The mysterious Mr Nakamoto

Who is behind the invention of Bitcoin? And why are they still in hiding?

At the end of October 2008, the first public mention of the peer-to-peer electronic cash system, Bitcoin, appeared. Its author was a certain Satoshi Nakamoto. Although nobody knew who was behind this pseudonym, the concept of an electronic currency still brought about a revolution in the fields of finance and technology. Many people, therefore, became interested in finding out his true identity. However, Satoshi Nakamoto disappeared. The only known fact was that as the first Bitcoin miner, he had amassed an enormous fortune. With the growing popularity of cryptocurrencies, Nakamoto's identity became one of the greatest mysteries of our time. Journalist Benjamin Wallace dedicated a full fifteen years to searching for his identity, and in his reportage book, *The Mysterious Mr. Nakamoto*, he follows his trail, which leads him to various places in the United States, Europe, and Australia. In addition to this detective work, the book also provides information on how Bitcoin works and the developments in the cryptocurrency field over the last twenty years.

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Wallace’s book reads like a gripping thriller. Suspicion constantly falls on new people, and whenever the investigation seems to be closed, a new clue always emerges that forces the author to keep searching. *The Mysterious Mr. Nakamoto* is a great example of quality investigative journalism.
— The Wall Street Journal

Nakamoto disappeared in the spring of 2011. I learned of his existence in the summer of the same year when I was writing Wired magazine's first in-depth article on Bitcoin, the internet currency that operates without being tied to any government or bank. Twelve years later, the identity of Bitcoin's creator remained unknown, and his immense fortune untouched. If he were to step out of anonymity, he could enjoy both fame and fortune, but for reasons that are hard to comprehend, he renounced both. In modern history, we would not find a similar case where the creator of a revolutionary technology did not claim authorship. Bitcoin fans were thus deprived of the opportunity to celebrate a person of flesh and blood and were forced to show their respect only to Nakamoto's name, which thus achieved legendary status. In 2022, for example, you could see Kanye West in Beverly Hills getting out of his Cadillac Escalade wearing a cap with Satoshi's name on it. In Budapest, Bitcoin supporters unveiled the first statue of Nakamoto, depicting him as a shrouded, almost ghostly figure cast in bronze. On the Vanuatu archipelago in the South Pacific, developers began selling ownership stakes in a utopian paradise they named Satoshi Island. And a trio of libertarians bought an old cruise ship, christened it the MS Satoshi, and began looking for settlers for the first independent community built on Bitcoin. More than one technology expert suggested that Satoshi Nakamoto should be awarded the Nobel Prize. Despite all efforts, however, Nakamoto's identity resisted being revealed.
— excerpt from the book