British cryptographer Adam Back denies NYT report that he is Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto

In Brief Posted: 9:03 AM PDT · April 8, 2026 Image Credits:VICTOR HABBICK VISIONS/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Getty Images Amanda Silberling British cryptographer Adam Back denies NYT report that he is Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto The identity of Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonym of the creator of Bitcoin, remains a long-running mystery. But according to a new investigation published in the New York Times, Satoshi could be Adam Back, a British cryptographer who conducted influential early research about digital assets. Back denies that he is Satoshi. People have been trying to track down the father of Bitcoin for decades, without much success. Based on Back’s denial, it’s not clear if the Times’ tech journalist John Carreyrou, known for his reporting that took down Theranos, got much further than anyone else. Back fits the profile of the kind of person you might suspect would create the first cryptocurrency. He created Hashcash, the proof-of-work system that Satoshi used to mine bitcoin, and he is now the co-founder and CEO of Blockstream, a company building infrastructure for blockchain-based payment systems. Back even agreed with Carreyrou that he’s a reasonable suspect, and it’s probable that Satoshi is — like him — a fifty-something-year-old British Cypherpunk. (In that case, yes, the use of a Japanese moniker is odd.) 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 But Carreyrou doesn’t have any undeniable evidence to seal the case shut. To stake his claim, he collected archives of emails sent in three cryptography listservs between 1992 and 2008 during the time that the pseudonymous Satoshi was active in these forums. Carreyrou fed the archive into an AI to identify commonalities between how Satoshi and other active posters wrote. For example, Satoshi did not put hyphens in compound nouns, and sometimes mixed up “its” and “it’s.” Back was the best match, but wrote on X that the evidence is a “combination of coincidence and similar phrases from people with similar experience and interests.” The Satoshi case isn’t closed, but we have to admit, Carreyrou’s use of AI was pretty clever. Techcrunch event This Week Only: Up to $482 savings for Disrupt 2026 Offer ends April 10, 11:59 p.m. PTYour next round. Your next hire. Your next breakout opportunity. Find it at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026, where 10,000+ founders, investors, and tech leaders gather for three days of 250+ tactical sessions, powerful introductions, and market-defining innovation. Register now to secure these savings.

This Week Only: Up to $482 savings for Disrupt 2026 Offer ends April 10, 11:59 p.m. PTYour next round. Your next hire. Your next breakout opportunity. Find it at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026, where 10,000+ founders, investors, and tech leaders gather for three days of 250+ tactical sessions, powerful introductions, and market-defining innovation. Register now to secure these savings. San Francisco, CA | October 13-15, 2026 REGISTER NOW Topics Crypto, crypto, satoshi April 30 San Francisco, CA StrictlyVC kicks off the year in SF. Get in the room for unfiltered fireside chats with industry leaders, insider VC insights, and high-value connections that actually move the needle. Tickets are limited. REGISTER NOW Newsletters See More Subscribe for the industry’s biggest tech news TechCrunch Daily News Every weekday and Sunday, you can get the best of TechCrunch’s coverage. TechCrunch Mobility TechCrunch Mobility is your destination for transportation news and insight.

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