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What is the value of uncovering who Satoshi is? Or rather what is the value of being considered Satoshi? My pet theories: If Wright is Satoshi and wants to hid

What is the value of uncovering who Satoshi is? Or rather what is the value of being considered Satoshi? My pet theories: If Wright is Satoshi and wants to hide the fact, a good way to do that is to come off as a fraud If Wright is not Satoshi but knows who Satoshi is, and wants to protect him, why not just keep quiet? Was someone actually getting close to uncovering the identity and Wright is just trying to muddle the waters? If Wright is not Satoshi and is actually trying to get people to believe that he is, what would he gain by it?

CPLX 11y ago
> What is the value of uncovering who Satoshi is? Learning the identity of someone with hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Bitcoin seems like the obvious one.
- IgorPartola 11y ago
  OK, but what about the opposite: what is the value of pretending to be rich when you are not? I mean, sure you can probably get a free pizza slice here and there, but what can you actually do?
  - staticelf 11y ago
    You don't think that if everyone believed you were Bill Gates, you wouldn't benefit from that?
  - DINKDINK 11y ago
    I'm not certain but I believe the last time Wright was suspected of being Satoshi, he had some business venture he was trying to promote. Could be a repeat of last time.
  - xzi 11y ago
    A lot. If you convince the right people, then there's loans with easy terms. Funding for your companies. Entrance into some very useful networks. The list could go on and on. Pretending to wealth is a con probably as old as money itself. Just imagine: you convince a lot of people that you're a billionaire who's lost your wallet. What can you get out of those people just by the promise you're good for it?
  - crypteasy 11y ago
    It's not about the money. It's about the fame - having you're name in stone for a very very long time. Some people see success as having their names printed in textbooks and in history books.
  - Jacqued 11y ago
    Check out this classic movie: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046072/ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046072/
    - auggierose 11y ago
      Love this movie :-)
  - mlvljr 11y ago
    Claim you're selling all your coins tomorrow, but instead borrow some money and buy as much as you can (while the price is dropping) :)
- ci5er 11y ago
  Why? Voyeurism? The government would surely be interested in absconding with the assets at some point, but that is their function. What is our interest in such things? Sure, whoever it is might flood the market, but that could happen whether or not we know the identity.
cookiecaper 11y ago
> What is the value of uncovering who Satoshi is? Or rather what is the value of being considered Satoshi? Getting the officially stated opinion of the project's founder and rightful BDFL on controversial issues like blocksize.
- luckystarr 11y ago
  It kind of seems like a social experiment currently. "Let's drop this Bitcoin thing on the world and see what happens."
daveguy 11y ago
> If Wright is not Satoshi and is actually trying to get people to believe that he is, what would he gain by it? Prestige. The following of thousands of bitcoin enthusiasts.

CPLX 11y ago

> What is the value of uncovering who Satoshi is? Learning the identity of someone with hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Bitcoin seems like the obvious one.

IgorPartola 11y ago
OK, but what about the opposite: what is the value of pretending to be rich when you are not? I mean, sure you can probably get a free pizza slice here and there, but what can you actually do?
- staticelf 11y ago
  You don't think that if everyone believed you were Bill Gates, you wouldn't benefit from that?
- DINKDINK 11y ago
  I'm not certain but I believe the last time Wright was suspected of being Satoshi, he had some business venture he was trying to promote. Could be a repeat of last time.
- xzi 11y ago
  A lot. If you convince the right people, then there's loans with easy terms. Funding for your companies. Entrance into some very useful networks. The list could go on and on. Pretending to wealth is a con probably as old as money itself. Just imagine: you convince a lot of people that you're a billionaire who's lost your wallet. What can you get out of those people just by the promise you're good for it?
- crypteasy 11y ago
  It's not about the money. It's about the fame - having you're name in stone for a very very long time. Some people see success as having their names printed in textbooks and in history books.
- Jacqued 11y ago
  Check out this classic movie: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046072/ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046072/
  - auggierose 11y ago
    Love this movie :-)
- mlvljr 11y ago
  Claim you're selling all your coins tomorrow, but instead borrow some money and buy as much as you can (while the price is dropping) :)
ci5er 11y ago
Why? Voyeurism? The government would surely be interested in absconding with the assets at some point, but that is their function. What is our interest in such things? Sure, whoever it is might flood the market, but that could happen whether or not we know the identity.

cookiecaper 11y ago

> What is the value of uncovering who Satoshi is? Or rather what is the value of being considered Satoshi? Getting the officially stated opinion of the project's founder and rightful BDFL on controversial issues like blocksize.

luckystarr 11y ago
It kind of seems like a social experiment currently. "Let's drop this Bitcoin thing on the world and see what happens."

daveguy 11y ago

> If Wright is not Satoshi and is actually trying to get people to believe that he is, what would he gain by it? Prestige. The following of thousands of bitcoin enthusiasts.