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Yes. I don't think it's been reported that Nick Szabo has been involved in any BitCoin startup, let alone an exchange called "Vaurum" / "Mirror." Credit to the

by Aqueous 11y ago

Yes. I don't think it's been reported that Nick Szabo has been involved in any BitCoin startup, let alone an exchange called "Vaurum" / "Mirror." Credit to the guy: in the world of the Internet where perfect privacy is nearly impossible, not so much as a picture of him has surfaced. Or, well, until recently; if you do a Google Search of his name one of the photos seems similar (sans beard) to the physical description of him in this article. Despite this, he has to this day remained an extraordinarily secretive individual, while being widely suspected to be the creator of BTC. Looks like all that practice (http://cypherpunks.venona.com/date/1993/10/msg00759.html http://cypherpunks.venona.com/date/1993/10/msg00759.html) paid off.

pags 11y ago
I also found it interesting that doing a Google image search on his name yielded nothing matching the description of the man given in this article.
- drcode 11y ago
  I'm still not convinced that the name "Nick Szabo" itself isn't a pseudonym... how would the reporter know? It's not like "Nick" is going to show them his passport or anything...
  - ikeboy 11y ago
    He got a degree from GMU in 2006 under that name. http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2014/04/16/bitcoin-creator-satoshi-nakamoto-unmasked-again/ http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2014/04/16/bitcoin-creator-sa... >Mr. Szabo’s was unavailable for comment. Furthermore, George Washington University says that despite widespread reports that Mr. Szabo worked as a law professor at the school, it has no records of his ever working there in that capacity. The university did confirm, though, that he received a law degree from the school in 2006.
    - drcode 11y ago
      Yes, but there's several people out there with that name... What I really wonder is whether any reporter was able to get GWU to supply them with a photo of the "GWU Nick Szabo" to confirm it's the same person.
      - ikeboy 11y ago
        That fact that he claimed on his blog to have a degree from GMU, and said that he was going to get one "soon" in 2006 (see https://web.archive.org/web/20060329122426/http://unenumerated.blogspot.com/ https://web.archive.org/web/20060329122426/http://unenumerat...) implies that it was him, and presuming you can't get into college with a fake name, then that's his real name.
        drcode 11y ago
        Thanks Ikeboy, that does sound convincing.
        bryondowd 11y ago
        Nothing to do with this case, but that makes me wonder if it is possible to get a college degree with a fake name. Assuming you don't have any federal assistance or loans, would you need a SSN? Even if you do, would the school actually run it through any system that would verify it, or do they just keep it in their system as an identifier? If the latter, you could just provide a made-up SSN, and as long as nobody comes along and applies to the school with the same number, it may never be discovered. I always thought the biggest downside to dropping your life, changing your name, and trying to start over would be the inability to get a college-requiring job, but maybe it would be a possibility. (Like a witness protection program, without the federal support)
        ikeboy 11y ago
        http://www.bestcolleges.com/resources/undocumented-students-guide/ http://www.bestcolleges.com/resources/undocumented-students-... >An encouraging fact undocumented students should keep in mind when considering college: No federal law requires proof of citizenship to be admitted to U.S. colleges. Most institutions set their own admission policies. You'd still need a high school diploma or equivalent to get into a good college, and those may require ID, or at least keeping up the fake since you were a teen. For Szabo, if he really is a fake name and got a high school diploma with it, I'd say he deserves us not knowing.
  - flatline 11y ago
    According to that cypherpunks post, it is in fact a pseudonym.
    - tP5n 11y ago
      I don't think so, to be honest. The context is important and, atleast to me, it seems he makes a difference between "Nick Szabo" and his pseudonyms, here: Another big problem I see with pseudonymous reputations is entry. If most people are blocking posts from new pseudonyms, how does one get a new reputation stablished? I've had several years to establish a net.reputation for "Nick Szabo", and it might take a long time for any of my pseudonyms to catch up.
      - flatline 11y ago
        I stand corrected - somehow I misread this line to imply the opposite, but it is clear he is (probably) making reference to his real name.
      - drcode 11y ago
        > it might take a long time for any of my pseudonyms to catch up. He's right, he had to work all the way until around 2013 before a pseudonym finally caught up :-p
ikeboy 11y ago
Could you link to the picture you're talking about?
- Aqueous 11y ago
  The article describes him as a 'large' man - http://i.imgur.com/6l3rImj.png http://i.imgur.com/6l3rImj.png is a candidate, pre-beard, almost two decades younger (allegedly from a 1997 talk.) I wouldn't say it's definitely him - just a possibility. (Was originally Tweeted by Adrian Chen: https://twitter.com/AdrianChen/status/456922865992863744 https://twitter.com/AdrianChen/status/456922865992863744)

by Aqueous 11y ago

pags 11y ago

I also found it interesting that doing a Google image search on his name yielded nothing matching the description of the man given in this article.

