Another question which quickly arose was, given that Satoshi’s accounts were compromised, perhaps the message a few months earlier from Satoshi was inauthentic. In March 2014 Satoshi posted on the P2P Foundation forum stating:
I am not Dorian Nakamoto
This was a response, possibly from Satoshi, to Leah McGrath Goodman’s unsubstantiated and quite frankly stupid Newsweek story claiming someone called Dorian Nakamoto was Satoshi Nakamoto. (The only evidence was the similar name).
However, it should be noted that the leaked screenshot from the email account contains a P2P Foundation password reset email from 8th September 2014. Therefore perhaps the hacker only gained access to the P2P Foundation forum on 8th September 2014 and the “I am not Dorian Nakamoto” post could therefore have been made by the real Satoshi.
"
Could have been by the real Satoshi... Or could have not been as there is later evidence it was clearly hacked. We just can't be sure when.
Basically, to paraphrase a famous aphorism: not his keys not his identity. If it's written on the Bitcoin blockchain with Satoshi Bitcoin keys, then it's "Satoshi enough." As who holds the keys (if anybody any more) is really the important thing.
Ah, thank you, I had at best a vague recollection of this ... but am I reading correctly that there's no clear evidence of a compromise before September 2014? Definitely "might have been earlier" but no specific reason to think the March messages were fake? Except of course that it's strange Satoshi would specifically speak up after having been radio silent for ~3 years. Either way, the HBO thing aired and their target was ... Peter Todd? Okay guys!
And, yeah, I think the likelihood that someone else posted as Nakamoto after Nakamoto stopped posting (e.g. because dead) is actually much higher than Nakamoto accidentally posted as his IRL-identity Peter Todd.
The post on the Bitcoin forum when read with the theory a-priori in mind of someone forgetting to change identities, seems very plausible a mistake made by Satoshi. When reframed as snark, per BitMex, that interpretation disappears. The big question is, do either of the users use asterisk-space-word-space-asterisk for emphasis solely, or do both, and to what degrees. That is important (did not watch the documentary, nor read the tweet directly, to see if brought up--I would ask the BitMex researcher).
Here's a plausible for you. Len Sassaman dies. His wife (I believe wife and not fiancée, can't remember) knows he was Satoshi, maybe she has the keys, maybe she does not. But she has at least the forum password. Knows that her husband wouldn't want this other guy harassed, so posts to say this other guy is not Satoshi.
Or, again, someone else figures out the way to get into the forum and does it. This is probably even more likely than the wife angle. Were it not for the tragedy of suicide, I'd say that's just "fun" to think about. And I could see a grieving wife respecting wishes over using access to billions of dollars, and still caring enough to use other access to help a poor, miss-doxxed individual.
Anyway, more likely someone curious, but not scammy, got into Satoshi's bitcoin forum and email before the scammer. Someone who also doesn't want this unfortunately named individual to be unfortunately named. They post this message, then the scammer realizes an attack vector exists, and much more clumsily uses it, exposing the vulnerability.
So, all in all, doubt it's Todd.
So, when's the bidding war going to start for Sassaman's old house/residence so they can tear it apart looking for a piece of paper with an alphanumeric string on it?
Hello CoinDesk readers:
https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2024/10/09/the-protocol-peter-todd-wants-to-fix-satoshis-bitcoin-bugs/
Oh neat, thanks for the heads up
But... https://blog.bitmex.com/satoshis-2014-email-hack/
"
Dorian Nakamoto
Another question which quickly arose was, given that Satoshi’s accounts were compromised, perhaps the message a few months earlier from Satoshi was inauthentic. In March 2014 Satoshi posted on the P2P Foundation forum stating:
I am not Dorian Nakamoto
This was a response, possibly from Satoshi, to Leah McGrath Goodman’s unsubstantiated and quite frankly stupid Newsweek story claiming someone called Dorian Nakamoto was Satoshi Nakamoto. (The only evidence was the similar name).
However, it should be noted that the leaked screenshot from the email account contains a P2P Foundation password reset email from 8th September 2014. Therefore perhaps the hacker only gained access to the P2P Foundation forum on 8th September 2014 and the “I am not Dorian Nakamoto” post could therefore have been made by the real Satoshi.
"
Could have been by the real Satoshi... Or could have not been as there is later evidence it was clearly hacked. We just can't be sure when.
Basically, to paraphrase a famous aphorism: not his keys not his identity. If it's written on the Bitcoin blockchain with Satoshi Bitcoin keys, then it's "Satoshi enough." As who holds the keys (if anybody any more) is really the important thing.
Ah, thank you, I had at best a vague recollection of this ... but am I reading correctly that there's no clear evidence of a compromise before September 2014? Definitely "might have been earlier" but no specific reason to think the March messages were fake? Except of course that it's strange Satoshi would specifically speak up after having been radio silent for ~3 years. Either way, the HBO thing aired and their target was ... Peter Todd? Okay guys!
Yeah, no proof it was hacked/exploited before.
And, yeah, I think the likelihood that someone else posted as Nakamoto after Nakamoto stopped posting (e.g. because dead) is actually much higher than Nakamoto accidentally posted as his IRL-identity Peter Todd.
Again I turn to BitMex research, this time a tweet, mentioned in a cointelegraph.com article (at least this way I can avoid linking to Twitter: https://cointelegraph.com/news/hbo-documentary-peter-todd-satoshi-nakamoto -- also I think I will forever call it Twitter just to spite the X).
The post on the Bitcoin forum when read with the theory a-priori in mind of someone forgetting to change identities, seems very plausible a mistake made by Satoshi. When reframed as snark, per BitMex, that interpretation disappears. The big question is, do either of the users use asterisk-space-word-space-asterisk for emphasis solely, or do both, and to what degrees. That is important (did not watch the documentary, nor read the tweet directly, to see if brought up--I would ask the BitMex researcher).
Here's a plausible for you. Len Sassaman dies. His wife (I believe wife and not fiancée, can't remember) knows he was Satoshi, maybe she has the keys, maybe she does not. But she has at least the forum password. Knows that her husband wouldn't want this other guy harassed, so posts to say this other guy is not Satoshi.
Or, again, someone else figures out the way to get into the forum and does it. This is probably even more likely than the wife angle. Were it not for the tragedy of suicide, I'd say that's just "fun" to think about. And I could see a grieving wife respecting wishes over using access to billions of dollars, and still caring enough to use other access to help a poor, miss-doxxed individual.
Anyway, more likely someone curious, but not scammy, got into Satoshi's bitcoin forum and email before the scammer. Someone who also doesn't want this unfortunately named individual to be unfortunately named. They post this message, then the scammer realizes an attack vector exists, and much more clumsily uses it, exposing the vulnerability.
So, all in all, doubt it's Todd.
So, when's the bidding war going to start for Sassaman's old house/residence so they can tear it apart looking for a piece of paper with an alphanumeric string on it?