Satoshi Nakamoto: The Hidden Identity That the US Government Knew in 2013—And What HBO Might Reveal
Back in 2017, I published a story on Medium that I thought might help blow the lid off one of the most compelling mysteries of the internet age: the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin. A friend working for the Department of Homeland Security had shared with me a scoop that the U.S. intelligence community had figured out who Nakamoto was as far back as 2013. But there was a catch—they weren’t sure if Nakamoto was a single individual or a nation-state actor like China, Russia, or Israel. At the time, my story made some waves, but it faded into the background as the mystery remained unsolved.
Now, as HBO prepares to release a documentary that claims to have cracked Nakamoto’s true identity, I figured it’s time to revisit what I learned back then and explore why it matters—especially given the tools the U.S. government used to unmask Bitcoin’s elusive creator.
The Origins: Bitcoin and Satoshi Nakamoto
Let’s start with the basics. Satoshi Nakamoto published the Bitcoin whitepaper in October 2008, an approximately 9-page document that described a revolutionary, decentralized peer-to-peer payment system. By January 2009, Nakamoto had released the first version of Bitcoin’s software and mined the genesis block. For the next year and a half, Nakamoto was active on online forums, writing emails and posts that rallied support from early cryptography enthusiasts, particularly those from the cypherpunk movement. Then, in 2010, Nakamoto went silent.
Since Nakamoto’s disappearance, many have tried to uncover his identity, including private researchers and journalists. Despite various high-profile claims—from Dorian Nakamoto to Craig Wright—none have been able to prove they are the true creator of Bitcoin. But according to the U.S. government, they already knew by 2013.
The U.S. Government’s Interest in Bitcoin
The U.S. government didn’t take long to become interested in Bitcoin. By 2011, Bitcoin was making headlines for all the wrong reasons—its use in Silk Road, the infamous dark web marketplace where everything from drugs to hitmen could be purchased using Bitcoin. Agencies like the FBI and DEA quickly recognized the dangers posed by this new decentralized currency, especially in facilitating illegal transactions without the oversight of traditional financial institutions.
But while law enforcement focused on Bitcoin’s criminal uses, the intelligence community was asking a different question: Who created Bitcoin, and why?
Was it the brainchild of a lone genius, or the product of a foreign government looking to disrupt global financial systems? These concerns, especially the potential for a nation-state actor to control a massive decentralized currency, made identifying Nakamoto a priority for U.S. intelligence agencies like the NSA and CIA.
PRISM and Stylometry: Tools of the Hunt
In my research, I uncovered that the U.S. government had used the very same tools that Edward Snowden exposed in 2013 to figure out Nakamoto’s identity. These tools—particularly PRISM and stylometry—gave intelligence agencies unprecedented surveillance capabilities.
PRISM, as we now know thanks to Snowden, allowed the NSA to collect vast amounts of data from major tech companies like Google, Facebook, and Yahoo. Emails, chats, social media activity, and stored data were all up for grabs, ostensibly to track foreign targets, but also collecting incidental data on U.S. citizens in the process.
But PRISM alone wasn’t enough. The key to identifying Nakamoto lay in a technique the government first used back in the 1990s to catch the Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski: stylometry.
Stylometry is a forensic linguistic technique that analyzes an author’s unique writing style. The idea is that everyone has unconscious habits—how they structure sentences, use punctuation, or even overuse certain words—and these habits can be compared across different writings. By 2010, the government had access to a massive dataset of internet communications thanks to PRISM, which meant they could cross-match Nakamoto’s writings with the entire corpus of online communications.
Using these tools, they could build a linguistic fingerprint of Nakamoto based on his emails, message board posts, and the Bitcoin whitepaper. This fingerprint was then compared against other online writings, narrowing down potential suspects. By 2013, they had found a match—or at least identified enough patterns to suspect Nakamoto’s true identity.
Why Didn’t the Government Reveal Nakamoto?
So, why didn’t the U.S. government expose Nakamoto in 2013, when they had the tools to do so? The answer is multi-layered, but a few key factors stand out:
Preserving PRISM’s Capabilities: Even though Snowden had leaked the existence of PRISM, the NSA likely didn’t want to draw attention to just how powerful their surveillance tools were by revealing they had unmasked Nakamoto.
Geopolitical Concerns: If Nakamoto were linked to a foreign government, particularly one like China or Russia, revealing his identity could have had major geopolitical ramifications.
Regulatory Focus: By 2013, the U.S. government’s attention had shifted from who created Bitcoin to how to control it. Agencies like FinCEN began regulating Bitcoin exchanges and money transmitters, while the FBI targeted dark web marketplaces like Silk Road. Identifying Nakamoto may have been less of a priority once Bitcoin entered the financial mainstream.
The New HBO Documentary: A Revelation or Another Misfire?
Fast forward to today, and the mystery of Satoshi Nakamoto still captivates the world. Now, HBO is claiming that its new documentary will finally solve the riddle. Directed by Cullen Hoback, known for his Emmy-nominated work on the QAnon conspiracy theory, the film promises a bombshell revelation that could shake global markets and even impact the 2024 U.S. presidential election, given Donald Trump’s support among Bitcoin enthusiasts.
According to reports, old Bitcoin wallets from the Satoshi era have become active in recent weeks—wallets dormant since the early days of Bitcoin. Could this activity be related to the upcoming reveal? It’s certainly possible, and the timing raises all sorts of questions about who is really behind the world’s largest cryptocurrency.
While I’m excited to see what this documentary uncovers, I remain skeptical. Over the years, we’ve seen numerous false claims and failed attempts to unmask Satoshi Nakamoto. Without definitive proof, such as cryptographic signatures from known Satoshi wallets, it’s hard to accept any claim as conclusive.
The Mystery Endures
Whether or not HBO succeeds in solving the mystery, it’s clear that the story of Satoshi Nakamoto remains as relevant as ever. The U.S. government may have figured out his identity back in 2013, using tools like PRISM and stylometry, but they chose to keep that information under wraps. Now, with Bitcoin more powerful than ever, the identity of its creator could shape the future of global finance, influence U.S. politics, and perhaps even change the course of history.
For now, we wait with bated breath—hoping for answers but bracing for yet another unsolved riddle
