14 DAY TRIAL // A few years ago, Satoshi Nakamoto became a quite well-known name after he created the Bitcoin. His true identity is not known, and while many have speculated, it has never been confirmed. Now, his online accounts have been compromised and his personal data is getting leaked on the Internet, while Nakamoto himself is receiving various threats.
Wired reports that the hacker who took hold of Nakamoto’s email address claims that he has enough information to unmask his identity. Using the name “Jeffrey,” the hacker said he took control over the [email protected] address that Nakamoto used a while back for correspondence.
“The fool used a primary gmx under his full name and had aliases set up underneath it. He’s also alive,” Jeffrey said of his discoveries.
The hacker said in a post on Pastebin that he is willing to release the secrets of Satoshi’s information for the mere sum of 25 bitcoins, which is about $11,600 (€9,007) at today’s exchange rate.
One of the admins of the Bitcoin Talk forum, Michael Marquardt, made a post saying that he received an email from the aforementioned address, the contents of which made him almost certain that the account has been compromised.
“The email was not spoofed in any way. It seems very likely that either Satoshi’s email account in particular or gmx.com in general was compromised, and the email account is now under the control of someone else,” he said, adding that there’s also the possibility of the address expiring and someone else registering it.
Nakamoto's safety may be in danger
On another message board, a post was sent to Nakamoto’s account warning him about what was going on. Apparently, his documents, passwords and IP addresses are being sold on the darknet. The poster claims that the Bitcoin inventor’s data was hacked because he didn’t configure TOR properly and his IP leaked when using the email account back in 2010.
“You are not safe. You need to get out of where you are as soon as possible before these people harm you. Thank you for inventing bitcoin,” the individual writes, indicating of a possible escalation of the situation.
Satoshi Nakamoto’s identity has so far been kept secret. It is not known whether the name is used to represent a single individual or a group of developers.
Many have speculated over the years, pointing the finger at different computer science professors, or even at a man whose name is coincidentally Nakamoto and who hadn’t even heard of Bitcoin until a few months prior to him being “unmasked.”
Some estimate that Nakamoto holds a fortune in his hands, with as much as 1 million bitcoins in his possession.