Some geeks might be interested: Newsweek reveals Bitcoin founder

[vivalarevolución]

http://mag.newsweek.com/2014/03/14/bitcoin-satoshi-nakamoto.html

Personally, I think Newsweek is a bunch a-holes for revealing all this information about a man that obviously wants his privacy.  If he wanted attention, he could easily seek it, and I think the magazine may have destroyed this man's low-key lifestyle. 

And I am sure I am not helping his privacy by posting the article here, but geekhack does not have that much a reach.

[iri]

for those who tl;dr: Sharon Sergeant and Barbara Mathews are *******s. that's the meaning of the whole story.

p.s. i just read an article partially about privacy problems in the us. that newsweek post was like a sequel.

[SpAmRaY]

for those who tl;dr: Sharon Sergeant and Barbara Mathews are *******s. that's the meaning of the whole story.

^^ pretty much this

[vivalarevolución]

for those who tl;dr: Sharon Sergeant and Barbara Mathews are *******s. that's the meaning of the whole story.

p.s. i just read an article partially about privacy problems in the us. that newsweek post was like a sequel.

What does "forensic analyst" even mean?   Nevermind, I just used the power google.

Also, this man's interest in model trains probably explains why Lionel had their best 5 year growth in company history since the launch of bit coin.

[SpAmRaY]

How long before someone makes a movie about the guy 

[vivalarevolución]

How long before someone makes a movie about the guy 

Would not be very interesting.  Here's the plot summary:

(1)  Math, engineering, and computer geek works for defense contractors.
(2)  Loses job and sits at computer creating a cryptocurrency.
(3)  Exchanges emails with fellow geeks to release the cryptocurrency for public use.
(4)  After release of currency, stays out the spotlight for personal reasons.
(5)  Newsweek decided to publish article on guy, invading the privacy that he prefers.

I nominated Ben Kingsley for the part.  He did a good job playing an Indian, I think he could pull off a guy of Japanese origin.

[SpAmRaY]

How long before someone makes a movie about the guy 

Would not be very interesting.  Here's the plot summary:

(1)  Math, engineering, and computer geek works for defense contractors.
(2)  Loses job and sits at computer creating a cryptocurrency.
(3)  Exchanges emails with fellow geeks to release the cryptocurrency for public use.
(4)  After release of currency, stays out the spotlight for personal reasons.
(5)  Newsweek decided to publish article on guy, invading the privacy that he prefers.

I nominated Ben Kingsley for the part.  He did a good job playing an Indian, I think he could pull off a guy of Japanese origin.

But you got all the 'classified', 'he was definitely a spy', and hollywood spin; he also created the housing bubble and is engineering international monetary values for the CIA...oh wait...too much hollywoood.

[intelli78]

I am not sure they have the right guy:

- Bitcoin's creator intentionally hid his identity and never revealed personal details. Why would someone like that use his own middle and last name?

- Reporter seems liberal with use of quotes, e.g., the police officer recognizing the name "Satoshi Nakamoto." That's very unlikely, and casts doubt on the rest of the quotes, e.g., "I have no involvement" vs. "I have no involvement any more."

- Why would the man she interviewed give even tacit acknowledgement of being involved? Why wouldn't he just say: "I have no connection to that project."

- Internet sleuthing is sketchy, but some people have compared BTC creator's messages with online content posted by this Nakamoto, and the level of English proficiency is way, way different.

- To top it all off, everyone at Newsweek is probably under tremendous pressure to break big stories. There is an incentive for mischief.


It's impossible to say definitively without more info, but this is hardly a closed case. Either way, Newsweek totally screwed this guy over.

[berserkfan]

How long before someone makes a movie about the guy 

Would not be very interesting.  Here's the plot summary:

(1)  Math, engineering, and computer geek works for defense contractors.
(2)  Loses job and sits at computer creating a cryptocurrency.
(3)  Exchanges emails with fellow geeks to release the cryptocurrency for public use.
(4)  After release of currency, stays out the spotlight for personal reasons.
(5)  Newsweek decided to publish article on guy, invading the privacy that he prefers.

I nominated Ben Kingsley for the part.  He did a good job playing an Indian, I think he could pull off a guy of Japanese origin.

Classic Ho-wood ****. These guys don't mind paying scriptwriters, makeup artists, and what not tons of money to write out, whitewash and what not every single Asian male lead they can find in a story. Odds are 100:1 the white guys in 90210 will try that stunt again and try to pass off Will Smith as Japanese just to avoid having a real Japanese guy. On my part, I'm sick of it, so I haven't watched Ho-wood products for years. My brain's better off I think.

[jwaz]

Found this on HN this morning, wowee zowee. Poor guy... (as in the frenzy that is about to descend upon him, not his potential net worth)

[iri]

for those who tl;dr: Sharon Sergeant and Barbara Mathews are *******s. that's the meaning of the whole story.

p.s. i just read an article partially about privacy problems in the us. that newsweek post was like a sequel.

What does "forensic analyst" even mean? 

