Identity of Satoshi Nakamoto
From Satoshipedia, the Satoshi Mail encyclopedia
The identity of Satoshi Nakamoto has never been established. Satoshi gave few personal details, used anonymous email services (Satoshi's accounts and keys), and stopped writing in 2011. The name might belong to a team of people.[1]
What Satoshi said
On his P2P Foundation profile he claimed to be a 37-year-old man living in Japan. His writing uses British spellings, and his forum posts drop to almost none between 5 and 11 a.m. GMT (writing style).[1] The one later message attributed to his account reads, in full: “I am not Dorian Nakamoto.” (the post).
People named
Each person below was publicly suggested as Satoshi, by others or, in one case, by himself. None has proven it.[1]
| Person | Suggested by | Response |
|---|---|---|
| Hal Finney | Speculation after the 2014 Newsweek story; Finding Satoshi (2026) | Denied before his death in 2014 |
| Nick Szabo | Stylometric analysis (2013); New York Times (2015) | Denied |
| Adam Back | Financial Times (2016); New York Times (2026) | Denied |
| Len Sassaman | BitcoinTalk user (2013); Evan Hatch (2021); Finding Satoshi (2026) | Died 2011 |
| Peter Todd | Money Electric, HBO (2024) | Denied |
| Dorian Nakamoto | Newsweek (2014) | Denied |
| Craig Wright | Himself, from 2016 | Court ruled he is not Satoshi (2024) |
Others suggested include David Chaum, Paul Le Roux and Wei Dai.[1]
Proof
Proposed proofs include signing a message with the key associated with the first bitcoins, or moving the earliest bitcoins mined (Satoshi's coins).[1]
See also
References
- Satoshi Nakamoto, Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 20 October 2026.
Primary sources
The messages and commits this article draws on, in Satoshi Mail and where they were first published.
- Bitcoin open source implementation of P2P currency, P2P Foundation forum, 7 March 2014. Original source
Published by Tyler Howell for Satoshi Mail. Written with AI assistance from the sources listed above and checked against them. Last updated 22 October 2026. Spotted an error? Email itstylerhowell@gmail.com (how articles are made).
Categories: Identity · Satoshi Nakamoto