rewrite this title New report revives theory that cryptographer Adam Back could be Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto

In brief: Efforts to unmask the pseudonymous Bitcoin inventor have centered on numerous suspects in the years since “Satoshi Nakamoto” published the white paper on Halloween 2008 that led to the creation of modern cryptocurrency. British cryptographer Adam Back, long a primary suspect, recently renewed his denials after an extensive New York Times report uncovered strong circumstantial evidence linking the two.

Adam Back, who was publicly involved in Bitcoin’s early development, blamed coincidences on recent attempts to identify him as the cryptocurrency’s inventor. While he acknowledges similarities between himself and “Satoshi Nakamoto,” Back continues to vehemently deny that he is Nakamoto.

The 55-year-old British cryptographer has long been a top suspect, but The New York Times recently published a new, deep analysis of the evidence. This includes thousands of emails written over many years, as well as similarities in knowledge and writing style.

– Adam Back (@adam3us) April 8, 2026

First, Back predicted all of Bitcoin’s core aspects around a decade before Nakamoto published the original Bitcoin white paper. Troves of emails and other texts that Back sent to a Bitcoin developer in the cryptocurrency’s early years and to a privacy-focused online group called the Cypherpunks in the late 1990s reveal knowledge and expertise strikingly similar to what Nakamoto described before his 2011 disappearance.

Nakamoto also cited Back, who invented Hashcash, a tool that Bitcoin uses to mine coins. In fact, Back submitted emails between himself and Nakamoto during the trial of Craig Wright, who launched a frivolous lawsuit after claiming to be Nakamoto. In the emails, Nakamoto asks Back for clarification on some details about Hashcash, but Back never submitted metadata to prove that he didn’t simply email himself. Furthermore, the messages indicate that Nakamoto was unaware of b-money, a predecessor to Bitcoin, which would be unlikely if they had researched Hashcash.

– Adam Back (@adam3us) April 8, 2026

Back and Nakamoto also never posted at the same time. The cryptographer frequently discussed concepts that cryptocurrency later incorporated, but did not discuss Bitcoin publicly until several weeks after Nakamoto’s disappearance. Furthermore, Back joined an early Bitcoin community the very day Nakamoto’s 1.1 million Bitcoin fortune (around $78 billion as of this writing) was uncovered.

The Times also noted stylistic similarities between Back’s and Nakamoto’s writing. Although forensic analysis proved inconclusive, the two have parallels in vocabulary, hyphenation mistakes, and other areas.

When The Times confronted Back with the findings, the outlet claimed that his excuses were evasive and ultimately insufficient. Back could not explain all of the similarities in detail, but acknowledged that he and Nakamoto might have similar backgrounds. Investigators have long agreed that Nakamoto is, at the very least, connected to the Cypherpunks.

Other suspects include Peter Todd – the subject of a 2024 HBO documentary on Bitcoin – as well as Dorian Nakamoto, software engineer Hal Finney, computer scientist Nick Szabo, and others. Todd, who denies being Nakamoto, would have been only 23 when the white paper first appeared – quite young for someone with Nakamoto’s technical experience. Meanwhile, Szabo betrayed ignorance regarding basic details about Bitcoin, and Finney was photographed running a race at the same time Nakamoto sent emails and Bitcoins.

Furthermore, Finney died in 2014, a year before Nakamoto made a brief, final appearance to argue against increasing the Bitcoin block size. Thus far, no evidence has emerged indicating that Nakamoto’s 2015 email was forged.