The New Satoshi Text I

Those of us who care about the identity of the mysterious fellow, or combine, known as Satoshi Nakamoto have had something new to talk about in recent days.

For those who don't care, you may be excused.

For those who don't know what I'm talking about, here are the basics in one graf: From October 2008 to December 2010 a person or persons calling himself/themselves Satoshi Nakamoto developed bitcoin, authored a paper explaining it to the world, and engaged in discussions about it with a (then small) circle of interested parties. This was the start of something big. Bitcoin gave rise to a slew of other cryptos, and the underlying tech, the blockchain, has found and is still finding uses far beyond the issue of cryptocurrency use or value. Some people believe that the creation of Bitcoin was and is as big a deal as, say, the creation of the worldwide web.

So who is he? And might he be planning a comeback in some form? Or has the comeback itself already happened and fizzled (in December 2015)? More on that possibility in Part II.

For now, the news is that there is a new text to puzzle over. A website, the Nakamotofamilyfoundation.org has appeared, and offers a new excerpt from what is said to be a forthcoming book, or two volume set, by THE Satoshi. It purports to tell the true origin story of bitcoin.

So: is it real or a fake?

Probably a fake. The English idioms have shifted from British to American, there are typos that the original Satoshi (who was scrupulous in such matters) would surely have deterged before showing the text to the world, etc.

What is curious is the intensity of the reaction. Assuming that it is a fake, it is an amusing something to talk about, something that helps get one's mind off of an orange and sociopathic American Pres and the other things one might be obsessing about these days. But the reaction has been along the lines of "it's a fake, and THAT is atrocious -- how dare anyone pretend to be SN!!!"

Well, they dare because they dare. It isn't all that daring and it's been done before without untoward consequence (once, most amusingly, by a Japanese man who actually IS named Satoshi Nakamoto but who turned out not to be THE Satoshi Nakamoto.)

A writer at bitcoin.com says: "The trouble with analysing the work of supposed Satoshis is that it simply encourages more copycats, like fixating on school shooters." THAT is the kind of overwrought reaction I'm talking about folks. School shooters? Really?

Related thoughts, and some quotes from the new probably-fake text, (which is itself the product of an interesting mind) tomorrow.

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