Satoshi Nakamoto: A New Investigation Revives the Adam Back Theory

The mystery surrounding the creator of Bitcoin resurfaces. A new investigation by the New York Times points to Adam Back as the probable Satoshi Nakamoto. But between firm denials and weak evidence, the truth still seems out of reach. Are we finally witnessing the end of a myth… or yet another false lead?

An Investigation Revives Adam Back as Possible Creator of Bitcoin

Who is Satoshi Nakamoto? The question has haunted the Bitcoin ecosystem since its creation in 2009, and no one has yet provided a definitive answer. The New York Times is trying its luck again this week, under the pen of John Carreyrou, the French-American journalist who had exposed the Theranos fraud.

In an investigation published this Wednesday, Carreyrou names Adam Back as the prime suspect. Inventor of Hashcash and CEO of Blockstream, the British cryptographer once again finds himself at the center of an attempt to identify Bitcoin’s anonymous creator.

Why him? The clues put forward by Carreyrou are multiple. Back is cited in the original Bitcoin white paper. He actively debated electronic money on the cypherpunk mailing lists as early as 1992. And above all, he disappeared from the public scene… precisely at the moment when Satoshi himself vanished.

The investigation also relies on detailed stylometric analysis. Back’s writing style reportedly shows striking similarities with Nakamoto’s: similar formatting habits, identical hyphenations, and the same technical vocabulary. 

Among the participants in the cypherpunk lists, Back would be the only one to have used the expression “partial pre-image” and to have mentioned the Russian cryptocurrency WebMoney, two markers found in Satoshi’s emails.

His comeback in 2013, with the co-founding of Blockstream, the recruitment of the best Bitcoin developers, and more than a billion dollars raised, also fuels speculation. “All this seemed consistent with what Satoshi might do if he decided to reappear under his real name,” writes Carreyrou.

A Solid Theory… but Without Decisive Proof

Adam Back does not agree. On X, he reaffirmed that he is not Satoshi, and recalled his long-standing commitment to digital privacy and applied cryptography. 

In fact, it is not the first time he has denied it: in 2024, he had already dismissed similar accusations during the release of an HBO documentary that wrongly named Peter Todd as the creator of Bitcoin.

On the crypto community side, skepticism prevails. Jameson Lopp, co-founder of Casa, states: Satoshi “cannot be trapped by stylometric analysis.” Carreyrou himself acknowledges the absence of irrefutable proof. Only cryptographic demonstration, such as signing a message with the private keys of the earliest Bitcoin blocks, would definitively close the debate.

The Satoshi Nakamoto mystery remains one of the greatest enigmas in modern financial history. As long as no cryptographic proof is provided, all theories, no matter how well-supported, will remain mere speculation. And Adam Back, for his part, continues to quietly mine… his reputation.