drcode 11y ago
I'm still not convinced that the name "Nick Szabo" itself isn't a pseudonym... how would the reporter know? It's not like "Nick" is going to show them his passport or anything...
- ikeboy 11y ago
  He got a degree from GMU in 2006 under that name. http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2014/04/16/bitcoin-creator-satoshi-nakamoto-unmasked-again/ http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2014/04/16/bitcoin-creator-sa... >Mr. Szabo’s was unavailable for comment. Furthermore, George Washington University says that despite widespread reports that Mr. Szabo worked as a law professor at the school, it has no records of his ever working there in that capacity. The university did confirm, though, that he received a law degree from the school in 2006.
  - drcode 11y ago
    Yes, but there's several people out there with that name... What I really wonder is whether any reporter was able to get GWU to supply them with a photo of the "GWU Nick Szabo" to confirm it's the same person.
    - ikeboy 11y ago
      That fact that he claimed on his blog to have a degree from GMU, and said that he was going to get one "soon" in 2006 (see https://web.archive.org/web/20060329122426/http://unenumerated.blogspot.com/ https://web.archive.org/web/20060329122426/http://unenumerat...) implies that it was him, and presuming you can't get into college with a fake name, then that's his real name.
      - drcode 11y ago
        Thanks Ikeboy, that does sound convincing.
      - bryondowd 11y ago
        Nothing to do with this case, but that makes me wonder if it is possible to get a college degree with a fake name. Assuming you don't have any federal assistance or loans, would you need a SSN? Even if you do, would the school actually run it through any system that would verify it, or do they just keep it in their system as an identifier? If the latter, you could just provide a made-up SSN, and as long as nobody comes along and applies to the school with the same number, it may never be discovered. I always thought the biggest downside to dropping your life, changing your name, and trying to start over would be the inability to get a college-requiring job, but maybe it would be a possibility. (Like a witness protection program, without the federal support)
        ikeboy 11y ago
        http://www.bestcolleges.com/resources/undocumented-students-guide/ http://www.bestcolleges.com/resources/undocumented-students-... >An encouraging fact undocumented students should keep in mind when considering college: No federal law requires proof of citizenship to be admitted to U.S. colleges. Most institutions set their own admission policies. You'd still need a high school diploma or equivalent to get into a good college, and those may require ID, or at least keeping up the fake since you were a teen. For Szabo, if he really is a fake name and got a high school diploma with it, I'd say he deserves us not knowing.
- flatline 11y ago
  According to that cypherpunks post, it is in fact a pseudonym.
  - tP5n 11y ago
    I don't think so, to be honest. The context is important and, atleast to me, it seems he makes a difference between "Nick Szabo" and his pseudonyms, here: Another big problem I see with pseudonymous reputations is entry. If most people are blocking posts from new pseudonyms, how does one get a new reputation stablished? I've had several years to establish a net.reputation for "Nick Szabo", and it might take a long time for any of my pseudonyms to catch up.
    - flatline 11y ago
      I stand corrected - somehow I misread this line to imply the opposite, but it is clear he is (probably) making reference to his real name.
    - drcode 11y ago
      > it might take a long time for any of my pseudonyms to catch up. He's right, he had to work all the way until around 2013 before a pseudonym finally caught up :-p

ikeboy 11y ago

Could you link to the picture you're talking about?

Aqueous 11y ago
The article describes him as a 'large' man - http://i.imgur.com/6l3rImj.png http://i.imgur.com/6l3rImj.png is a candidate, pre-beard, almost two decades younger (allegedly from a 1997 talk.) I wouldn't say it's definitely him - just a possibility. (Was originally Tweeted by Adrian Chen: https://twitter.com/AdrianChen/status/456922865992863744 https://twitter.com/AdrianChen/status/456922865992863744)