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Last I read the domain registration for Bitcoin.org (I think) is the main exposure point. But, what you raised is why I don’t buy they haven’t been ID’d. Digit

Last I read the domain registration for Bitcoin.org (I think) is the main exposure point. But, what you raised is why I don’t buy they haven’t been ID’d. Digital fingerprints across multiple forums, and platforms, the logs to find a way in are there somewhere. I figure it is Len Sassaman.

layer8 3y ago
Meredith Patterson might know, then.
bottlepalm 3y ago
Len was a Linux guy, Satoshi was not. There's even an email here that says just that, "technically much more linux capable than me." https://mmalmi.github.io/satoshi/#email-241 https://mmalmi.github.io/satoshi/#email-241
- Geee 3y ago
  Also, see https://twitter.com/lensassaman/status/77358901774917632 https://twitter.com/lensassaman/status/77358901774917632 where Len doesn't seem to be a fan of Bitcoin. Not sure what he means by that though.
  - mortallywounded 3y ago
    Satoshi stepped away from Bitcoin in 2010 and handed over the project to the maintainers. Len started posting about Bitcoin in 2010 (post Satoshi handing the project over). It seems to me, if Len was Satoshi, he grew distant from the project. Maybe it wasn't the cypherpunk utopia he envisioned. Maybe the wikileaks and silkroad issues weren't what he wanted to enable. Perhaps he wanted to distance himself further from the project.
    - tdudhhu 3y ago
      He was also depressed at that time.
      - dogman144 3y ago
        My understanding is around the time SN left correlated to around the time Len’s mental health escalated. That noted, RIP/don’t mean to crassly speculate about what sounded like a talented and difficult life.
- dogman144 3y ago
  I think you’d have to factor in Satoshi’s opsec measures though vs taking them at their word at being bad at Linux, consider SN displayed very capable opsec in other forums. Len had significant time and topic correlations to many/basically all iirc of the feeder research and projects that clearly fed into BTC. SN also went offline around the time Len passed. Those two factors plus the related details sealed it for me. Edit - like if I was known to research under Szabo and Finney (iirc) right around the same time BTC launched, was known to advocate to peers to launch controversial open source under pseudonyms, and so on, I’d probably wrap my public persona under “BTC sucks” and my SN persona under “idk linux well,” and so on. Seems an obvious step to take.
  - bottlepalm 3y ago
    Have you considered Le Roux? Someone who had a real motive to create Bitcoin, and who had actually written Windows based crypto software before.
    - IncreasePosts 3y ago
      Given his past it's hard to imagine Le Roux sitting on hundreds of billions of dollars worth of bitcoins, even from inside a federal prison.
      - bottlepalm 3y ago
        Pretty good incentive to say nothing isn't it?
        IncreasePosts 3y ago
        Not really. He's already in his fifties and faces 20 years in US prison, and then he will probably be deported to the Philippines to spend the rest of his life in prison. I imagine if he had access to billions he would he would be paying mercenaries to bust him out.
        3y ago
- mortallywounded 3y ago
  Len was a Macbook user, but he would not have done Bitcoin on his personal laptop. It's much more likely he used available PCs in a computer lab on the campus he studied/worked at, which were likely Windows machines. It's also been shown Satoshi (and Len's) activities aligned and they overlapped with a school/academic year.
  - mortallywounded 3y ago
    Here's Len's macbook as proof: https://www.flickr.com/photos/enochsmiles/449655745/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/enochsmiles/449655745/ Fun fact, he was experimenting with email based image uploads on flickr. That was around the time Satoshi suggested they build an image hosting site that accepts Bitcoin. It's not a leap to assume Len's brain made the following cypherpunk leaps: remailer (anonymous email) -> image upload by email -> pay via semi-anonymous crypto currency Len's own bio says, "I have a very strong interest in the real-world applicability of my work."
- subsubzero 3y ago
  yup, agree, also looking how Len writes, he is definitely not Satoshi. You can see on his twitter(Len) - https://twitter.com/lensassaman https://twitter.com/lensassaman that he is quite punctual, ie. sentences end with periods, quotation is accurate. What gives it away is every sentence he writes on twitter is one space after the period, Satoshi is 2 spaces every single time. Also seeing the same thing for Hal Finney(https://twitter.com/halfin https://twitter.com/halfin), so my deduction is neither of them is Satoshi.
  - stavros 3y ago
    Hal's personal site has two spaces after a period.
    - subsubzero 3y ago
      I see one space - https://web.archive.org/web/20140403012916/http://www.finney.org/~hal/ https://web.archive.org/web/20140403012916/http://www.finney... EDIT - really interesting, could very well be Hal, every sentence after a period ends with 2 spaces - view-source:https://web.archive.org/web/20140403012916/http://www.finney.org/~hal/ https://web.archive.org/web/20140403012916/http://www.finney...
      - stavros 3y ago
        View source.
        BlueTemplar 3y ago
        Wait, what causes this kind of replacement ??
        stavros 3y ago
        HTML considers whitespace insignificant.

