Newsweek claims to have found, and reveals, bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto

[catsmate]

Did You Invent Bitcoin?

I like Slate's take on the "story".

Newsweek reintroduced itself to the world this week with a fascinating and meticulously researched cover story that definitively proves that the mysterious creator of bitcoin is in fact … well, might be … er, at least has several things in common with a 64-year-old Los Angeles-area man whose birth name was Satoshi Nakamoto. But is that Satoshi Nakamoto the Satoshi Nakamoto? Or does the real Satoshi Nakamoto still lurk among us, chortling to himself or herself or themselves as he/she/they post(s) laconic denials on obscure social networks?

Take the quiz.

 

[Donal]

That is some sensationalist, leading, God-in-the-gaps writing there. It seems like an eccetric old man is getting harassed for no reason.

 

[casebro]

Maybe Newsweek s recreating itself in the National Enquirer/Daily Mail genre?

 

[TheL8Elvis]

For starters, newsweek claims that he did provide that admission, but now that seems like it is much more likely a communication error (the man's English is not very good, unlike the bitcoin creator). Seems like the author just wanted it to be him so bad that she was seeing and hearing things that weren't there. This is just an old man that likes trains and free lunches.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmir...lists-interview-with-alleged-bitcoin-creator/

—- FULL STATEMENT from Temple Sheriff’s Station of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department

Suspicious Person Call in Temple City on Feb. 20, 2014
...
“I spoke to the two Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies who handled the call and who were present for the conversation,” said Captain Mike Parker, Sheriff’s Headquarters Bureau, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. “Both sheriff’s deputies agreed that the quotes published in the March 6, 2014, Newsweek magazine Bitcoin article that were attributed to the resident and to one of the deputies were accurate.”

Something actually credible would be convincing, like expertise/interest in cryptography (nondescript "secret government work" doesn't count), examples of previous code written by him, or actual writing samples that match (not just British spellings). One thing we do know is that the Bitcoin creator knew exactly what he was creating! He either wanted to remain anonymous from the start or not. If he didn't, then why is he denying it's him (after a supposed admission)? Why did he use anonymous emails for everything? Literally all she has is that he did secret government work, he's a programmer, his name is Satoshi, and he might have some libertarian views. Those are are pretty generic properties.

Forbes is right about one thing: the truth is boring. In this case, the boring truth is shoddy journalism.

So it seems. I agree, i would like to see some evidence " like expertise/interest in cryptography (nondescript "secret government work" doesn't count), examples of previous code written by him,"
Without any more information than we currently have, it does appear to be a case of poor English and mistaken identity.

 

[Doghouse Reilly]

It may seem silly, but as Cain pointed out, the geographical description of Temple City is so embarassingly poor that it makes me not trust anything else the author says. Temple City is about as far from any "foothills" as it is possible to get. If that's the level of observation the reporter has I would consider anything further he or she writes to be of dubious value at best.

 

[TheL8Elvis]

http://arstechnica.co.uk/tech-polic...o-have-possibly-found-the-creator-of-bitcoin/

Both Wired and Gizmodo have claimed to have discovered the identity of "Satoshi Nakamoto," the anonymous creator of Bitcoin. Unlike previous attempts at identifying the Bitcoin creator, the story is backed by a mound of convincing evidence, which points to an Australian man named Craig Steven Wright.
"We still can’t say with absolute certainty that the mystery is solved," write Andy Greenberg and Gwern Branwen in their report for Wired. "But two possibilities outweigh all others: Either Wright invented bitcoin, or he’s a brilliant hoaxer who very badly wants us to believe he did."

The report is based on a trove of documents leaked to both Branwen and Gizmodo last month, as well as some publicly available evidence. The Gizmodo report, published about an hour after Wired's, includes copies of some of the documents. ....[/I]

So yeah, it wasn't the guy newsweek named