Who is Satoshi Nakamoto? Adam Back named in New York Times investigation

It is the technology world's most closely guarded secret. For sixteen years, the identity of Bitcoin's creator has fuelled the wildest theories. Yet a painstaking investigation by the New York Times may have revealed who he is. Who is Satoshi Nakamoto?

Since 2009, the technology world has been striving to identify Satoshi Nakamoto. The pseudonym belongs to Bitcoin's inventor, now a near-mythical figure, renowned as much for mathematical brilliance as for total discretion. Controlling a hoard estimated at 1.1 million bitcoins, this person - or group - holds a fortune capable of transforming the global digital economy with a single transfer.

That identity has remained unknown for ideological reasons. To establish itself as a decentralised currency, Bitcoin could have neither a public face nor a leader who could be arrested or corrupted. However, after sixteen years of mystery, an in-depth New York Times investigation has identified a highly credible suspect: British computer scientist and cryptographer Adam Back.

A digital trail that cannot be erased

The investigation drew on extensive statistical analysis. By examining more than 130,000 messages published on specialist forums since the 1990s, computer-assisted linguistics experts identified a distinctive signature.

Bitcoin's distinctive writing habits

Among thousands of possible candidates, Adam Back alone shares Satoshi's writing quirks: using two spaces after every full stop, making highly particular punctuation errors in technical terms, and an unusual blend of British and American spelling.

The activity timelines are even more unsettling, as they align precisely. When Satoshi began communicating to launch Bitcoin in 2009, Adam Back suddenly fell silent. Once Satoshi officially vanished in 2011, Back returned to public view.

Adam Back's technical connection to Bitcoin

On the technical side, Adam Back had already outlined Bitcoin's central foundations in 1998 - programmed scarcity and mining through computing power - ten years before the official manifesto was published.

The confrontation and an unintentional admission

To establish the truth, journalist John Carreyrou met the cryptographer in El Salvador. Although Back firmly denies creating the currency, his position is particularly sensitive. He now runs a company preparing to list on the New York stock exchange; admitting to holding a concealed fortune worth tens of billions of dollars would trigger an unprecedented regulatory and tax earthquake.

During the interview, however, Adam Back became muddled, replying in the first person to a comment about Satoshi. Could this be history's costliest slip of the tongue? Quite possibly. While he still refuses to provide the technical evidence that would clear him, the net appears to be closing unmistakably. After more than a decade, Bitcoin's creator may no longer be a legend, but a very real businessman.

Following the publication of the New York Times investigation, Adam Back posted a message on X denying that he is Satoshi Nakamoto. He wrote:

“I am not Satoshi, but I was among the early people to focus on the positive societal implications of cryptography, online privacy and electronic cash, hence my active interest, from around 1992, in applied research into electronic cash and privacy technologies on the cypherpunks mailing list, which led to Hashcash and other ideas.”