In-depth speculation: Was Satoshi Nakamoto himself the first to reply to the Bitcoin white paper?

Ever since the anonymous inventor of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto, disappeared in 2011, there has been various speculation about his identity.

Hal Finney, Dorian Satoshi Nakamoto, Nick Szabo, and Craig Wright have all been cited as possible contenders (although CSW is the main driver of this last speculation).

Now, after months of research, Gerald Votta, Director of Gamefi Research at Quantum Economics, believes he has found the answer to who Satoshi Nakamoto really is—Canadian cryptographer James A. Donald. In a new research article published Nov. 17, Votta outlines some intriguing circumstantial evidence that he believes supports the link.

Donald was the first to comment on the Bitcoin white paper in 2008, which piqued Votta's interest. Votta wrote that the timing of the "almost instantaneous" response was "very suspicious" and led him to "learn more about his (Donald's) life."

He explained to Cointelegraph:

“If you look at the timing, Donald made his comments minutes after the Bitcoin white paper was released and asked Satoshi such a specific question — how can you read a white paper, analyze it, and come up with this in three minutes? Amazing scaling problem? It's almost impossible."

Votta writes that Donald is also very qualified: "Donald not only has a deep understanding of computers, programming and cryptography, he is also well versed in economics, history and law. However, it is his own words that help me connect him to Satoshi Nakamoto." .”

This is not the first time this theory has emerged. Back in 2014, a post by user Bruno Kucinskas on a Bitcoin forum referred to the same evidence — a quick reply — that sparked a debate. Different archives have different timestamps, according to one user, and different time zones, according to another, which casts doubt on the length of time between posting and replying.

It is also possible that Satoshi and Donald talked privately before asking and answering publicly. Votta told Cointelegraph that he has read all of these rebuttals, but his evidence “is the best proof.” He noted that the website for Donald's Crypto Kong project alone "is bitcoin personified."

Votta's research delved into Crypto Kong, a software program that uses elliptic curve cryptography to electronically sign documents. “This particular program is very similar to the fundamentals of bitcoin,” wrote Votta, whose blog post delves into the parallels between the information on the site and the white paper.

The website contains details of Crypto Kong, "echeque.com" is the domain name of Donald's email " [email protected] ". Votta said Donald emailed Satoshi at least once from this address.

In further evidence, on the site’s main Crypto Kong page, there is a minimized example of Kong on the right side of the screen, with a digital signature that matches the one sent to Satoshi Nakamoto, down to the 34th character.

If Donald is really Satoshi Nakamoto, why would Satoshi Nakamoto talk to himself at two different addresses? In Votta’s view, it’s a strategy to “preserve anonymity and inspire a contrarian view of Bitcoin.”

Email correspondence between Satoshi and Donald Source: metzdowd

He also gathered evidence to back up his claims by analyzing the written language Satoshi used. “The language contained in (Donald’s) correspondence reminds me of Satoshi Nakamoto,” he wrote.

He claims that Satoshi Nakamoto is “not only fluent in English, but also North American English,” meaning he may have been born, raised, or studied in the United States, the United Kingdom, or a former British colony.

For example, Satoshi Nakamoto used the word "Chancellor" and the British spelling of the word "favour".

Likewise, he connects Satoshi and Donald through his peculiar use of the word "Chaumian." Donald used the term in his August 3, 2003 email response about the Digicash patent, and Satoshi Nakamoto used it in his February 11, 2009 email response.

“That’s it, the mystery is solved,” Votta said. “It’s highly unlikely that two people have the same credentials, have a clear command of North American language and culture, and share nearly identical white papers.”

Mati Greenspan, founder of Quantum Economics, said Gerald had been working on the study for months, while vice president of content Charles Bovaird "made sure the research methodology and sources of information were in place".

The response since the article was published has been "remarkable," he said.

"This is by far one of our most popular studies, and we still get incredible feedback from industry veterans."

Cointelegraph Chinese is a blockchain news information platform, and the information provided only represents the author's personal opinion, has nothing to do with the position of the Cointelegraph Chinese platform, and does not constitute any investment and financial advice. Readers are requested to establish correct currency concepts and investment concepts, and earnestly raise risk awareness.