TRIPLE UPDATED! Double Updated! Updated! Bitcoin's Creator Revealed! Actually is a Guy Named Satoshi Nakamoto! And Yes, a Libertarian (Naturally)!
UPDATED, Friday, March 7, 8:20 AM ET: Indications that the Satoshi Nakamoto identified yesterday by Newsweek as the creator of Bitcoin is not the real Nakamoto continue to build. Among the most interesting bits? The profile page at P2P Foundation on which Nakamoto announced Bitcoin has been updated saying simply, "I am not Dorian Nakamoto" (the legal name used by Newsweek's catch). The AP reports out the California-based Nakamoto's denial here as well.
Here's a piece on Buzzfeed that discusses the practice of "doxxing," or tracking people down via online trails and publicly accessible documents, which is how Newsweek's Leah McGrath Goodman found who she continues to insist is the right man. Newsweek has been heavily criticized for publishing pictures of Nakamoto's home and address, license plate, and more.
Something to think about as the story proceeds: While uncovering the identity of who created Bitcoin (whether it's a single person or a group) is undeniably interesting and juicy, it has not effect on the currency's utility or continued functioning. Indeed, the reports over Nakamoto's identity have in many ways blotted out the apocalyptic warnings that Bitcoin was done after the implosion of the Mt. Gox exchange last week and the apparent suicide just days ago of a 28-year-old American, Autumn Radtke, who ran a Singapore-based exchange.
Related: Last week, I explained why I didn't think Bitcoin was finished in the wake of Mt. Gox. Read that piece here.
Even More Updated, 5:30 PM ET: Hit "More" or scroll down for latest, including Instagram video in which Nakamoto denies involvement in Bitcoin.
Updated, 11:32 AM ET: Over at Reddit's Bitcoin sub, there's a lively thread suggesting that Newsweek has got the wrong Nakamoto. Among the evidence? Past suggestions that the real Nakamoto's age is much younger than the one pictured above and that his written English (based on various online postings and letters to the editor) isn't particularly good. Read the whole thing. Hat Tip: Naomi Brockwell, Reason TV contributor and proprietor of Bitcoin Girl.
The man pictured above is, says Newsweek, the creator of bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto:
Far from leading to a Tokyo-based whiz kid using the name "Satoshi Nakamoto" as a cipher or pseudonym (a story repeated by everyone from Bitcoin's rabid fans to The New Yorker), the trail followed by Newsweek led to a 64-year-old Japanese-American man whose name really is Satoshi Nakamoto. He is someone with a penchant for collecting model trains and a career shrouded in secrecy, having done classified work for major corporations and the U.S. military.
Nakamoto was hiding in the same way the author Thomas Pynchon was "hiding"—in plain sight. He used a slightly different name in his work life, but Nakamoto wasn't in deep cover. Kudos to Newsweek's Leah McGrath Goodwin for doing the work to find him. He lives in Temple City, California and came to the U.S. as a child:
Descended from Samurai and the son of a Buddhist priest, Nakamoto was born in July 1949 in the city of Beppu, Japan, where he was brought up poor in the Buddhist tradition by his mother, Akiko. In 1959, after a divorce and remarriage, she immigrated to California, taking her three sons with her. Now age 93, she lives with Nakamoto in Temple City.
Like all great Americans, he lived for a while in New Jersey, where he worked for RCA in Camden. He also worked for the FAA, Hughes Aircraft, and a bunch of other firms. He also did defense contract work.
And yes, he is a libertarian whose own family didn't suspect him of being the inventor of the world's leading alt-currency.
A libertarian, Nakamoto encouraged his daughter to be independent, start her own business and "not be under the government's thumb," she says. "He was very wary of the government, taxes and people in charge."…
Calling the possibility her father could also be the father of Bitcoin "flabbergasting," Ilene Mitchell says she isn't surprised her father would choose to stay under cover if he was the man behind this venture, especially as he is currently concerned about his health.
"He is very wary of government interference in general," she says. "When I was little, there was a game we used to play. He would say, 'Pretend the government agencies are coming after you.' And I would hide in the closet."
Updated 5:30 PM ET: Via the Twitter feed of Declan McCullagh comes this image comparing a letter written by Dorian Nakamoto (the legal name of the man named above as the creator of Bitcoin) and an announcement of Bitcoin's founding theoretical document, as compiled by crytography@metzdowd.com mailing list. Right-click on image below and choose "open image in new tab" to read full text or go here.
Nakamoto, reports The Los Angeles Times, says, "I'm not involved in Bitcoin."
Here's an Instagram of him saying that:
