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I still think Dorian is very likely the Satoshi Nakamoto we're looking for. My basis for this is the fact that Dorian is very desperately trying to hide somethi

by Hypx 13y ago

I still think Dorian is very likely the Satoshi Nakamoto we're looking for. My basis for this is the fact that Dorian is very desperately trying to hide something, and it is evident in his denials, which contain claims that are very hard to believe. Three of the them stand out to me: His claim that he did not hear of bitcoin until February of this year, his claim that he thought the reporter was talking about "bitcom" and not bitcoin, and that the accusation of him being the creator of bitcoin has damaged his job seeking prospects. All three are nonsense claims and very hard to believe. There's no way an out of work computer engineer could not have heard of bitcoin until so recently unless he was living in a cave. The hype of bitcoin was quite large and pretty much anyone computer literate would have heard of it, especially a guy who's name is Satoshi Nakamoto. As to his claim of thinking he was talking about "bitcom" not bitcoin, well according to the Newsweek article, Dorian was first informed of bitcoin through email, which means he likely could not have confused that word with anything else. Furthermore, he claimed he was told by his own son about it before he talked to the AP reporter where the confusion arose. Which means he has at least two clear-cut occasions where he would have been corrected beforehand. Finally, his claim of the "accusation" hurting his job prospects are quite silly, since he's been out of work for more than a decade. The argument makes very little sense, nor does it seem plausible being accused of creating bitcoin at all would hurt your job prospects. All in all, it's clear that Dorian is not being honest, and certainly you cannot trust his words at all. Finally, if you believe he is the creator of bitcoin, then you must also realize he is a very intelligent man and should very easily write coherent English that could pass for a younger person, and then mask it in person when accused. On the other hand, he probably can't, no matter how smart he is, completely defeat logical analysis when is directly fingered. Plus, it's pretty rare to be this vehement in your denials unless there actually is some truth to the accusation (see Lance Armstrong, Roger Clemens, etc.). So I still see Dorian as being very likely being the guy, and this article doesn't do a particularly convincing job dissuade me otherwise.