In respect to this article,

[baldgye]

Found this on HN this morning, wowee zowee. Poor guy... (as in the frenzy that is about to descend upon him, not his potential net worth)

Indeed, I kinda wish they had not included pictures of him or his house in the post, he's an old man now and clearly not someone looking for media attention... and they ****ed him for no reason... pretty ****ty

[jwaz]

Found this on HN this morning, wowee zowee. Poor guy... (as in the frenzy that is about to descend upon him, not his potential net worth)

Indeed, I kinda wish they had not included pictures of him or his house in the post, he's an old man now and clearly not someone looking for media attention... and they ****ed him for no reason... pretty ****ty

http://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-bitcoin-founder-la-chased-20140306,0,3692933.story#axzz2vE6PIzWF

:/

https://twitter.com/Wu_Tang_Finance/status/441687643944779778

[vivalarevolución]

Found this on HN this morning, wowee zowee. Poor guy... (as in the frenzy that is about to descend upon him, not his potential net worth)

Indeed, I kinda wish they had not included pictures of him or his house in the post, he's an old man now and clearly not someone looking for media attention... and they ****ed him for no reason... pretty ****ty

Show Image

http://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-bitcoin-founder-la-chased-20140306,0,3692933.story#axzz2vE6PIzWF

:/

https://twitter.com/Wu_Tang_Finance/status/441687643944779778

Media can't resist a good story, even if it means the destruction of one's life.

Just in case you wanted to know how big of an idiot the writer is, here are some of her responses on Twitter.

http://www.businessinsider.com/leah-mcgrath-goodman-responds-2014-3

[intelli78]

AP EXCLUSIVE: MAN DENIES HE'S BITCOIN FOUNDER

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_BITCOIN_FOUNDER_DENIAL?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-03-06-19-35-06

Obviously it's pretty hard to prove a negative like this, and it's possible he is just lying, but as per my earlier post it's also quite possible this guy is telling the complete truth.

[vivalarevolución]

AP EXCLUSIVE: MAN DENIES HE'S BITCOIN FOUNDER

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_BITCOIN_FOUNDER_DENIAL?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-03-06-19-35-06

Obviously it's pretty hard to prove a negative like this, and it's possible he is just lying, but as per my earlier post it's also quite possible this guy is telling the complete truth.

Interesting, considering his quote from the Newsweek article.

"I am no longer involved in that and I cannot discuss it," he says, dismissing all further queries with a swat of his left hand. "It's been turned over to other people. They are in charge of it now. I no longer have any connection."

Either he was misquoted, he lied for the Newsweek article or is lying now, or the reporter is just making up stuff.  Whatever.  Maybe they will get the point and just leave him alone.

[demik]

Found this on HN this morning, wowee zowee. Poor guy... (as in the frenzy that is about to descend upon him, not his potential net worth)

Indeed, I kinda wish they had not included pictures of him or his house in the post, he's an old man now and clearly not someone looking for media attention... and they ****ed him for no reason... pretty ****ty

Show Image

http://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-bitcoin-founder-la-chased-20140306,0,3692933.story#axzz2vE6PIzWF

:/

https://twitter.com/Wu_Tang_Finance/status/441687643944779778

Holy **** that Wu-Tang Twitter account. Wonderful!

[Lanx]

he's gonna be tortured, his family is gonna be threatened, someone will go all hollywood style and kidnap him or someone close and make him give the "bitcoin backdoor", he'll say there is none, and they won't stop... and he can't do anything about it, because he designed it to be 100% hackproof.

how many hundreds of movies are there, where the bank manager is threatened, not b/c he is rich, no, but b/c he holds the keys.

ppl will think he holds the keys, this is why he wanted to be anonymous.

(even tho this probably isn't the guy)

did newsweek just do "people search dot com?" and find a name with credentials to match?

that's like saying,

Amir Azizi is the bomber, go find him... bound to find lots of hits.

[oluf]

http://p2pfoundation.ning.com/profile/SatoshiNakamoto

o_O

[baldgye]

Man, that article really ****ing destroyed this old mans life... would be nice if someone could return the favor to the people who needlessly outed him, where he lived and his actual name...

[vivalarevolución]

After digesting some other articles and internet comments (which are more interesting than real journalism these days) I sorta believe this is not the right guy.  He had involvement with classified projects, and probably assumed that reporter was asking about those when she got her "quote."  The reporter and the magazine were just looking for something controversial for the relaunch of the print edition to get some attention.

Why would the real bitcoin founder hide in plain sight with his real name, when he has obvious concerns for his privacy?  Seriously?

[osi]

Conspiracy theory :

Someone in the media lost or will lose a large amount of cash due to Mt. Gox and FlexCoin shutting down.

Unfortunately, this poor gentleman is getting unwanted attention now. Had to shift the story somehow right??

[morpheus]

Oi....

Something isn't right about this...

[vasconqs]

"The process also requires a good amount of math, something at which Nakamoto - and his entire family - excels."

Is this racist?
Yes. The answer to that question is always yes.