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This Might Be Satoshi Nakamoto on Mainstream Media

Last Updated March 4, 2021 4:48 PM
Justin OConnell
Last Updated March 4, 2021 4:48 PM

Dave Kleiman made a name for himself as a computer forensics expert before being claimed as co-inventor of Bitcoin by Craig Wright, the Australian recently verified by Gavin Andresen and Jon Matonis as Satoshi Nakamoto.  

The veteran Kleiman, if he were co-inventor of bitcoin, never used the fortune that would be his. His home was in foreclosure when he died.

Of course, when Wright refused to verify cryptographically his place as Nakamoto, everything had been thrown into question.

Of Wright, Andresen insisted: “He fits the style of person I was working with,” he said. “He can also say things that sound, at first, ridiculous…After spending time with him I am convinced beyond a reasonable doubt: Craig Wright is Satoshi.” The Economist, one of the chosen papers, left room for doubt in Wright’s claims.

Regardless, this gives us a chance to look closer into the life and career of Kleiman.

Also Read: Post-Mortem Of A Con: To Be Satoshi Nakamoto Or Not Be 

Born in 1967, Kleiman was an adoptee and interested in computers and technology as a child. Despite acute knowledge of computers in the nineties, he worked in law enforcement in Florida. A 1995 motorcycle accident turned him further towards computers.

He appeared on various media programs and penned books about passwords and digital security. By the beginning of the 21st century, he wrote  for the same security mailing list Satoshi Nakamoto used to introduce Bitcoin.

Gizmodo obtained an email in which Wright seemingly asks Kleiman to co-author the paper. “I need your help editing a paper I am going to release later this year. I have been working on a new form of electronic money. Bit cash, Bitcoin…” it reads. “You are always there for me Dave. I want you to be a part of it all.”

Kleiman’s friends are by no means convinced their friend and partner helped create Bitcoin. Though, both say he had the talents.

Gizmodo reportedly obtained “an unfinished draft of a trust contract showing Wright entrusting Kleiman with 1.1 million bitcoins in 2011.” That sum, worth hundreds of millions of dollars, was to be returned to Wright down the road.

In the following video, Kleiman appears on an ABC affiliate in Florida regarding a computer security breach in Florida. Two employees were charged with filing false claims of a security breach on a public system. Kleiman found that there was no unauthorized access and the employees who made the claims were fired.

In the following CNN interview, Kleiman discusses how common hacking is in reference to the Sarah Palin email hacking case in which her e-mail account had been compromised. Kleiman, an expert in password security, notes how common such breaches are.

In the following video, Kleiman was featured on CNN to discuss Facebook hacking in regards to a murder trial.

In the following video, Kleiman discusses copy machine hacking. He explains how each copy machine has a hard drive on the inside which contains all the documents which had ever been scanned. It is not all too uncommon for this to be stolen.

Dave Kleiman passed away as a result of MRSA. That, along with the disappearance of Wright, means the world may never truly know. His friends say that, if Kleiman was truly Nakamoto, they would not even bother trying to crack the security protecting his share of the Nakamoto fortune.

Featured image from Shutterstock.