Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist John Carreyrou from the NYT suggested that British cryptographer Adam Back could be the creator of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto.
The mystery of Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous inventor of Bitcoin, has remained unsolved for 17 years. Not anymore. Read my 18-month investigation to find out who Satoshi really is. https://t.co/fPtaK6YHJC
— John Carreyrou (@JohnCarreyrou) April 8, 2026
The journalist analyzed thousands of posts from cypherpunks and found writing style similarities pointing to Back. Carreyrou also examined hundreds of court records and emails, with the investigation taking 18 months.
The investigation was prompted by the 2024 documentary Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery. In one scene, Back appeared tense while sitting on a bench in a Riga park when the director suggested he might be the creator of the first cryptocurrency.
Carreyrou, who claims to be skilled at detecting lies, found Back's behavior suspicious.
Cypherpunk Posts
The investigator delved into the archives of the cypherpunk mailing list, which Back had been part of since 1995. Using 134,308 messages from 620 participants, he created a database and narrowed it down to one individual through linguistic analysis (including transfer errors and spelling variations).
A key clue came from posts in 1997 where the cryptographer outlined all five key features of Bitcoin. Back proposed a system of electronic money that would be "completely disconnected" from traditional banks, ensuring the privacy of both payer and payee, operating on a distributed network, featuring built-in scarcity, and requiring no trust in any organization.
It would be another 10 years before the white paper on digital gold was published.
According to Carreyrou, Back also anticipated the solution to the Byzantine Generals Problem, described nodes that could "come and go" without harming the network, and suggested using his Hashcash for minting b-money coins by Wei Dai. Later, Satoshi referenced both technologies in the white paper.
Linguistic Analysis
Carreyrou analyzed Satoshi's language—vocabulary, spelling, punctuation, and habits. Based on various indicators, Back emerged as the closest match to the Bitcoin creator's texts.
For instance, both used two spaces between sentences—a typographical habit indicative of an older generation. Nakamoto and Back also employed the interjection "bloody," which is characteristic of British speakers.
Later, the cryptographer denied using this word, but the journalist found a post from 1998 where Back used "bloody," suggesting an attempt to conceal linguistic similarities with Satoshi.
The main linguistic argument involves a chaotic approach to hyphenation. This is not a singular error but a consistent pattern:
- e-mail / email;
- built-in / built in;
- off-line / offline;
- pre-compiled / precompiled.
Both also mixed British and American forms (cheque / check) and wrote technical terms as single words (backup, bugfix). Such details are harder to fake than word choice, Carreyrou noted.
Before Satoshi, the term Proof-of-Work with hyphens as a compound noun was used by only eight individuals in the mailing lists. After narrowing down by another rare criterion—mentioning WebMoney—only one remained: Adam Back.
The phrase "burning the money" in the context of destroying electronic currency was written only by Back before Satoshi. The expression "partial pre-image" appeared with two individuals (Hal Finney and Back), but only Back hyphenated it like Satoshi did.
Other Clues
Carreyrou found the timing of Back's public activity particularly suspicious. A person who had discussed electronic money, privacy, and distributed networks for years virtually disappeared from the conversation just as Satoshi emerged. He then began actively participating in the Bitcoin community only after Satoshi's disappearance.
The journalist described this as a possible division of roles: while one persona acted as Satoshi, the other public face—Adam Back—remained silent.
In 2013, the cryptographer attended a Bitcointalk conference just as an analysis of Satoshi's status was released. Two years later, his position in the debates about block size closely mirrored Back's arguments.
The investigator expressed doubts about the authenticity of Satoshi's emails to Back, which are usually considered evidence. Back has yet to provide metadata that could verify the correspondence's authenticity.
Back's Reaction
After the investigation's publication, Back denied Carreyrou's claims. He reiterated that he is not Satoshi but acknowledged his active role in the cypherpunk movement.
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
The cryptographer described the similarities found by the journalist as a "combination of coincidences and recurring phrases among people with similar experiences and interests." He also pointed to a possible confirmation bias due to his high volume of messages:
"I wrote 20 times more than others, so statistically, I have a higher chance of random coincidences. I suggested to John to adjust this as a possible confirmation error."
It’s worth noting that in February 2025, deBanked editor Sean Murray named Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey as the creator of Bitcoin, presenting an impressive list of facts, dates, and coincidences that supposedly supported his theory.