Satoshi is everywhere and nowhere.

Satoshi could be all of us, or none of us.

Satoshi came from nowhere and disappeared 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 legend.

— em3rgentOrdr

The Mary Rose, Big Foot, the Bermuda Triangle, the Loch Ness Monster, the

Babushka Lady. These are just a few of the great mysteries that have bewitched,

bothered and bewildered.

To that list you can add ‘Who is Satoshi Nakamoto?’

He has invented an entirely new digital system of money with the potential to

change the world as we know it. He has watched it grow to a market cap of at

one stage over 12 billion dollars – equivalent to the currency value of a small

country. He has half the internet nosing about and trying to figure out who he is.

And he is worth over half a billion dollars.

Yet he has managed to stay completely unknown and anonymous. It is almost

unbelievable.

Anyone can claim to be him. Anyone can deny it. If someone pins him down

with arguments and evidence that ‘demonstrate’ his identity, he can go on

denying it. Without access to his computer records, nothing can be proven.

I have spent a lot of time on this detective hunt – way more than I anticipated

or intended. But the mystery is overpoweringly compelling. Who is this

computer genius who never reveals himself? Why the secret? Does he have

something else to hide?

And there are personal dilemmas I’ve had to grapple with. If I have found out who Satoshi Nakamoto is, should I say? He has taken great steps to hide his

identity. Anonymity and privacy are obviously what he wants. Should I be the

one to violate that?

Is Bitcoin undermined if we suddenly know who the creator is?

Or is it in the public interest to know, given how much is now invested in

Bitcoin and the power he has (he owns about 10% of all coins) to move the price?