layer8 3y ago

Meredith Patterson might know, then.

bottlepalm 3y ago

Len was a Linux guy, Satoshi was not. There's even an email here that says just that, "technically much more linux capable than me." https://mmalmi.github.io/satoshi/#email-241 https://mmalmi.github.io/satoshi/#email-241

Geee 3y ago
Also, see https://twitter.com/lensassaman/status/77358901774917632 https://twitter.com/lensassaman/status/77358901774917632 where Len doesn't seem to be a fan of Bitcoin. Not sure what he means by that though.
- mortallywounded 3y ago
  Satoshi stepped away from Bitcoin in 2010 and handed over the project to the maintainers. Len started posting about Bitcoin in 2010 (post Satoshi handing the project over). It seems to me, if Len was Satoshi, he grew distant from the project. Maybe it wasn't the cypherpunk utopia he envisioned. Maybe the wikileaks and silkroad issues weren't what he wanted to enable. Perhaps he wanted to distance himself further from the project.
  - tdudhhu 3y ago
    He was also depressed at that time.
    - dogman144 3y ago
      My understanding is around the time SN left correlated to around the time Len’s mental health escalated. That noted, RIP/don’t mean to crassly speculate about what sounded like a talented and difficult life.
dogman144 3y ago
I think you’d have to factor in Satoshi’s opsec measures though vs taking them at their word at being bad at Linux, consider SN displayed very capable opsec in other forums. Len had significant time and topic correlations to many/basically all iirc of the feeder research and projects that clearly fed into BTC. SN also went offline around the time Len passed. Those two factors plus the related details sealed it for me. Edit - like if I was known to research under Szabo and Finney (iirc) right around the same time BTC launched, was known to advocate to peers to launch controversial open source under pseudonyms, and so on, I’d probably wrap my public persona under “BTC sucks” and my SN persona under “idk linux well,” and so on. Seems an obvious step to take.
- bottlepalm 3y ago
  Have you considered Le Roux? Someone who had a real motive to create Bitcoin, and who had actually written Windows based crypto software before.
  - IncreasePosts 3y ago
    Given his past it's hard to imagine Le Roux sitting on hundreds of billions of dollars worth of bitcoins, even from inside a federal prison.
    - bottlepalm 3y ago
      Pretty good incentive to say nothing isn't it?
      - IncreasePosts 3y ago
        Not really. He's already in his fifties and faces 20 years in US prison, and then he will probably be deported to the Philippines to spend the rest of his life in prison. I imagine if he had access to billions he would he would be paying mercenaries to bust him out.
        3y ago
mortallywounded 3y ago
Len was a Macbook user, but he would not have done Bitcoin on his personal laptop. It's much more likely he used available PCs in a computer lab on the campus he studied/worked at, which were likely Windows machines. It's also been shown Satoshi (and Len's) activities aligned and they overlapped with a school/academic year.
- mortallywounded 3y ago
  Here's Len's macbook as proof: https://www.flickr.com/photos/enochsmiles/449655745/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/enochsmiles/449655745/ Fun fact, he was experimenting with email based image uploads on flickr. That was around the time Satoshi suggested they build an image hosting site that accepts Bitcoin. It's not a leap to assume Len's brain made the following cypherpunk leaps: remailer (anonymous email) -> image upload by email -> pay via semi-anonymous crypto currency Len's own bio says, "I have a very strong interest in the real-world applicability of my work."
subsubzero 3y ago
yup, agree, also looking how Len writes, he is definitely not Satoshi. You can see on his twitter(Len) - https://twitter.com/lensassaman https://twitter.com/lensassaman that he is quite punctual, ie. sentences end with periods, quotation is accurate. What gives it away is every sentence he writes on twitter is one space after the period, Satoshi is 2 spaces every single time. Also seeing the same thing for Hal Finney(https://twitter.com/halfin https://twitter.com/halfin), so my deduction is neither of them is Satoshi.
- stavros 3y ago
  Hal's personal site has two spaces after a period.
  - subsubzero 3y ago
    I see one space - https://web.archive.org/web/20140403012916/http://www.finney.org/~hal/ https://web.archive.org/web/20140403012916/http://www.finney... EDIT - really interesting, could very well be Hal, every sentence after a period ends with 2 spaces - view-source:https://web.archive.org/web/20140403012916/http://www.finney.org/~hal/ https://web.archive.org/web/20140403012916/http://www.finney...
    - stavros 3y ago
      View source.
      - BlueTemplar 3y ago
        Wait, what causes this kind of replacement ??
        stavros 3y ago
        HTML considers whitespace insignificant.