6 ms·

Quite an odd article for such an important (if true) expose. The only reason I think its possibly true is Gavin's vague tweet. 50% of the article deals with ma

Quite an odd article for such an important (if true) expose. The only reason I think its possibly true is Gavin's vague tweet. 50% of the article deals with material about bitcoin that is redundant to anyone whose been following it for more than a day (like most here). 45% deals with "Dorian S. Nakamoto"'s family, personal background and that he's a libertarian oddball, with a penchant for math (but no other significant accomplishment within it or CS) who (other than possible being the Satoshi) has led a fairly normal, middle class southern california lifestyle. The remaining 5% or so details a brief encounter with the man, in which he neither confirms or denies it. I'm skeptical.

flaxin 13y ago
same here
dTal 13y ago
To be honest I agree with you that there quite a few red flags about this article. However, short of Newsweek outright making everything up, isn't the lack of a denial in this instance tantamount to an admission? I mean, if it were me, and I valued my privacy that much, I would a) have used an actual pseudonym, b) responded to questions about Bitcoin with "bit-what-now"?
- michaelt 13y ago
  isn't the lack of a denial in this instance tantamount to an admission? I mean, if it were me, [...] responded to questions about Bitcoin with "bit-what-now"? If all his friends and family know he shares his name with the creator of bitcoin, he might have already heard all the jokes and think "not this shit again" as well as not being able to credibly deny knowing about it. There's a british general who goes by Mike Jackson when his real name is Michael Jackson [1]. If someone asked him to moonwalk I'd expect the resigned frustration of someone who has heard that lame joke a thousand times before - rather than him denying having heard of the pop singer of the same name. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Jackson http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Jackson
  - BillyMaize 13y ago
    As someone with the name Paul Brown in the Cincinnati area (where the Paul Brown stadium is) I deal with this almost daily. I'm sick of meeting someone and about 75% of the time they go "oh, do you own the stadium?". I'm seriously starting to think about moving far away so I don't have to hear it anymore. I don't even like football! I also went to high school with a guy named John Conner and everyone use to thank him for some day saving the human race from the machines.
    - rzt 13y ago
      People also probably give you immense grief over the ridiculous tax deal the stadium has with Hamilton County. :p
      - BillyMaize 13y ago
        I wish, most people don't seem to care. I for one would rather see my tax dollars go to something useful like education.
  - sktrdie 13y ago
    I don't think Satoshi Nakamoto is as well-known as Michael Jackson. Nobody knows who Satoshi Nakamoto is where I live. If they did, I'd be surprised.
    - whtrbt 13y ago
      I was surprised the cop mentioned in the article knew.
  - anigbrowl 13y ago
    Hearing jokes about it and having a reporter turn up from a well-known national news publication seeking an interview are two entirely different things. Really, these are the sort of arguments I'd expect from a surly 13-year old. If he was some coincicentally named private individual, the obvious thing to do would be to deny being the celebrity Nakamoto, and possibly to advise the reporter to discuss the matter with his lawyer.
bertil 13y ago
And you should. But nothing about BitCoin ever seems confirmed in anyway so… I'd take that the main benefit is dTal's reaction, remembering all the conspiracies: “I feel a bit silly.” That’s the good stuff.
unreal37 13y ago
Gavin doesn't know who Satoshi is. He just regrets speaking to that reporter. His tweet doesn't lend any credibility to the story.
- argumentum 13y ago
  I agree, the reporter made it seem as if Gavin "knew".
seanalltogether 13y ago
"I am no longer involved in that and I cannot discuss it," he says, dismissing all further queries with a swat of his left hand. "It's been turned over to other people. They are in charge of it now. I no longer have any connection." Seems like a confirmation?
- masmullin 13y ago
  or false confirmation. He might not have invented bitcoin but know all about it (because of his name). He would know that acting all shadowy and evasive would make him seem more like the real Satoshi. tl;dr - Give me proof, not vague "seems like he confirmed it."
  - georgemcbay 13y ago
    What about good old Occam's Razor? Seems pretty obvious to me that if the details in this article are true (and they likely are) this is indeed "the" Satoshi.
    - argumentum 13y ago
      What are the "details"?
      - sireat 13y ago
        There were really no details in the article besides the man's name and rest of his personal information and interests and that he was technically inclined. Is he even a programmer? Rest was just conjecture on the writer's part.
    - masmullin 13y ago
      Occam's Razor tells us to go to the simplest of arguments. Given that the details of the article are circumstantial, it's pretty simple that the journalist is wrong and this Satoshi is acting vague for personal gain. However, I give you Hanlon's Razor on this. It's more likely that this Satoshi flubbed his words when speaking about bitcoin rather than intentionally mislead the journalist.

