08.04.2026 11:12
The New York Times conducted a thorough and lengthy investigation that has again brought to light the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto, the mysterious creator of Bitcoin. Published on April 8th, the in-depth research strongly indicates that Adam Back, the 55-year-old CEO of Blockstream, is the most likely candidate after a year of investigation. The Times’ argument is based on a detailed analysis of Satoshi’s writing style, utilizing a large archive of digital correspondence spanning nearly three decades.
The investigative team, headed by reporter John Carreyrou – a journalist known for his critical work on Theranos – undertook a complex project. For over a year, they carefully examined Satoshi’s known writings alongside a massive 34,000 posts from three major cryptography mailing lists active between 1992 and 2008. Working with Dylan Freedman, the team built an extensive database containing 134,308 individual posts, carefully evaluating the contributions of 620 potential candidates who discussed digital currency in these online communities.
Using a multi-pronged approach, the investigation employed three distinct writing analyses to evaluate stylistic similarities. Each analysis independently pointed to Adam Back as the closest match to Satoshi’s unique writing patterns. Notably, one analysis focused on subtle grammatical peculiarities, identifying 325 distinct instances of hyphenation errors in Satoshi’s documented work. Remarkably, Back mirrored 67 of these specific errors, with the second-most similar individual showing only 38. Through a rigorous filtering process, the team further narrowed the pool of suspects, incorporating criteria such as British spelling conventions, consistent double-spacing between sentences, and particular hyphenation patterns – alongside the deliberate use of terms like “e-mail” and “email.” This meticulous process ultimately reduced the field to a single individual: Adam Back.
The investigation’s methodology is visually represented in a filtering chart, showing the significant reduction in the number of potential candidates, moving from an initial pool of 34,000 to a focused assessment of just one person. This concentrated approach emphasized the depth of the research and the strength of the evidence.
Beyond stylistic similarities, the investigation revealed a significant technical and behavioral connection. Adam Back had, in fact, outlined nearly every fundamental element of Bitcoin – including its decentralized nature, privacy features, built-in scarcity, and trustless protocol – on the Cypherpunks mailing list between 1997 and 1999. This occurred a full decade before the publication of Bitcoin’s foundational whitepaper, suggesting a remarkably forward-thinking understanding of the technology’s core principles. Furthermore, Back had proposed incorporating his groundbreaking Hashcash invention into this early electronic cash system, laying the groundwork for the proof-of-work mechanism that remains central to Bitcoin’s security.
