It took a year to use stylistic analysis to point to a living person, then ignored the dead, undeniable person. This wasn't an investigation; it was choosing a suspect who could be interviewed.
It took a year to use stylistic analysis to point to a living person, then ignored the dead, undeniable person.
Alan Walker·April 8, 2026·Zombie Café
This morningSilicon Valley Alan WalkerSitting in Zombie Café, I saw a tweet from The New York Times:
Adam Back, El Salvador, a 55-year-old cryptographer, is none other than the legendary Satoshi Nakamoto. He took a sip of coffee. John Carreyou, a reporter for *The New York Times*, did something clever in this report: he chose a living person. Adam Back could be flown in for an interview, filmed in a hotel room, his "nervous body language" recorded. He could deny it, and his denial itself would become part of the news. That's good journalism, but not good investigation. Alan, who has been in this industry for thirty years, has seen far too many cases of packaging the "most convenient answer" as the "most reasonable answer." Satoshi Nakamoto's true identity has never been about who is alive and can be interviewed. It's about the chain of evidence. The chain of evidence points to Hal Finney. Let's first discuss the loopholes in the NYT case. The core evidence presented by New York Times reporter Carreyrou is: Stylistic analysis shows that Adam Back's writing style is most similar to Satoshi Nakamoto's; Back's "mysterious silence" on cryptography mailing lists between 2008 and 2010; Back's invention of Hashcash, the precursor to Bitcoin's proof-of-work; and Back's "nervousness" in an HBO documentary.
A more crucial flaw: Back submitted five emails between himself and Satoshi Nakamoto as evidence in the Craig Wright case. These emails show that the two are different people. Carreyrou's rebuttal is: "Back may have sent these emails to himself as cover."
This statement appeared in a New York Times investigative report. He has no evidence to support this speculation.
I am not saying that Adam Back is not Satoshi Nakamoto.
I am not saying that Adam Back is not Satoshi Nakamoto.
The recipient of the most important first transaction in history is someone you trust. Or, it's yourself.
The third clue: Code Gene
Finney created it in 2004
Sixth Clue: He Cares But Never Shows Off
Finney's BitcoinTalk published in 2013 In his post, "Bitcoin and Me," he recounts in the first person how he "discovered" Bitcoin, how he became the first downloader, and how he accepted the first transaction. The article is written with deep emotion, brimming with passion for the project. A person can speak of themselves in this tone. Especially someone whose body is being slowly eroded by ALS, reflecting on the most important creation of their life. He predicted that each Bitcoin would be worth $1 million in 2011. This wasn't a prediction from an outsider. This was a prediction from someone who knew the code limit was 21 million, knew the system's design logic, and knew the system wouldn't fail. A Comparison with Adam Back: Back's silence can be explained in a hundred ways: lawyer's advice, weariness of the media, or not wanting to provide any fertile ground for a false speculation. Back's "nervousness" is a normal reaction to someone suddenly being identified as the founder of Bitcoin in a documentary. Finney's evidence is structured. It's embedded in the first transaction on the blockchain, embedded in his neighbor's name, embedded in his code, embedded in the timeline of Satoshi Nakamoto's disappearance. Which race is the counter-argument? I know this is the most frequently cited one. Finney was running, Satoshi Nakamoto was sending emails, so they're not the same person. Consider the following two possibilities. The first possibility: This does prove that Finney is not Satoshi Nakamoto, then Satoshi Nakamoto is Adam Back. The evidence is "stylistic analysis uncertainty" plus "tense body language." The second possibility: The transactions and emails were prepared in advance, or involved some degree of collaboration, and Finney was the core organizer and executor of this collaboration. Lopp himself acknowledges the existence of the second possibility. He chose to abandon it because he believes Bitcoin was created by a single person. But he also has no evidence to prove this—it's his assumption. If we allow Carreyrou to assume, without evidence, that "Back may have forged court mail," then we can also allow ourselves to assume that "Finney may have pre-arranged these transactions." The evidentiary basis for both assumptions is the same: zero. But one of them has a much stronger overall evidentiary structure. I don't need your agreement. I just want you to read this after you've read Carreyrou's report. Then you can judge for yourself whose chain of evidence is stronger. My coffee's gone cold.
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