The identity of Bitcoin’s creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, has always been a mystery in the cryptocurrency world. Recently, one of Nakamoto’s early collaborators, Martti Malmi, revealed his complete email correspondence with Nakamoto, which has become a crucial addition to the “Nakamoto” file. This article, written by Adam Cochran and translated by Foresight News, aims to explore the possible connection between Hal Finney, another early Bitcoin developer and pioneer, and the identity of Nakamoto.
It has long been speculated that Hal Finney, the first person to receive bitcoins through a transaction mechanism, is one of the main individuals behind the identity of Nakamoto, along with possibly one or two other minor figures. The newly disclosed email records between Malmi and Nakamoto strongly support this theory.
The email records reveal that Nakamoto had another job in July 2009, while Finney was working at the US encryption technology developer PGP Corporation. During this time, Finney’s health was deteriorating, and he was diagnosed with ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis), also known as “Lou Gehrig’s disease,” in August.
In March 2010, Nakamoto disappeared for a period of time, stating that he was busy with other things. This coincided with the period when PGP Corporation was acquired by Symantec, and Finney’s health was declining.
In November 2010, Finney “picked up” his work on Bitcoin again after a period of minimal contribution. He became active on Bitcointalk, initiated proposals for faster Bitcoin signatures, and released these proposals a few months later.
In December 2010, Nakamoto expressed concern about WikiLeaks using Bitcoin, fearing retaliation. Shortly after, on December 11th and 12th, he sent messages about WikiLeaks stirring up trouble and being subjected to DDoS attacks.
On December 7th, 2010, Nakamoto sent an email to all major contributors, asking to have their names listed on the website. He also removed his own information from the website, indicating that he knew he would eventually withdraw from the project but did not mention it to anyone.
During the period from 2010 to 2011, a large number of top Bitcoin holders’ wallets were created and never made any withdrawals, which would later become significant.
On February 22nd, 2011, Nakamoto sent his last email to Malmi, including a PGP signature to provide the website administrator’s password.
On April 26th, 2011, Nakamoto sent his last known private email to Gavin Andresen, mentioning that he was “moving on to other things.” This was after Finney began contributing and participating in Bitcoin signature verification work.
Around September 2012, Finney started exploring the idea of Trusted Platform Modules (TPM). By March 2013, he submitted code for BFlick Bitcoin Flicker on GitHub and announced this message on March 17th, 2013.
On March 19th, 2013, Finney released a post titled “Bitcoin and Me,” in which he mentioned being diagnosed with ALS in 2009 and noticed his physical weakness around the same time that Nakamoto disappeared. He stated that he was “forced to retire early” in early 2011, which coincided with Nakamoto transferring control of Bitcoin to others.
However, Finney left PGP Corporation during its acquisition by Symantec in April 2010, and according to known information, he did not have any other employers in early 2011. He mentioned in the post that he was still writing code, albeit slowly, and that “programming gives him purpose.”
He also mentioned in the post that in 2010, when he “picked up” his work on Bitcoin, he transferred most of his bitcoins to an offline wallet for his heirs. This could explain the influx of funds into wallets during late 2010 to mid-2011 with little corresponding outflow and the minimal spending.
Regarding Nakamoto’s initial wallet, it was revealed in a post from 2012 that Finney’s first receipt of bitcoins was on an old computer. Based on the progression of his disease, it is likely that Finney switched to using a non-traditional computer interface for interaction around late 2009 to early 2010.
On March 22nd, 2013, Finney praised Nakamoto’s decision to “gracefully bow out” of the project, which is peculiar as Nakamoto did not explain the reason for his departure. He disappeared while many others made the opposite decision.
In an interview in 2014, it was revealed that Finney’s condition had worsened to the point where he could only answer yes-or-no questions. However, according to his former boss at PGP Corporation, Zimmerman, Finney was actually responsible for most of the content in PGP 2.0.
Zimmerman had almost been indicted for violating arms export control due to encryption tools, which may explain why Finney wanted to downplay his involvement. This could also explain Nakamoto’s fear of WikiLeaks and the controversies he faced, as he may have witnessed similar pressures on his former boss.
This interview took place approximately 20 days after Nakamoto’s P2P Foundation account released the clarification message “I am not Dorian Nakamoto.” The message could have been sent by a family member, as it did not require a PGP key for easy access, and Finney passed away in August 2014.
It is interesting to note that Finney participated in a 10-mile race on April 18th, 2009, which ended at 9:18 AM Pacific Standard Time. During that time, Nakamoto sent emails and bitcoins.
In the Bitcoin whitepaper and early emails sent to Adam Back, the summary of Bitcoin was written as “we propose.” It is often mentioned that certain aspects of Bitcoin do not match Finney’s style and cover a wide range of disciplines.
However, as seen from Nakamoto’s emails with other contributors, he often sought support and involvement from others, and all his communication took place within the Pacific Standard Time zone. Some of his emails, though, still used British spelling.
Despite using the word “cheque” in an email from 2010, he had to inquire about payment methods in Europe from Malmi. The UK is part of the EU/European Economic Area, which is something British people would know. In 2009, he also mentioned “realize,” which is American/Canadian spelling, seemingly excluding Australia/UK.
However, by 2010, after his sudden return, he used “realise” again. Many English language users around the world may mix American and British spelling, but they usually maintain consistency in their choices. A change in spelling could imply another person’s operation or an attempt to hide writing habits.
In conclusion, it is believed that Finney, along with other early contributors, left Bitcoin in its early stages, with “most of Nakamoto being him.” By 2010, he knew he was close to death, and the death of the “Bitcoin developer” would kill his beloved project. Thus, Nakamoto disappeared, and Finney re-entered, making as many contributions as possible despite his deteriorating condition. He transferred his bitcoins to cold wallets for his children and future generations and let others take on the responsibility of Bitcoin, to some extent becoming Nakamoto.
By retreating into the background, he made Bitcoin something that everyone could own, making everyone Nakamoto. This small decision is something that other pure Proof-of-Work currencies cannot replicate. It defined Bitcoin, not by handing it over to the next leader but by giving it a soul, the soul of a ghost that can never fully integrate into it.
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