Researcher: Bitcoin Creator’s Identity Is Not A Mystery, It’s Canadian Cryptographer James A. Donald. Image: Nubai/Moguldom
There’s been speculation about the true identity of the bitcoin creator – who’s known only by the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto – since the cryptocurrency was first introduced. Now one researcher believes he’s cracked the case.
Gerald Votta, director of GameFi research (a combination of gaming and DeFi) at research and analysis firm Quantum Economics, said bitcoin’s true creator is Canadian cryptographer James A. Donald. Votta revealed the reasoning behind his theory in a Nov. 16 article published on Medium.
“I know who Satoshi Nakamoto is. You are probably saying ‘sure, sure, we’ve never heard that one before.’ However, before you throw me in the volcano, hear me out,” Votta wrote. “I assure you, that after we make this deep dive into Satoshi’s mind, the evidence might not be sufficient for a court of law, but it certainly adds another candidate to the short list.”
The “short list” Votta is referring to includes computer scientist Hal Finney, retired physicist Dorian Satoshi Nakamoto, computer scientist and cryptographer Nick Szabo and Australian computer scientist and businessman Craig Wright (who has mainly pushed this theory himself), according to Cointelegraph.
However, Votta believes it is Donald because Donald was the first person to reply to Satoshi’s original white paper on bitcoin in 2008, among other findings. “The timing was very suspicious, it was almost instantaneous, and led me to look further into his life,” Votta wrote.
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Votta further noted that Donald’s comment on the paper, as well as the use of his digital signature along with it, aroused his suspicions. As Votta dug deeper in the search for the bitcoin creator’s identity, he said he found compelling evidence that it was Donald.
Upon analyzing both Satoshi and Donald’s use of language – including a preference for the word “Chaumian” – Votta said there were staggering similarities. He also added both men possessed the education and skill set to pull off creating bitcoin, noting that bitcoin’s creator “would need to have degrees or a deep understanding of computer science, law, mathematics, economics, cryptography and game theory, to name a few.”
In his article, Votte wrote, “Not only did Donald have an advanced understanding of computers, programming, and cryptography, he was well versed in economics, history, and law. It would be his own words, however, which helped me connect him to Satoshi Nakamoto.”
In addition, Votta told Cointelegraph it was very unlikely that Donald could have come up with such a question to bitcoin’s original paper in such a short amount of time.
“If you look at the timing, Donald comments like minutes after the Bitcoin White Paper is put up and asks such a specific question to Satoshi — How could you read the White Paper, analyze it, and come up with this amazing scaling question in like three minutes? It’s almost impossible,” Votta said.