flaxin 13y ago

same here

dTal 13y ago

To be honest I agree with you that there quite a few red flags about this article. However, short of Newsweek outright making everything up, isn't the lack of a denial in this instance tantamount to an admission? I mean, if it were me, and I valued my privacy that much, I would a) have used an actual pseudonym, b) responded to questions about Bitcoin with "bit-what-now"?

michaelt 13y ago
isn't the lack of a denial in this instance tantamount to an admission? I mean, if it were me, [...] responded to questions about Bitcoin with "bit-what-now"? If all his friends and family know he shares his name with the creator of bitcoin, he might have already heard all the jokes and think "not this shit again" as well as not being able to credibly deny knowing about it. There's a british general who goes by Mike Jackson when his real name is Michael Jackson [1]. If someone asked him to moonwalk I'd expect the resigned frustration of someone who has heard that lame joke a thousand times before - rather than him denying having heard of the pop singer of the same name. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Jackson http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Jackson
- BillyMaize 13y ago
  As someone with the name Paul Brown in the Cincinnati area (where the Paul Brown stadium is) I deal with this almost daily. I'm sick of meeting someone and about 75% of the time they go "oh, do you own the stadium?". I'm seriously starting to think about moving far away so I don't have to hear it anymore. I don't even like football! I also went to high school with a guy named John Conner and everyone use to thank him for some day saving the human race from the machines.
  - rzt 13y ago
    People also probably give you immense grief over the ridiculous tax deal the stadium has with Hamilton County. :p
    - BillyMaize 13y ago
      I wish, most people don't seem to care. I for one would rather see my tax dollars go to something useful like education.
- sktrdie 13y ago
  I don't think Satoshi Nakamoto is as well-known as Michael Jackson. Nobody knows who Satoshi Nakamoto is where I live. If they did, I'd be surprised.
  - whtrbt 13y ago
    I was surprised the cop mentioned in the article knew.
- anigbrowl 13y ago
  Hearing jokes about it and having a reporter turn up from a well-known national news publication seeking an interview are two entirely different things. Really, these are the sort of arguments I'd expect from a surly 13-year old. If he was some coincicentally named private individual, the obvious thing to do would be to deny being the celebrity Nakamoto, and possibly to advise the reporter to discuss the matter with his lawyer.

bertil 13y ago

And you should. But nothing about BitCoin ever seems confirmed in anyway so… I'd take that the main benefit is dTal's reaction, remembering all the conspiracies: “I feel a bit silly.” That’s the good stuff.

unreal37 13y ago

Gavin doesn't know who Satoshi is. He just regrets speaking to that reporter. His tweet doesn't lend any credibility to the story.

argumentum 13y ago
I agree, the reporter made it seem as if Gavin "knew".

seanalltogether 13y ago

"I am no longer involved in that and I cannot discuss it," he says, dismissing all further queries with a swat of his left hand. "It's been turned over to other people. They are in charge of it now. I no longer have any connection." Seems like a confirmation?

masmullin 13y ago
or false confirmation. He might not have invented bitcoin but know all about it (because of his name). He would know that acting all shadowy and evasive would make him seem more like the real Satoshi. tl;dr - Give me proof, not vague "seems like he confirmed it."
- georgemcbay 13y ago
  What about good old Occam's Razor? Seems pretty obvious to me that if the details in this article are true (and they likely are) this is indeed "the" Satoshi.
  - argumentum 13y ago
    What are the "details"?
    - sireat 13y ago
      There were really no details in the article besides the man's name and rest of his personal information and interests and that he was technically inclined. Is he even a programmer? Rest was just conjecture on the writer's part.
  - masmullin 13y ago
    Occam's Razor tells us to go to the simplest of arguments. Given that the details of the article are circumstantial, it's pretty simple that the journalist is wrong and this Satoshi is acting vague for personal gain. However, I give you Hanlon's Razor on this. It's more likely that this Satoshi flubbed his words when speaking about bitcoin rather than intentionally mislead the journalist.