Is “Satoshi Nakamoto” Really Adam Back?

Is “Satoshi Nakamoto” Really Adam Back?

The New York Times has a long article where the author lays out an impressive array of circumstantial evidence that the inventor of Bitcoin is the cypherpunk Adam Back.

I don’t know. The article is convincing, but it’s written to be convincing.

I can’t remember if I ever met Adam. I was a member of the Cypherpunks mailing list for a while, but I was never really an active participant. I spent more time on the Usenet newsgroup sci.crypt. I knew a bunch of the Cypherpunks, though, from various conferences around the world at the time. I really have no opinion about who Satoshi Nakamoto really is.

Tags: bitcoin , cryptocurrency , pseudonymity

Posted on April 20, 2026 at 7:07 AM • 2 Comments

Sidebar photo of Bruce Schneier by Joe MacInnis.