Ask HN: Why do people care about Satoshi Nakamoto's identity?

#1

Post by faanghacker » Mon, Feb 26, 2024, 10:23 PM UTC

Why is this even a thing, people wondering about who Satoshi really is? What good would it do for the rest of us to find out his real identity? Bitcoin has already taken off without him publicly revealing himself. There are plenty of cryptocurrency experts out there commenting on it.

Is this just a case of celebrity worship? Or is there something practical that I'm missing?

I have searched this question online and haven't found any threads discussing it. The only results I've found were threads discussing whom he might be, or why he might have chosen to stay anonymous.

Re: Ask HN: Why do people care about Satoshi Nakamoto's identity?

#2

Post by illuminant » Mon, Feb 26, 2024, 10:28 PM UTC

If Craig Wright is Satoshi he can claim it all as his intellectual property, which could be worth billions.

If Satoshi remains a ghost, it belongs to everyone and it is whatever it is.

I think mostly people only want to prove it isn't Craig Wright.

Re: Ask HN: Why do people care about Satoshi Nakamoto's identity?

#3

Post by RicoElectrico » Mon, Feb 26, 2024, 10:37 PM UTC

illuminant wrote: post #2

If Craig Wright is Satoshi he can claim it all as his intellectual property, which could be worth billions. If Satoshi remains a ghost, it belongs to everyone and it is whatever it is. I think mostly people only want to prove it isn't Craig Wright.

Can he, though? On which grounds? Patent not so much because he published it before filing, copyright also is out of question because of MIT licence.

Re: Ask HN: Why do people care about Satoshi Nakamoto's identity?

#4

Post by mikewarot » Tue, Feb 27, 2024, 12:48 AM UTC

Estimates place the size of Satoshi Nakamoto's holdings at between 600,000 BTC and 1.1 million BTC.

The vast majority of Satoshi Nakamoto's wallets received a 50 BTC block reward and have remained dormant since.

If those resources were to come into play, it could cause a major disruption of the value of bitcoin.

Re: Ask HN: Why do people care about Satoshi Nakamoto's identity?

#5

Post by yen223 » Tue, Feb 27, 2024, 12:49 AM UTC

Do people still care? This is the first time in a long time I've seen Satoshi being mentioned at all. Though admittedly I'm not big into crypto.

Re: Ask HN: Why do people care about Satoshi Nakamoto's identity?

#6

Post by sk11001 » Tue, Feb 27, 2024, 12:54 AM UTC

Because it's interesting, someone did a significant thing and we don't know who they are.

> What good would it do for the rest of us to find out his real identity?

Other people's curiosity isn't about you or some potential good that you receive.

Re: Ask HN: Why do people care about Satoshi Nakamoto's identity?

#7

Post by muzani » Tue, Feb 27, 2024, 1:46 AM UTC

mikewarot wrote: post #4

Estimates place the size of Satoshi Nakamoto's holdings at between 600,000 BTC and 1.1 million BTC. The vast majority of Satoshi Nakamoto's wallets received a 50 BTC block reward and have remained dormant since. If those resources were to come into play, it could cause a major disruption of the value of bitcoin.

Also someone with that much wealth probably owes some tax somewhere. He's pretty much El Dorado.

Re: Ask HN: Why do people care about Satoshi Nakamoto's identity?

#8

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Feb 27, 2024, 2:00 AM UTC

mikewarot wrote: post #4

Estimates place the size of Satoshi Nakamoto's holdings at between 600,000 BTC and 1.1 million BTC. The vast majority of Satoshi Nakamoto's wallets received a 50 BTC block reward and have remained dormant since. If those resources were to come into play, it could cause a major disruption of the value of bitcoin.

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: Why do people care about Satoshi Nakamoto's identity?

#9

Post by LiquidSky » Tue, Feb 27, 2024, 3:00 AM UTC

You’re really overthinking this.

It’s a mystery. People like mysteries. People naturally want to see mysteries solved. It’s that simple.

Re: Ask HN: Why do people care about Satoshi Nakamoto's identity?

#10

Post by aaronrobinson » Tue, Feb 27, 2024, 3:06 AM UTC

yen223 wrote: post #5

Do people still care? This is the first time in a long time I've seen Satoshi being mentioned at all. Though admittedly I'm not big into crypto.

They care. A bunch of previously unseen by the public emails got released of them interacting with others thought to be candidates. I expect they’re dead, already captured by the American Stasi or is hiding very well from them.