Actually Who Owns Bitcoin, More than a Decade and the Mystery Remains

Although Bitcoin has seen a simultaneous decrease over the past months, this cryptocurrency is still the top dog in the finance industry. Thus, we can say that people still put their belief in Bitcoin. Among other things, the mystery about who owns Bitcoin is also intriguing.

Unlike Facebook which everyone knew was developed by Mark Zuckerberg during his years at Harvard, no one knows who the Bitcoin creator was. Until today, with more than 180 million users all over the world, the owner is still unknown.

Bitcoin as the Game Changer

Aside from the intriguing mystery surrounding who owns Bitcoin, the idea itself is interesting. Each transaction in Bitcoin is based on peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions. Also, the ecosystem is built in a decentralized manner. Thus, there’s no organization to authorize the transaction.

Because, unlike the other payment method, Bitcoin uses blockchain to do the transaction. Due to that reason, each digital transaction that happens will be secure and fraud-free.

This is because when a transaction happens, it will be recorded in every computer connected to the blockchain. Thus, when there’s a change in a block unit in the chain, the entire chain will have the corrected version as well.

Hence, the decentralized design itself will be extremely difficult to hack and forge the data. If so, you have to hack on every single computer that is connected to the system out there.

The Mystery of Bitcoin Owner

This cryptocurrency concept was first announced in a message in 2008 by someone under the name of Satoshi Nakamoto. The name was only a pseudonym because of the lack of appearance even after over a decade.

Even after cryptocurrency became a game changer in the finance industry, the name itself is still heavily guarded. Until today, there are some claims that behind the name is only one person or a group. Some said it was only a creator and others believed it was the creators.

It seems like the famous Mr. Nakamoto is unfazed by the popularity of Bitcoin. Or the reason is the opposite, where (presumably) he enjoys the attention while keeping himself behind the shadow.

Some Theories Behind the Pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto

With the rollercoaster development of Bitcoin for the past decade, the speculation about who owns Bitcoin has still become a hot topic. Some people come with the names, such as:

1. Dorian Nakamoto

The theory proposed by Newsweek in 2014 is due to the same Japanese heritage, even the same surname. Further, the mainstream publisher claimed the idea also because of the same background from the two Nakamoto as an engineer.

Although Newsweek stated that Dorian Nakamoto was the founder of Bitcoin, the engineer stepped down already. Yet the one major mistake they made was to feature Dorian’s home picture in the article. This makes Dorian feel his privacy has been invaded.

Even though Dorian Nakamoto denied the claim, of course, he gained profit. With the publication, a crypto-enthusiast who happened to be a tech entrepreneur launched crowdfunding for Dorian to show support.

Around 2k supporters made donations which gathered 47.5 Bitcoin. With the Bitcoin value at that time, approximately the donation reached 20k.

2. Craig Wright

The second name mentioned was Craig Wright by Wired Magazine in late 2015. The claim is based on Wright’s answer when the Australian scientist appeared at Bitcoin Investors Conference in Las Vegas when asked about his credentials.

He told the audience that he was “a bit of everything”. Also, he said that he had been involved (with Bitcoin) for a long time and trying to keep a low profile.

Another argument for Craig Wright was the one behind the pseudonym because of a post regarding a cryptocurrency paper on his blog. The post-dated months before the famous “P2P e-cash paper” message.

Unlike Dorian Nakamoto, Wright agreed with the claim and stated he tried his best to hide his identity but failed. Yet, people doubted him in the end because of his inconsistent story. The major break of this story is because the post in his blog is dated backward.

3. Nick Szabo

Compared to the two names, Nick Szabo is the most popular one. Some said he is Satoshi Nakamoto because of his background as a computer engineer and a legal scholar. Also, he often created works that related to finance.

In his book Bitcoin: The Future of Money, Dominic Frisby referred to Szabo as the Bitcoin founder. This is because Frisby saw the similarity between Shabo and Nakamoto’s writing styles and consulted a stylometrics expert.

Even Elon Musk, the man behind Tesla, agreed with Frisby’s claim. But Szabo denied the claim and stated that Frisby made the mistake of identifying him as Nakamoto.

Although Bitcoin’s price keeps plummeting in the past months, it is still worth any real money you know out there. Also, as long as the real Satoshi Nakamoto does not reveal himself, the question of who owns Bitcoin still becomes a mystery.