The mystery surrounding the creator of Bitcoin resurfaces. A new New York Times investigation names Adam Back as the probable Satoshi Nakamoto. But between firm denials and fragile evidence, the truth still seems out of reach. Are we finally witnessing the end of a myth… or yet another false trail?
In brief
- The New York Times publishes an investigation naming Adam Back as the probable Satoshi Nakamoto.
- Back categorically denies being the creator of Bitcoin, as he always has.
- The investigation relies on stylometric analysis and linguistic similarities, without cryptographic proof.
An investigation relaunches Adam Back as a possible creator of Bitcoin
Who is Satoshi Nakamoto? The question has haunted the Bitcoin ecosystem since its inception in 2009, and no one has yet definitively answered it. The New York Times tries its luck again this week, from the pen of John Carreyrou, the Franco-American journalist who exposed the Theranos fraud.
In a survey published this Wednesday, Carreyrou names Adam Back as suspect number one. Inventor of Hashcash and CEO of Blockstream, the British cryptographer once again finds himself at the heart of an attempt to identify the anonymous creator of Bitcoin.
Why him? The clues put forward by Carreyrou are multiple. Back is cited in the original Bitcoin white paper. He actively discussed electronic money on cypherpunks mailing lists as early as 1992. And above all, he disappeared from the public scene… precisely at the moment when Satoshi, too, vanished into thin air.
The investigation is also based on an in-depth stylometric analysis. Back's writing style bears striking resemblances to Nakamoto's: same formatting habits, same hyphenation, same technical vocabulary.
Among the participants in the cypherpunks lists, Back is the only one to have used the expression “partial pre-image” and to have mentioned the Russian cryptocurrency WebMoney, two markers present in Satoshi's emails.
His return to the scene in 2013, with the co-founding of Blockstream, the recruitment of the best Bitcoin developers and more than a billion dollars raised, also fuels speculation. “ This all seemed consistent with what Satoshi might do if he decided to reappear under his real name », writes Carreyrou.
A solid thesis… but without decisive proof
Adam Back doesn't see it that way. On X, he reaffirms that he is not Satoshi, and reiterates his long-standing commitment to digital privacy and applied cryptography.
This is not the first time that he has denied this: in 2024, he had already brushed aside similar accusations during the release of an HBO documentary which wrongly designated Peter Todd as the creator of Bitcoin.
On the side of the crypto community, skepticism dominates. Jameson Lopp, co-founder of Casa, decides: Satoshi “cannot be trapped by a stylometric analysis”. Carreyrou himself recognizes the absence of irrefutable proof. Only a cryptographic demonstration, such as signing a message with the private keys of the first Bitcoin blocks, would make it possible to definitively close the debate.
The Satoshi Nakamoto mystery remains one of the greatest enigmas in modern financial history. Until cryptographic proof is provided, all theories, no matter how well-founded, will remain mere speculation. And Adam Back continues to quietly undermine… his reputation.
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