Polish Programmer Claims He Is Not Satoshi Nakamoto
The latest individual, or in this case, pair of individuals suspected of being Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto, has denied accusations. Pawel Pszona, a Polish programmer was believed by username BountyHunter2012 to be Satoshi Nakamoto. Pszona published a Master’s thesis paper in 2007 as a student with the help of his professor Dr. Grzegorz Stachowiak titled “Unlinkable Divisible Digital Cash without Trusted Third Party.”
Besides a vaguely similar ethos shared between Pszona’s publication and that behind Bitcoin, two Japanese cryptographers with the names of Toru Nakanishi and Tatsuaki Okamoto were found in the bibliography of the thesis. It was asserted that Nakanishi and Okamoto’s surnames were merged to form “Nakamoto” and “Satoshi” was likely just a random Japanese first name added to form the Bitcoin creator’s pseudonym.
The Bounty Hunter’s blog has pegged others for being potential “usual suspects” in the search for Satoshi Nakamoto, those including Hal Finney, Nick Szabo, Craig Wright and more. After receiving personal emails from Pszona stating that he was not the creator of Bitcoin and after Stachowiak told the press he too wasn’t involved with the creation of Bitcoin, the final blog post asserting their hidden identities was deleted.
In other recent “unmaskings” we’ve seen a lot of speculation to Satoshi Nakamoto’s true identity with little material benefit from the ongoing search. Many people feel that the true identity of the Bitcoin creator isn’t actually important, and more importantly, believe that someone who seeks sustained anonymity should have it.
In a post on Hacker News, Mike Hearn, a recently subject of Bitcoin controversy after a blog post he wrote, pointed out why outings like this are “entertaining” to him:
“The quality of these “unmaskings” has been getting lower over time…The paper he cites from 2007 describes a system nothing like Bitcoin. Digital cash papers have been coming out every year for decades, it’s always been a hot topic of research in the field of cryptography, since the days of Chaum. You could pick almost any time in any year and find some e-cash paper like that one.”
Hearn goes on in his post to point out some of the reasons he feels Bitcoin is truly unique and has had as much success as it has. With these points in mind, it’s difficult to see how an exposure of the true identity of Bitcoin’s creator would affect the economic, financial and social challenges that Bitcoin and many other cryptocurrencies are trying to overcome. While it’s natural that many people feel an innate curiosity and passion to figure out who Satoshi Nakamoto is, it may just be better for the hopes of long-term and widespread adoption that we focus on the technology and revolutionary aspects of Bitcoin rather than the personality behind it.
Featured image from Shutterstock.
