The identity of Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin, has once again come under scrutiny following a recent investigation by The New York Timeswhich points to British cryptographer Adam Back as a leading candidate.
The report, authored by journalist John Carreyrou, cites an analysis of archived emails from cryptography mailing lists dating back to 1992–2008. According to the investigation, artificial intelligence tools were used to examine linguistic patterns in the correspondence, drawing parallels between Nakamoto’s known writings and Back’s earlier posts.
According to the analysis, Back emerged as the closest match to Satoshi’s writing style — including quirks such as avoiding hyphens in compound words and occasionally mixing up “its” and “it’s.”
Back, however, has firmly rejected the claim.
Writing on X, he said the findings were “a combination of coincidence and similar phrases from people with similar experience and interests.”
“I’m not satoshi, but I was early in laser focus on the positive societal implications of cryptography, online privacy and electronic cash… which led to hashcash and other ideas.”
Back’s profile has long made him a plausible suspect. He is the creator of Hashcash — a proof-of-work system later used in Bitcoin — and currently serves as CEO of Blockstream.
“@JohnCarreyrou in his NYT research finds like @AaronvanW in his “genesis block” book, many interesting bitcoin analogs in early attempts to create a decentralized ecash, in effect prototype ideas trying to figure out a bitcoin-like thing, including p2p, BGP, proof of work. for his quote “I’m not saying I’m good with words but I sure did a lot of yakking on these lists actually” the broader context was my observation that because I was talkative on the list, and known to have an active interest in ecash, there’s some confirmation bias in finding my comments frequently on ecash topics, due to my volume I’d more likely have commented than others with similar interests but posting 20x less. i offered this to John as an explanation of why this can be seen as a form confirmation bias, that should be statistically corrected for.(sic)”
Even Back acknowledged to the Times that he fits the general profile of Satoshi, describing it as “probable” that the creator was a British cypherpunk in their fifties.
“I also don’t know who satoshi is, and i think it is good for bitcoin that this is the case, as it helps bitcoin be viewed a new asset class, the mathematically scarce digital commodity,” Back further added.
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Echoing the denial, a report by the BBC quoted Back dismissing the findings as a case of “confirmation bias.” He reiterated: “I’m not satoshi.”
The BBC report also noted that the Times’ analysis linked Back’s online activity timeline with Satoshi’s disappearance after the publication of Bitcoin’s white paper.
The mystery surrounding Satoshi Nakamoto continues to captivate the tech and financial world, not least because of the vast fortune associated with the identity.
Estimates suggest Satoshi may control over one million Bitcoins — roughly 5% of total supply — potentially worth around $70 billion at current valuations.
Back himself joked about missing out on early gains, writing: “Kicking myself for not mining in anger in 2009.”
This is not the first time individuals have been linked to Bitcoin’s creator.
In recent years, figures such as Peter Todd, Dorian Nakamoto, and Craig Wright have all been identified or have claimed to be Satoshi — assertions that were later disputed or debunked.
For many in the crypto community, however, the anonymity itself is integral to Bitcoin’s ethos. Despite fresh attempts to solve the puzzle, the true identity behind Satoshi Nakamoto remains as elusive as ever.
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