14 DAY TRIAL // This week, Newsweek published a story about Dorian Prentice Satoshi Nakamoto, a 64-year-old Japanese-American living near LA, being the famous “Satoshi Nakamoto,” the creator of the Bitcoin virtual currency.
The Newsweek story doesn’t say that the 64-year-old could be the creator of Bitcoin. Instead it suggests with 100% certainty that he is. This is the conclusion drawn by the reporters after months of investigations.
On the other hand, many have pointed out that the evidence is just circumstantial. Based on Newsweek’s logic, a number of people fit the profile of the individual behind Bitcoin.
So let’s take a look at the signs that do point to Dorian S. Nakamoto as being the one who invented Bitcoin.
His old name, which he changed 40 years ago to Dorian Prentice Satoshi Nakamoto, is Satoshi Nakamoto. This is the name, or pseudonym, used by the real creator of Bitcoin.
Furthermore, Dorian excels at math, his family describes him as very intelligent, and his own brother suggested that he would be capable of inventing something like Bitcoin.
He is a very private person. Not much is known about his career, except for the fact that he has done classified work for the US military and some large corporations.
There’s also the fact that he is “very wary of the government, taxes and people in charge,” according to his daughter. This would also fit the profile of a man who develops an anonymous virtual currency.
Finally, there’s the only thing Nakamoto said when being confronted by the Newsweek reporter about him being the creator of Bitcoin, “I am no longer involved in that and I cannot discuss it. It’s been turned over to other people. They are in charge of it now. I no longer have any connection.”
On the other hand, as many have pointed out, the evidence is largely circumstantial. Why would a man who cherishes his privacy so much use his real name as what many thought to be a pseudonym?
Moreover, Nakamoto doesn’t speak English very well. That can be determined both from his discussions with Associated Press reporters and his correspondence with Newsweek reporters. But the original Bitcoin proposal is properly written, in fluent English.
In his discussions with AP reporters, the only ones who Nakamoto accepted to talk to, he referred to Bitcoin as “bitcom” and led the journalists to believe that he thought this “bitcom” is a company.
As far as the quote is concerned, Dorian Nakamoto claims to have referred to engineering when he said what he said, not Bitcoin.
Shortly after the Newsweek story was published, the “real” Satoshi Nakamoto wrote on the forum of the P2P Foundation that he’s not Dorian Nakamoto. Of course, this doesn’t necessarily demonstrate anything since Dorian could have written that message himself.
The bottom line is that Dorian Nakamoto could be the inventor of Bitcoin. Maybe Leah McGrath Goodman, the journalist who wrote “The Face Behind Bitcoin” story, is right. After all, she did investigate him for two months.
On the other hand, the evidence she has presented is circumstantial. There are a lot of people who would fit the profile. Could Dorian S. Nakamoto be such a great actor? After all, I don’t imagine it’s easy to trick an AP reporter for two hours into thinking that you know nothing about Bitcoin.