Since 2009, the world of technology has been running out of steam to identify Satoshi Nakamoto. Because this pseudonym hides the inventor of Bitcoin: he is today a legendary figure, not only for his mathematical genius but also for his absolute discretion. At the head of a treasure estimated at 1.1 million bitcoins, this individual (or group) has a fortune capable of rocking the global digital economy in a single movement of funds.
And if his identity has remained unknown, it is out of ideological necessity. For Bitcoin to establish itself as a decentralized currency, it had to have neither face nor leader to arrest or corrupt. But after sixteen years of mystery, a thorough investigation of New York Times has just named a more than likely suspect: the British computer scientist and cryptographer Adam Back.
A digital fingerprint impossible to erase
The investigation was based on massive statistical analysis. By sifting through more than 130,000 messages posted on specialized forums since the 1990s, computer-assisted linguistics experts discovered a unique signature.
Adam Back is the only one, among thousands of candidates, to share the same writing habits as Satoshi : the use of two spaces after each period, very specific punctuation errors on technical terms, and a curious mixture of British and American spelling.
Even more disturbing, the calendar of activities coincides perfectly. When Satoshi began communicating about launching Bitcoin in 2009, Adam Back suddenly became silent. As soon as Satoshi officially disappeared in 2011, Back reappeared on the public scene.
Finally, on a technical level, Adam Back had described the fundamental pillars of Bitcoin (programmed scarcity, mining by computing power) in 1998, ten years before the publication of the official manifesto.
The face-to-face and the involuntary confession
To get to the bottom of it, journalist John Carreyrou met the cryptographer in El Salvador. If the latter firmly denies being the creator of the currency, his position is very delicate. Because today he runs a company preparing to go public in New York, admitting to holding a hidden fortune of several dozen of billions of dollars would trigger an unprecedented regulatory and fiscal earthquake.
But during the interview, Adam Back got confused by responding in the first person to a remark about Satoshi. The most expensive slip of the tongue in history? Maybe so. If he still refuses to provide the technical evidence that would exonerate him, the noose seems undeniably tightening. After more than a decade, the creator of Bitcoin may no longer be a legend, but a very real businessman.
Après la publication de l’enquête duÂNew York TimesAdam Back published a message on X, denying himself to be Satoshi Nakamoto. He wrote:
“I’m not Satoshi, but I was among the first to focus on the positive societal implications of cryptography, online privacy, and electronic money, hence my active interest, starting around 1992, in applied money research Electronics and privacy technologies on the cypherpunks mailing list, which led to Hashcash and other ideas. »
i’m not satoshi, but I was early in laser focus on the positive societal implications of cryptography, online privacy and electronic cash, hence my ~1992 onwards active interest in applied research on ecash, privacy tech on cypherpunks list which led to hashcash and other ideas.
— Adam Back (@adam3us) April 8, 2026
- Linguistic analyzes by artificial intelligence reveal that Adam Back is the only suspect sharing the writing tics and punctuation errors specific to Satoshi Nakamoto.
- The investigation highlights a disturbing temporal coincidence, Adam Back having become completely silent during the two years when the creator of Bitcoin was active.
- During a confrontation in El Salvador, the cryptographer seemed to betray his secret by responding in the first person to a quote attributed to the inventor of cryptocurrency.
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