The New York Times published an investigation on Wednesday suggesting that Adam Back—the British creator of Hashcash—may be the person behind the Satoshi Nakamoto identity.
Back rejected the claim, telling Cointelegraph he would refer reporters to a post on X, where he reiterated previous denials. In the post, he said he is not Satoshi, noting his long-standing interest in cryptography, online privacy, and electronic cash dating back to the early 1990s, which led to his work on Hashcash and related ideas.
The investigation was led by John Carreyrou, known for uncovering the Theranos fraud. It argues that Back—who was cited in the Bitcoin white paper—had been discussing electronic cash for years, then appeared to go quiet around the time Bitcoin emerged, before resurfacing after Satoshi disappeared.
While the report revives one of Bitcoin’s longest-running mysteries, its conclusions remain circumstantial and lack definitive cryptographic proof. It also draws on stylometric analysis, suggesting similarities in writing style between Back and Satoshi, including formatting patterns, hyphenation, and technical language, though it stops short of calling this evidence conclusive.
The report claims that among contributors to the Cypherpunks, Cryptography, and Hashcash mailing lists, Adam Back stood out for specific linguistic patterns that appeared to match those of Satoshi Nakamoto. These included hyphenating “proof-of-work,” referencing the lesser-known Russian payment system WebMoney, using the term “partial pre-image,” and discussing the concept of “burning the money” in relation to digital currency—phrases and ideas also found in Satoshi’s writings, according to the report.
Adam Back’s career mirrors Satoshi’s path
The investigation also argues that Back’s professional trajectory aligns with what might be expected of Bitcoin’s creator. Journalist John Carreyrou noted that Back initially kept his distance from Bitcoin before becoming deeply involved in 2013, co-founding Blockstream, recruiting prominent developers, and helping raise over $1 billion.
“It all seemed consistent with what Satoshi might do if he decided to reappear under the cover of his real name and take back the reins of his creation,” the report said.
Back has repeatedly denied being Satoshi. “I’m not. But also the documentary will presumably be wrong, as no one knows who Satoshi is,” he wrote in 2024, responding to an HBO documentary that identified Peter Todd as the pseudonymous creator—an assertion Todd also rejected.
Crypto community remains skeptical
The crypto community has largely pushed back against the new claims. Jameson Lopp, co-founder and chief security officer of Casa, said that Satoshi Nakamoto “can’t be caught with stylometric analysis.”
John Carreyrou himself acknowledged the limitations of the investigation, noting that it does not constitute definitive proof. He added that only cryptographic evidence would serve as a true “smoking gun,” according to a post on X.
