PEOPLEBITCOIN

Satoshi Nakamoto is not just one person? Adam Cochran: Hal Finney is only one of the main figures behind Satoshi Nakamoto

share
Satoshi Nakamoto is not just one person? Adam Cochran: Hal Finney is only one of the main figures behind Satoshi Nakamoto

Venture capital partner Adam Cochran tweeted that he believes Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto may have been a collaboration between 1 to 2 individuals, including Hal Finney, based on factors such as the timing and health conditions of both Satoshi and Hal, as well as evidence from Hal rejoining Bitcoin development after Satoshi's departure, indicating a collaborative effort behind Bitcoin.

Adam Cochran: Hal Finney Played a Key Role Behind Satoshi Nakamoto

As the legal battle between Craig Wright of nChain and the Cryptocurrency Open Patent Alliance (COPA) heats up, and with the early collaborator of Satoshi Nakamoto, Martti Malmi, publicly releasing a 120-page email conversation between them on GitHub yesterday, the mystery surrounding Satoshi Nakamoto continues to deepen.

In response, Adam Cochran has cited various data and evidence claiming that Hal Finney, an early contributor to Bitcoin, played a significant role behind Satoshi Nakamoto:

I have long believed Hal Finney was a key figure behind Satoshi Nakamoto, alongside 1 or 2 other minor characters.

Evidence 1: Changes in Work and Health Conditions

The emails indicate that in July 2009, Satoshi Nakamoto had another job, coinciding with Hal working at PGP company; Hal was then diagnosed with ALS in August, during which Satoshi Nakamoto mentioned he would be very busy and disappeared for a while.

Satoshi Nakamoto says, “pretty busy with work”

From March to May 2010, Satoshi Nakamoto disappeared again for a few months citing being busy with work, coinciding with PGP being acquired by Symantec and Hal's deteriorating health condition.

Evidence 2: Satoshi Nakamoto's Fade-out and Hal Finney's Return

Subsequently, Satoshi Nakamoto gradually faded out of the Bitcoin community from 2010 to 2021, while Hal re-engaged in the Bitcoin community on Bitcointalk and became active in discussions, later proposing a new method for accelerating Bitcoin network signatures.

It was noted that in December of that year, Satoshi Nakamoto sent an email to all major contributors requesting to list them on the website; however, his name was not included, indicating his imminent withdrawal, which was not publicly disclosed.

Satoshi Nakamoto inquiries with other major Bitcoin contributors

During Satoshi Nakamoto's decision to fade out between 2010-2011, many long-term Bitcoin holders' wallets were created, yet no withdrawals were made.

Finally, in February and April 2011, Satoshi Nakamoto sent an email to Martti Malmi and Andresen, respectively, with a website administrator password in one email and a private email in the other, indicating he had shifted his focus to other matters.

Meanwhile, Hal was focusing on Bitcoin signatures and verification during this time.

Evidence 3: Hal Finney's Account

In March 2013, Hal released an article titled "Bitcoin and Me," which had significant relevance to Satoshi Nakamoto's timeline of activities.

Physical Decline Corresponding to Satoshi Nakamoto's Absence

Hal claimed he was diagnosed with ALS in 2009, and his health deteriorated rapidly before and after diagnosis, coinciding with Satoshi Nakamoto's absence in 2009 and 2010.

Forced Retirement from a Certain "Identity"?

Hal also mentioned that he was "forced to retire" in early 2011, precisely when Satoshi Nakamoto handed over control of the Bitcoin community to others.

Hal Finney's "Bitcoin and Me" article

However, Hal had already left the company he was working for when the PGP enterprise was acquired in 2010, and he did not serve in any capacity in 2011:

Hal Finney was still coding at this time, working on projects like BFlick until 2013. He mentioned that even though he was slowing down, coding still gave him a sense of purpose in life. So, what exactly did he "retire" from in 2011?

In other words, Hal may not have retired from a company or his work but from a certain "identity role."

Additionally, Hal revealed that he moved most of his bitcoins to offline wallets in 2010, as part of his legacy for his family and future generations; this aligns with the creation of numerous offline wallets around that time, indicating that he took precautions upon rejoining Bitcoin development.

Evidence 4: Changes in Email Language Style

Finally, in the early Bitcoin whitepaper and emails, Satoshi Nakamoto's language and spelling seem to have changed.

It was noted that the Bitcoin abstract section used the term "we present," indicating that Bitcoin was a result of a team effort:

Although some argue that certain aspects of Bitcoin's design do not match Hal Finney's style and involve multiple disciplines, Satoshi Nakamoto frequently sought support and collaboration in emails with other contributors.

Furthermore, some early emails contained British spelling or terms like "commonwealth," but after Hal's return, Satoshi Nakamoto's spelling began to change, for example, from "realize" in 2009 to "realise" in 2010.

Satoshi Nakamoto's spelling change from "realize" in 2009 to "realise" in 2010

This change in spelling may suggest two scenarios: Satoshi Nakamoto was trying to conceal his writing style or the Bitcoin project itself involved collaboration with others.

Zhu Su: Stop Doxxing Satoshi Nakamoto

Following the events surrounding the Craig Wright case and the public release of the 2009 email content, Zhu Su, the founder of Three Arrows Capital, suggested avoiding doxxing Satoshi Nakamoto and recommended sealing related information for at least 30 years before making it public.

Prior to this, blockchain researcher Jameson Lopp took a stance against this, stating that Hal Finney could not be Satoshi Nakamoto.

In Search of Bitcoin's Father: Jameson Lopp Provides Evidence that Hal Finney is Not Satoshi Nakamoto