Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Man Denies He's Bitcoin Founder

hosted.ap.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

101–110 of 123 posts

Re: Man Denies He's Bitcoin Founder

#101

Post by dinkumthinkum »

hristov wrote: post #47

I do not believe him. There are just too many coincidences there. This is not a common name. What are the chances you find someone that has the math and engineering knowledge to create bitcoin and has not been busy with anything else during the relevant period among the "several" people that newsweek found having that name in the entire world. He is probably scared for his life and scared for the safety of his family…

Eh do you think it is an uncommon name and scared for his life? Are Bill Gates or Warren Buffet paralyzed with fear?

Re: Man Denies He's Bitcoin Founder

#102

Post by dinkumthinkum »

jballanc wrote: post #84

Hahaha...well played! This guy, whoever he is, is definitely one step ahead of the rest of us. Anyone with a modicum of intelligence would know that it's effectively impossible to remain truly anonymous in this day and age. So what do you do if you want to be left alone? Either you make sure you have enough "insurance" that no one would risk messing with you, or you play the system against itself: leak just enough in…

This is strange ... Really ... But I thought I'd say, have you ever thought that some people may have succeeded in being "anonymous" or hidden by the simple that you have not heard of them?

Re: Man Denies He's Bitcoin Founder

#103

Post by dinkumthinkum »

fleitz wrote: post #26
mililani wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm thinking more like a huge lawsuit.

Libel? Slander? Where's the suit? If this guy actually is Satoshi the last thing in the world he wants is to be on a witness stand. Opening a case against Newsweek lets them subpoena all sorts of records that they aren't entitled to with out a case, primarily because the truth is a defence to slander / libel, and if this guy loses then he's forever Satoshi. Also it's going to be pretty difficult to prove that he suff…

I know you may not mean this ... But, it is interesting to think of being "accused" if creating Bitcoin as "slander."

Re: Man Denies He's Bitcoin Founder

#104

Post by hristov »

dinkumthinkum wrote: post #101
hristov wrote: post #47

I do not believe him. There are just too many coincidences there. This is not a common name. What are the chances you find someone that has the math and engineering knowledge to create bitcoin and has not been busy with anything else during the relevant period among the "several" people that newsweek found having that name in the entire world. He is probably scared for his life and scared for the safety of his family…

Eh do you think it is an uncommon name and scared for his life? Are Bill Gates or Warren Buffet paralyzed with fear?

It would be very difficult to rob Bill Gates or Warren Buffet and get away with it. Their money is mostly in the records of various banks, brokerage houses, corporations etc. It would be very difficult to steal that without being immediately traced.

It seems much easier to steal bitcoin. None of the significant bitcoin thieves have been caught thus far, and we are talking large sums being stolen.

Regarding his name being uncommon, I have to admit, I know little of Japanese names or how common they are. I trusted the Newsweek article which suggested the name was very uncommon and they also kind of suggested that they checked all the Satoshi Nakamotos they could find on record. But of course they may be wrong.

Re: Man Denies He's Bitcoin Founder

#105

Post by maaku »

fleitz wrote: post #36
maaku wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bill Gates spends millions a year on personal security. What if this guy is not actually worth millions of dollars?

Then he has to suffer through the horror and agony of having someone knock on his door, and having the police escort them off his property. I'm not sure if he'll fully recover from that kind of trauma.

He has hundreds of millions of dollars in untraceable (if you know what you are doing) e-currency, protected only by keys presumably on his person, in his house, or otherwise nearby.

It's unfortunately not uncommon for strangers to be killed over a few thousand dollars cash. Apparently professional hit men charge only a little more than that.

Are you really suggesting that the worst he might endure is annoying reporters knocking at the door?

Re: Man Denies He's Bitcoin Founder

#106

Post by Zikes »

nikcub wrote: post #64
Zikes wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There was a separate post where a small business owner in New York claimed to have met the man in 2011 when he made a purchase at his store. People then started demanding the transaction ID so they could try to track down his wallet. It was filled with claims that it's not doxxing because NewsWeek posted his address already, that Bitcoin users should have no expectation of anonymity, it could have huge ramifications…

> People then started demanding the transaction ID so they could try to track down his wallet. All of the top comments in that thread[0] specifically asked not to publish the transaction id, but some people just want to interpret things the way they want to interpret things. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7354326

All the top comments in that thread[0] had to start somewhere, but some people just want to interpret things the way they want to interpret things.

[0] http://i.imgur.com/qQyBZKL.gif

Re: Man Denies He's Bitcoin Founder

#107

Post by declan »

nilkn wrote: post #65
Aqueous wrote: post #50

Ok, I'm sorry but there are some serious inconsistencies here. Leah McGrath Goodman said that after she asked him about BitCoin he promptly stopped emailing her. The timeline is unclear, but it seems like this was before Goodman contacted his family members. Why would she contact his family members if she was directly talking to him and they could blow her pretext of wanting to talk about model trains? This strongly…

Those quotes are extremely suggestive that he was indeed involved in Bitcoin--so suggestive that it's clear that either they are fabricated or he is not being truthful in the newer interviews.

Or the reporter misunderstood, and English wasn't his first language. Which certainly seems to be the case. See the AP's updated story.

Re: Man Denies He's Bitcoin Founder

#108

Post by declan »

Steko wrote: post #23

Man says X, later claims not X. Bitcoin enthusiasts declare total victory for not X, call for tar and feathering of company that published X. No harm in giving this some time and seeing if "Man Denies He's Bitcoin Founder" turns out to filed next to[1] "Man Denies Connection to Olympic Bombing" or next to "OJ Announces Search For Real Killers". [1] pedantry disclaimer: not meant as perfect analogies

Except there's no evidence he said X in the first place. See the AP's writethru.

Re: Man Denies He's Bitcoin Founder

#109

Post by Steko »

declan wrote: post #108
Steko wrote: post #23

Man says X, later claims not X. Bitcoin enthusiasts declare total victory for not X, call for tar and feathering of company that published X. No harm in giving this some time and seeing if "Man Denies He's Bitcoin Founder" turns out to filed next to[1] "Man Denies Connection to Olympic Bombing" or next to "OJ Announces Search For Real Killers". [1] pedantry disclaimer: not meant as perfect analogies

Except there's no evidence he said X in the first place. See the AP's writethru.

Gonna file your comment under "Bitcoin enthusiasts declare total victory for not X"

On what planet is this not evidence:

"Newsweek writer Leah McGrath Goodman, who spent two months researching the story, told the AP: "I stand completely by my exchange with Mr. Nakamoto. There was no confusion whatsoever about the context of our conversation -- and his acknowledgment of his involvement in Bitcoin."

Re: Man Denies He's Bitcoin Founder

#110

Post by declan »

jballanc wrote: post #84

Hahaha...well played! This guy, whoever he is, is definitely one step ahead of the rest of us. Anyone with a modicum of intelligence would know that it's effectively impossible to remain truly anonymous in this day and age. So what do you do if you want to be left alone? Either you make sure you have enough "insurance" that no one would risk messing with you, or you play the system against itself: leak just enough in…

I've used anonymous sources in many articles. All were published in the Internet era. Not one of my sources was ever involuntarily outed, as far as I know.
Post reply on HN