A new investigation says it may have uncovered who really created Bitcoin.
Bitcoin is widely regarded as the best-known cryptocurrency. Its rise helped trigger an explosion of other digital currencies, many of which have generally increased in value over time, even if prices have dipped sharply at points.
Crypto has since pushed closer to the mainstream, with high-profile figures such as Elon Musk and Donald Trump even launching tokens tied to their names.
Even so, Bitcoin remains the biggest name in the market — while the person credited with inventing it is still officially unknown, operating under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto.
That hidden identity has become one of the internet era’s enduring mysteries, adding to the mythology around the world’s most influential cryptocurrency.
The latest attempt to solve it comes from a New York Times investigation by John Carreyrou, who reviewed old online posts and other digital breadcrumbs in an effort to connect Nakamoto to a real individual.
The report follows close behind another high-profile inquiry that claimed to have pinned down the identity of the elusive street artist Banksy.
So who does this investigation point to as the person behind Bitcoin?
The individual named is Adam Back, a 55-year-old British cryptographer and computer scientist.
One thread highlighted by the investigation is an apparent overlap between Nakamoto’s anti-centralization outlook and Back’s past statements about libertarian-leaning goals for digital money.
An email dated September 23 1996 cited in the report has Back describing cryptocurrency as “a pivotal tool to reduce government power, and enable freedom and privacy”.
In another email from 2008, Back wrote that crypto is “very attractive to the libertarian viewpoint if we can explain it properly.”
Beyond ideology, the investigation also points to stylistic similarities in how Nakamoto and Back discussed certain concepts. It also notes an age match: Nakamoto has often been estimated to be older than 50, and Back is 55.
Back, however, rejects the claim that he is Bitcoin’s creator.
In a post on X, he wrote: “i’m not satoshi, but I was early in laser focus on the positive societal implications of cryptography, online privacy and electronic cash, hence my ~1992 onwards active interest in applied research on ecash, privacy tech on cypherpunks list which led to hashcash and other ideas.”
Addressing the New York Times’ case, he said the points raised amount to “a combination of coincidence and similar phrases from people with similar experience and interests”.
He also poked fun at himself for not accumulating more Bitcoin early on, writing: “Kicking myself for not mining in anger in 2009.”
Still, the investigation notes that Back did agree with a couple of broader assumptions often made about Nakamoto — including that the creator is likely over 50 and from Britain.