No, you won’t find out who Satoshi Nakamoto is next week

As a longtime Bitcoiner, I had to roll my eyes when I saw HBO release a trailer for an upcoming documentary that teased revealing the identity of Satoshi. There have been speculations that it would reveal who Satoshi Nakamoto is. Having seen many half-hearted attempts to “unmask” Satoshi over the years, I’m sure he won’t provide definitive proof either.

If you’ve been around Bitcoin long enough, you know the drill – someone claims to know or is Satoshi, theories start swirling, but no compelling evidence materializes. It inevitably ends in embarrassment for the accuser. I’ve been through this rodeo too many times now.

With Bitcoin becoming a $1.2 trillion asset class, the appeal of Satoshi’s exit is understandable. Its stock alone is believed to be 1.1 million BTC, worth over $65 billion today.

Usual suspects like Adam Back, Hal Finney or Nick Szabo will likely be resurrected as prime candidates. And the accused will again strongly deny the allegations. Our favorite Bitcoin historian Pete Rizzo has already made $200 bets with Shinobi, Nikolaus, Frank and myself that Back ends up being named and denies.

Ideally, however, Satoshi should remain anonymous, as he clearly wished. Bitcoin succeeds based on its decentralized design, not based on a single personality. Unmasking Satoshi risks undermining Bitcoin’s mystique and independence.

As Bitcoin becomes a global asset, the stakes of identifying its creator rise exponentially. The richest person on earth offers an attractive reward. But the real evidence remains elusive.

These periodic media frenzies claiming to break the case generate great hype, but always disappoint. They act like amateur detectives, following wrong hunches rather than unbiased investigations in search of the truth.

So I advise fellow Bitcoiners to take next week’s “big reveal” with a huge grain of salt. It will likely be more sensationalism than substance, repeating familiar theories that fall short of definitive evidence.

The only person who can conclusively prove that he is Satoshi is Satoshi himself. Until then, the mystery continues – as it should.

The opinions expressed are entirely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine