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I think we've passed the point where even if the original Satoshi steps forward with a PGP signed autobiography nobody will believe it's really him. We like our

by nly 12y ago

I think we've passed the point where even if the original Satoshi steps forward with a PGP signed autobiography nobody will believe it's really him. We like our legends I guess.

ChuckMcM 12y ago
It would be a credible way to stay unfound, create doubt about every version.
lucb1e 12y ago
Good point. I think his private PGP key and moving some coins around might be pretty convincing though... Even a stupid version of Nakamoto would understand that private keys are kept offline and in safe storage, especially if you made software as complex as Bitcoin. I think I would have thrown away my wallet so that the early mined blocks simply could not be moved even if I wanted to. And in any case, Nakamoto may not be a single person after all.
- mcs 12y ago
  The identity could remain unverified for eternity if original keys aren't available, and it's possible there was a deliberate destroying of the keys. Satoshi has said that the losing of coins were a donation to everyone else -- and who else would make a donation to the entirety of the Bitcoin ecosystem other than Satoshi?
  - scintill76 12y ago
    Why not provably destroy them then (send them to an output that can never be spent)?
- tedunangst 12y ago
  If you wanted to throw coins away, wouldn't a better solution be to transfer them to an address like 12345678901234567890...?
shutupalready 12y ago
> even if the original Satoshi steps forward ... nobody will believe it's really him I beg to differ. If the real Satoshi actually wanted to identify himself, he'd have no trouble convincing us beyond a reasonable doubt even without his original keys. This situation is not like trying to decide if you believe a person who says he bought the winning lottery ticket for cash but then lost it. This situation is more like trying to decide if you believe a person who says he's a thoracic surgeon who's an expert in US Constitutional law, speaks Finnish, and can do somersaults while skiing. Ask him to explain in Finnish how to do laparoscopic Nissen fundoplication. Just look at all the things that Satoshi has to answer correctly: - expert level C++ programmer - fluent English, excellent grammar - deep knowledge of cryptography - extensive knowledge of mathematics (maybe not a PhD, but he's no slouch) - totally intimate with the original Bitcoin code - familiar with all the history of Bitcoin (at least the history pre-2010) - plausible explanations for all his actions - etc. We're talking about about a miniscule fraction of the world's population that could convincingly fake all of this knowledge and ability -- maybe a few hundred people at most on the entire Earth. Suppose Bruce Schneier claimed to be Satoshi, then you could look at other things in Bruce background to rebuff it. (Example: Bruce was on a commercial airplane flying over the Atlantic when one of the Satoshi emails was sent.)
- verroq 12y ago
  >- expert level C++ programmer Are you implying the Bitcoin client wasn't a botched up C with classes and the team is still trying to make it not crap?
  - jasonzemos 12y ago
    Indeed. It's clear Satoshi never worked for any C++ development firm that imprinted at least some type of coherent design pattern on him. The programming has the flavor of someone involved in a lot of open source, spare-time C.
    - jacobwcarlson 12y ago
      The code always struck me as a cryptographer who knew how to program rather than a developer who understood cryptography.
return0 12y ago
Wouldn't it be possible to verify him through the blockchain?

by nly 12y ago

I think we've passed the point where even if the original Satoshi steps forward with a PGP signed autobiography nobody will believe it's really him. We like our legends I guess.

ChuckMcM 12y ago

It would be a credible way to stay unfound, create doubt about every version.

lucb1e 12y ago

Good point. I think his private PGP key and moving some coins around might be pretty convincing though... Even a stupid version of Nakamoto would understand that private keys are kept offline and in safe storage, especially if you made software as complex as Bitcoin. I think I would have thrown away my wallet so that the early mined blocks simply could not be moved even if I wanted to. And in any case, Nakamoto may not be a single person after all.

mcs 12y ago
The identity could remain unverified for eternity if original keys aren't available, and it's possible there was a deliberate destroying of the keys. Satoshi has said that the losing of coins were a donation to everyone else -- and who else would make a donation to the entirety of the Bitcoin ecosystem other than Satoshi?
- scintill76 12y ago
  Why not provably destroy them then (send them to an output that can never be spent)?
tedunangst 12y ago
If you wanted to throw coins away, wouldn't a better solution be to transfer them to an address like 12345678901234567890...?

shutupalready 12y ago

> even if the original Satoshi steps forward ... nobody will believe it's really him I beg to differ. If the real Satoshi actually wanted to identify himself, he'd have no trouble convincing us beyond a reasonable doubt even without his original keys. This situation is not like trying to decide if you believe a person who says he bought the winning lottery ticket for cash but then lost it. This situation is more like trying to decide if you believe a person who says he's a thoracic surgeon who's an expert in US Constitutional law, speaks Finnish, and can do somersaults while skiing. Ask him to explain in Finnish how to do laparoscopic Nissen fundoplication. Just look at all the things that Satoshi has to answer correctly: - expert level C++ programmer - fluent English, excellent grammar - deep knowledge of cryptography - extensive knowledge of mathematics (maybe not a PhD, but he's no slouch) - totally intimate with the original Bitcoin code - familiar with all the history of Bitcoin (at least the history pre-2010) - plausible explanations for all his actions - etc. We're talking about about a miniscule fraction of the world's population that could convincingly fake all of this knowledge and ability -- maybe a few hundred people at most on the entire Earth. Suppose Bruce Schneier claimed to be Satoshi, then you could look at other things in Bruce background to rebuff it. (Example: Bruce was on a commercial airplane flying over the Atlantic when one of the Satoshi emails was sent.)

verroq 12y ago
>- expert level C++ programmer Are you implying the Bitcoin client wasn't a botched up C with classes and the team is still trying to make it not crap?
- jasonzemos 12y ago
  Indeed. It's clear Satoshi never worked for any C++ development firm that imprinted at least some type of coherent design pattern on him. The programming has the flavor of someone involved in a lot of open source, spare-time C.
  - jacobwcarlson 12y ago
    The code always struck me as a cryptographer who knew how to program rather than a developer who understood cryptography.

return0 12y ago

Wouldn't it be possible to verify him through the blockchain?