onetwofiveten 13y ago
I don't know, my dad is retired, used to work as an engineer and loves model trains. He doesn't know what bitcoin is. It really isn't that unusual for technical people to get out of touch with recent developments. A 64 year old Japanese immigrant with health problems almost certainly has very different sources of information to you and I. Also, the vehement denials are extremely consistent with Dorian Nakamoto being a grumpy old man who doesn't understand what is going on but doesn't like it and wants to be left alone. It just seems like he just wanted to get rid of the reporter and she heard what she wanted to hear. You'd expect there to be at least one Satoshi Nakamoto with an engineering background. Dorian Nakamoto's career doesn't seem remarkable or unusual (or closely related to bitcoin). I would expect every single person on Hacker News to fit the profile for the founder of bitcoin as well or better than Dorian Nakamoto. The fact that he has the same name as Satoshi Nakamoto doesn't indicate anything, because you would expect Satoshi Nakamoto to be a pseudonym.
- Hypx 13y ago
  Have you asked whether your father has even heard of bitcoin? I suspect a fair chance that he has. This is not adding the fact it would only take for someone in Dorian's family to merely google his name to learn of bitcoin. The problem is Dorian is feigning total ignorance to the point of absurdity, followed by silly claims that somehow the accusation has damaged his family and his job prospects. He even went as far as claiming he has no internet service at all since last year, which is odd since clearly he must have emailed Leah Goodman only a month ago (another major plausibility problem in his denial). It's one thing to be a grumpy old man, wanting nothing to do with the media, and quite another to blatantly lie and mislead people when trying to deny something. His behavior is closer to Lance Armstrong than just a grumpy old man. I think people need to weigh the credibility of both Dorian and the Newsweek article, and not merely dive head first into trying to disprove Newsweek at all cost.
  - sremani 13y ago
    You are grasping for the straws - leave it there. Many people when they get public attention especially unwanted attention react in abnormal ways which are compounded by cultural differences in case of immigrants. You are not on to something, Dorian is not Satoshi, case closed.
    - Hypx 13y ago
      He has been living in US for more than 50 years; longer than I've been alive. He is also a Libertarian, a political position extremely rare in Japan. He appears to be totally Americanized with little trace of his former culture. His behavior is extremely similar to other people who turned out to have something to hide.
      - notahacker 13y ago
        You have to admire the ingenuity and effort that went into not only blustering after the fact, but also creating the public portrait of "Dorian" the immigrant who'd never fully grasped the use of apostrophes, pluralization or indefinite articles whilst simultaneously privately corresponding in immaculate idiomatic English as "Satoshi". By the looks of those Amazon reviews and messages to editors there was some serious astroturfing going on! Such a shame someone so keen on anonymity couldn't think of a pseudonym that wasn't composed entirely from part of his actual name.
InclinedPlane 13y ago
Dorian Nakamoto is a retiree who used to work on secret projects for the government. Why is there some mystery why anybody wants to be left the fuck alone let alone someone like Dorian?
throwawaymsft 13y ago
Right. Someone with world class level c++ and crypto skills just happened to be unemployed for a decade and unable to pay his internet bills.
- Hypx 13y ago
  As I pointed out elsewhere, claiming that he has no internet is rather inconsistent with the fact that he and apparently his brother Arthur clearly had access to the internet quite recently. This is another act of deception from him, and totally unnecessary if he merely wanted to clear up a misunderstanding.
  - aroch 13y ago
    Because no one without internet at home has ever gone to the local library to use it
    - Hypx 13y ago
      What's the point in bringing that up if it does not at all impinge on one's ability to access the internet? Plus the whole financial distress argument doesn't at all sound plausible either, seeing he still has a house and apparently no major debts. No one in his family even brought it up in any previous incident.
      - aroch 13y ago
        Because presumably the mastermind behind bitcoin keeps an eye on it. Also, you don't know anything, at all about his personal finances. Maybe you're the real Satoshi. You only pop up to comment about how this guy must be the real one. That or you're a Newsweek shill.
        svenkatesh 13y ago
        >you're a Newsweek shill. Has Hacker News really fallen to this level?
aestra 13y ago
>There's no way an out of work computer engineer could not have heard of bitcoin until so recently unless he was living in a cave. The hype of bitcoin was quite large and pretty much anyone computer literate would have heard of it, especially a guy who's name is Satoshi Nakamoto. Oh come on, that is just silly. I am positive there is computer literate people who haven't heard of bitcoin. Not everyone checks Hacker News, or news at all. I know I never watch/check the regular news, its extremely possible he never heard of it. >Dorian was first informed of bitcoin through email, which means he likely could not have confused that word with anything else. And not everyone has a good memory. The author could have asked him about bitcoin without explaining to him what it was which is why he didn't answer her questions, then he forgot what she was asking about, since it wasn't notable. Nobody is going to remember everything. >Finally, his claim of the "accusation" hurting his job prospects are quite silly, since he's been out of work for more than a decade. He has also had health problems in that decade which could have prevented him from seeking employment. >Plus, it's pretty rare to be this vehement in your denials unless there actually is some truth to the accusation Oh come on. He wants to be left alone! Of course he is going to be vehement in his denials so people will leave him the hell alone. >Finally, his claim of the "accusation" hurting his job prospects are quite silly. He is an immigrant. He might have a different cultural view than you over what hurts a job prospect. For example, I once visited a country where cheating in school was rampant. It was not only the norm, but completely socially acceptable, and it was though by the teachers that every student would cheat given the chance. Someone from that culture may not believe getting caught cheating would hurt their job prospects, for example. Stop looking at everything from your point of view. Furthermore, what's with the scare quotes in accusation? Even if the accusation is true, he was still publicly accused of being the bitcoin founder. It is irrelevant if the accusation is true or false, it is still an accusation.

by Hypx 13y ago

onetwofiveten 13y ago

I don't know, my dad is retired, used to work as an engineer and loves model trains. He doesn't know what bitcoin is. It really isn't that unusual for technical people to get out of touch with recent developments. A 64 year old Japanese immigrant with health problems almost certainly has very different sources of information to you and I. Also, the vehement denials are extremely consistent with Dorian Nakamoto being a grumpy old man who doesn't understand what is going on but doesn't like it and wants to be left alone. It just seems like he just wanted to get rid of the reporter and she heard what she wanted to hear. You'd expect there to be at least one Satoshi Nakamoto with an engineering background. Dorian Nakamoto's career doesn't seem remarkable or unusual (or closely related to bitcoin). I would expect every single person on Hacker News to fit the profile for the founder of bitcoin as well or better than Dorian Nakamoto. The fact that he has the same name as Satoshi Nakamoto doesn't indicate anything, because you would expect Satoshi Nakamoto to be a pseudonym.

