Satoshi Nakamoto is the pseudonym of the mysterious individual or group of individuals who created Bitcoin, a decentralized digital currency. The identity of Satoshi Nakamoto has been a source of speculation since 2008 when they released their whitepaper on Bitcoin.
Satoshi introduced many aspects that make up modern blockchain technology including proof-of-work (PoW) consensus mechanism and public/private key cryptography. In addition to creating Bitcoin, Satoshi also proposed several improvements to existing cryptocurrency protocols such as Peercoin, Litecoin, and Namecoin.
The name “Satoshi Nakamoto” is thought by some to be derived from Japanese words for clear thinking (“satoshi”) and centrality (“naka”). However, no one knows if this was an intentional choice or just a coincidence. Despite being able to communicate in fluent English via email correspondence with other developers in 2009/2010 it is still unknown whether Satoshi was natively proficient in the language or not.
To date there have been only two known attempts made at identifying Satoshi’s true identity: Dorian S Nakamoto in 2014 and Craig Wright in 2016; both were unsuccessful at providing any real evidence linking them definitively with the creator(s). As such, we may never know who exactly created Bitcoin or why – adding further mystery to what remains one of the most fascinating stories within cryptocurrency history!
