[Cryptography] My Identity as Satoshi Nakamoto

[Ron Garret]

> On Oct 14, 2024, at 8:45 AM, Ron Garret <ron at flownet.com> wrote:
> 
> 
> 
>> On Oct 13, 2024, at 8:11 PM, Satoshi Nakamoto via cryptography <cryptography at metzdowd.com <mailto:cryptography at metzdowd.com>> wrote:
>> 
>>  
>> Dear community members,
>>  
>> Today, I have decided to reveal my identity as Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of Bitcoin. From the beginning, my goal was to create a decentralized and secure digital currency capable of empowering people around the world.
>>  
>>  Verifiable proofs:
>> - Digital signature of the first Bitcoin blocks
>> - Original emails used in Bitcoin development (satoshi at vistomail.com <http://vistomail.com/>, satoshi at anonymousspeech.com <http://anonymousspeech.com/>, satoshin at gmx.com <http://gmx.com/>)
>> - [Additional details](https://c.gmx.com/@1353820301439272152/eMUQjJTaTR6i7xP_Fjt_tw <>">https://c.gmx.com/@1353820301439272152/eMUQjJTaTR6i7xP_Fjt_tw <https://c.gmx.com/@1353820301439272152/eMUQjJTaTR6i7xP_Fjt_tw>) (Password: Satoshi1977)
>> - By October 31, 2024, all the proofs completes will be publicly downloadable in the link that I have provided.
>>  
>> Reasons for coming out now:
>> - I wish to contribute more openly to the development of Bitcoin and blockchain technology
>> - I want to use my Bitcoin fortune to support projects that benefit humanity
>>  
>> I am grateful to everyone who has contributed to and supported this project over the years. I am excited for what the future holds.
>>  
>> With gratitude,
>> Satoshi Nakamoto
> 
> There are so many tells here that indicate that the author is not Satoshi that it's hard to know where to begin.  Perhaps the most obvious is that the author of this note is clearly not proficient in English ("all the proofs completes will be...").  That kind of grammatical error is very out of character.
> 
> But that's far from the only clue.  There's the fact that the so-called "verifiable proof" is a screen shot, that the message itself is not signed, and that he thinks that "digital signatures of the first bitcoin blocks" could possibly be a proof of anything.  But the biggest smoking gun to me is the implausible nature of the motives.  If the real Satoshi wanted to "contribute to the development of Bitcoin and blockchain technology" or "use [his] fortune to benefit humanity", or, for that matter, to reveal the fact that he's still alive (which I think is open to considerable doubt), he'd just do it.  There is absolutely no reason for him to make an announcement on this list, notwithstanding that it was part of his origin story.  When Bitcoin was first announced, this was the right place to find its audience, but that is obviously no longer true.  If the real Satoshi wanted to come out, he'd post irrefutable evidence (and a plausible motive) somewhere public.  There would be no need for him to build drama by announcing his intentions here and withholding the "proofs completes" for two weeks.  Those are the actions of someone seeking attention, not a brilliant mind returning from the dead to try to make the world a better place.

UPDATE: I cc'd _satoshi at gmx.com <mailto:_satoshi at gmx.com> on the above message and received the following auto-reply, which I am posting here in its raw form:

> From: <_satoshi at gmx.com>
> To: <ron at flownet.com>
> Subject: Auto-Reply
> Date: Mon, 14 Oct 2024 17:45:47 +0200
> Message-ID: <1MjQgS-1tgokL3M9y-00n3HU at gmx.net>
> MIME-Version: 1.0
> Auto-Submitted: auto-replied (vacation)
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
> Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64
> X-Provags-ID: V03:K1:K4hYpPZz9dyusq/PpekvgeXbfg/k26Ohkw1UHFTUqSg90ZGHDAObyUo
>  4yv7ishsprLz19FKxZk4y98Vt4a29+seZso+f7seLJT8DRPAWtFR9pBKG5VJKAM4RSkN3Q08N
>  p/FLgj+57YAZwFBJEAuw4tSoI38skMvIrG3gov1j9l1piyEGFNqt88Yq2ljJwYivQmT+hYjUk
>  i1EyPIguTuRZw==
> UI-OutboundReport: unknown:0;M01:P0:Nx4/aS5y4oU=;rjHH7vnY1CnZCxVmZpIQqy7Qnph
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>  zXZ4FxOqxeos3LZJMmuyiVdGIwtF5fg5Rw2jKs796gyz7r2ftSf58TWAofRXkJEiPYDSfYP/C
>  Ewb25r6dcV6ZGpQAfB800yt8AJLKqbgh4tuD5nT+jtBvN/RqeVilIXHFzu0xOzBaAsNf2Y8uh
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>  sveVQkZz81B+yhetfJX+azQ==
> 
> V2hlbiBJIHNhaWQgaW4gdGhlIFdoaXRlcGFwZXIgIldlIHByb3Bvc2UuLi4iIEkgbWVhbnQgbXkg
> aWRlYSBpbnRlZ3JhdGVkIGJ5IHRoZSBpZGVhcyBvZiB0aGUgcGVvcGxlIEkgcmVmZXIgdG8uIEJp
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> ZCBtZSB0byBXZWkgRGFpIGFuZCBvdGhlcnMuCiAKU2F0b3NoaSBOYWthbW90byBodHRwczovL2dp
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> NjYxIDY1NjkgOTZBRCBBMUJCIEUyRkUgMjAxMCBFRTFEIDE4MTU=

Decoding that and deciding whether it is evidence for or against the claim is left as an exercise.  But I'll save you some of the trouble and reveal that this erstwhile Satoshi has a github account:

https://github.com/SatoshiNT0

Lots of clues there for the dedicated armchair crypto sleuth.

rg

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