privacy bug fix mining hoard until there's a solution on his post. (When was that bug fixed btw? ).
And hes' probably holding out for the $10k bitcoin era anyway.
Adam Back (2013 -bitcointalk)
Adding to all the confusion surrounding Satoshi's identity, Theymos in 2016 said that "Bitcoins Belonging to Satoshi Should Be Destroyed" and later rephrased his point as the Bitcoin community was outraged. Still:
... there is a possibility that security researchers will be able to break ECDSA-protected bitcoin addresses in the future. If this were to happen, they could gain access to the coins belonging to Satoshi Nakamoto ... (Bitcoin.com)
The identity of Satoshi does not matter.
The one million Satoshi Bitcoins is what matters most to everyone involved.
Satoshi mined more than one million Bitcoins, and all these coinbase transactions remain unspent.
In case these Bitcoins start moving, the market will crash in seconds.
The Case of Nick Szabo And More "Coincidences"
Nick Szabo presents an equally intriguing case.
Furthermore, Bit gold looks like an early version of Bitcoin.
(Source Reddit)
Bit gold is identical to Bitcoin. Yet, it is not even mentioned in the whitepaper, whereas Satoshi referenced Wei Dai's b-money and Adam Back's hashcash.
By comparing Bitcoin to bit gold, we can assume Satoshi based Bitcoin on Szabo's work.
Two articles that revealed fascinating details are:
One fact that describes a potential Nick Szabo's connection with Bitcoin is a deliberate change in the year of publication for Bitgold on Szabo's website:
.. Nick deliberately post-dated his bit gold articles to look posterior to Bitcoin, shortly after the announcement of Bitcoin
This is evidence and not speculation about coincidental events that may or may not have occurred.
This revelation indicates that Szabo is Satoshi or maintained an arrangement with Satoshi, implying that Szabo was part of the team that created Bitcoin.
This evidence does not require a leap of faith but speaks for itself.
Satoshi Nakamoto uses double spaces, and so does Nick Szabo.
And more academics too, as Adam Back. Double-space was widely used when learning to typewrite before computer keyboards reached the mainstream.
Double-space (or sentence spacing) was standard practice with typewriters as it produced a better visual results. (Wikipedia for more).
Arguments Against Nick Szabo's Involvement
While phrases used by Nick Szabo are also found in Satoshi's written content in forums and emails, still, the character represented by Satoshi Nakamoto is difficult to relate with Nick Szabo. Szabo is usually passionate and emotional in his written and verbal communications. One look on his Twitter or blog is enough to recognize a difference in personalities exist.
Nick Szabo has claimed since 2009 that Bitcoin was similar to bit gold:
Bit gold, my sketch of an electronic currency that minimally relies on trust in any one person or organization, achieves this minimal vulnerability by using secure property titles
Satoshi Nakamoto has implemented BitCoin which very similarly uses a dense Byzantine fault tolerant peer-to-peer network and and cryptographic hash chains to ensure the integrity of a currency.
(source)
Satoshi, did not reference bit gold until he/she acknowledged he established Bitcoin based on both b-money and bit gold in July 2010.
Bitcoin is an implementation of Wei Dai's b-money proposal on Cypherpunks in 1998 and Nick Szabo's Bitgold proposal http://unenumerated.blogspot.com/2005/12/bit-gold.html
-Satoshi (bitcointalk)
According to Wei Dai, though, Satoshi initially was unaware of Nick Szabo and bit gold, and with this move, Satoshi wanted to add credibility to his work.
However, Wei Dai, during his early communications with Satoshi, clearly mentioned Nick Szabo's work with bit gold, and no matter the massive similarities with Bitcoin, Satoshi still decided to reference only b-money on the whitepaper but not bit gold.
End of Part II
(source)
The Satoshi emails with Adam Back will probably not be released, since if they exist, they probably constitute a threat to Blockstream's operations and the public image of Adam Back.
I believe it was me who got Wei Dai’s b-money reference added to Satoshi’s bitcoin paper when he emailed me about hashcash back in 2008.
Adam Back -source
What caused more attention to Barely Sociable's documentary was not the story itself or the approach Barely Sociable used to define Adam Back as the sole person behind Satoshi.
The extreme reaction of BTC maximalists Tone Vays and Jimmy Song, in fact, gave more points to Barely's arguments than the actual story.
The next part is about this failed debunking.
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Previous Part:
References:
Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System, by Satoshi Nakamoto
Wei Dai/Satoshi Nakamoto 2009 Bitcoin emails, Gwern Branwen
Bit gold, by Nick Szabo
Bitcoin - Unmasking Satoshi Nakamoto, by Barely Sociable
The Well Deserved Fortune of Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoin creator, Visionary and Genius, by Sergio Demian Lerner
Theymos: "Bitcoins Belonging to Satoshi Should Be Destroyed" (bitcoin.com)
Satoshi Nakamoto is (probably) Nick Szabo, by LikeInAMirror
Who Is The Real Satoshi Nakamoto? One Researcher May Have Found The Answer, by John Biggs (TechCrunch)
Related work:
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