Hypx 13y ago
Have you asked whether your father has even heard of bitcoin? I suspect a fair chance that he has. This is not adding the fact it would only take for someone in Dorian's family to merely google his name to learn of bitcoin. The problem is Dorian is feigning total ignorance to the point of absurdity, followed by silly claims that somehow the accusation has damaged his family and his job prospects. He even went as far as claiming he has no internet service at all since last year, which is odd since clearly he must have emailed Leah Goodman only a month ago (another major plausibility problem in his denial). It's one thing to be a grumpy old man, wanting nothing to do with the media, and quite another to blatantly lie and mislead people when trying to deny something. His behavior is closer to Lance Armstrong than just a grumpy old man. I think people need to weigh the credibility of both Dorian and the Newsweek article, and not merely dive head first into trying to disprove Newsweek at all cost.
- sremani 13y ago
  You are grasping for the straws - leave it there. Many people when they get public attention especially unwanted attention react in abnormal ways which are compounded by cultural differences in case of immigrants. You are not on to something, Dorian is not Satoshi, case closed.
  - Hypx 13y ago
    He has been living in US for more than 50 years; longer than I've been alive. He is also a Libertarian, a political position extremely rare in Japan. He appears to be totally Americanized with little trace of his former culture. His behavior is extremely similar to other people who turned out to have something to hide.
    - notahacker 13y ago
      You have to admire the ingenuity and effort that went into not only blustering after the fact, but also creating the public portrait of "Dorian" the immigrant who'd never fully grasped the use of apostrophes, pluralization or indefinite articles whilst simultaneously privately corresponding in immaculate idiomatic English as "Satoshi". By the looks of those Amazon reviews and messages to editors there was some serious astroturfing going on! Such a shame someone so keen on anonymity couldn't think of a pseudonym that wasn't composed entirely from part of his actual name.

InclinedPlane 13y ago

Dorian Nakamoto is a retiree who used to work on secret projects for the government. Why is there some mystery why anybody wants to be left the fuck alone let alone someone like Dorian?

throwawaymsft 13y ago

Right. Someone with world class level c++ and crypto skills just happened to be unemployed for a decade and unable to pay his internet bills.

Hypx 13y ago
As I pointed out elsewhere, claiming that he has no internet is rather inconsistent with the fact that he and apparently his brother Arthur clearly had access to the internet quite recently. This is another act of deception from him, and totally unnecessary if he merely wanted to clear up a misunderstanding.
- aroch 13y ago
  Because no one without internet at home has ever gone to the local library to use it
  - Hypx 13y ago
    What's the point in bringing that up if it does not at all impinge on one's ability to access the internet? Plus the whole financial distress argument doesn't at all sound plausible either, seeing he still has a house and apparently no major debts. No one in his family even brought it up in any previous incident.
    - aroch 13y ago
      Because presumably the mastermind behind bitcoin keeps an eye on it. Also, you don't know anything, at all about his personal finances. Maybe you're the real Satoshi. You only pop up to comment about how this guy must be the real one. That or you're a Newsweek shill.
      - svenkatesh 13y ago
        >you're a Newsweek shill. Has Hacker News really fallen to this level?

aestra 13y ago

>There's no way an out of work computer engineer could not have heard of bitcoin until so recently unless he was living in a cave. The hype of bitcoin was quite large and pretty much anyone computer literate would have heard of it, especially a guy who's name is Satoshi Nakamoto. Oh come on, that is just silly. I am positive there is computer literate people who haven't heard of bitcoin. Not everyone checks Hacker News, or news at all. I know I never watch/check the regular news, its extremely possible he never heard of it. >Dorian was first informed of bitcoin through email, which means he likely could not have confused that word with anything else. And not everyone has a good memory. The author could have asked him about bitcoin without explaining to him what it was which is why he didn't answer her questions, then he forgot what she was asking about, since it wasn't notable. Nobody is going to remember everything. >Finally, his claim of the "accusation" hurting his job prospects are quite silly, since he's been out of work for more than a decade. He has also had health problems in that decade which could have prevented him from seeking employment. >Plus, it's pretty rare to be this vehement in your denials unless there actually is some truth to the accusation Oh come on. He wants to be left alone! Of course he is going to be vehement in his denials so people will leave him the hell alone. >Finally, his claim of the "accusation" hurting his job prospects are quite silly. He is an immigrant. He might have a different cultural view than you over what hurts a job prospect. For example, I once visited a country where cheating in school was rampant. It was not only the norm, but completely socially acceptable, and it was though by the teachers that every student would cheat given the chance. Someone from that culture may not believe getting caught cheating would hurt their job prospects, for example. Stop looking at everything from your point of view. Furthermore, what's with the scare quotes in accusation? Even if the accusation is true, he was still publicly accused of being the bitcoin founder. It is irrelevant if the accusation is true or false, it is still an accusation.