How would we know the real Satoshi?

Question

Should Satoshi decide to reveal his or her true identity, how can one know the person is the real creator of Bitcoin, rather than a person who hacked the forum login, email address or the like? In other words, what methods of authentication did Satoshi use that could clearly identify him or her?

While this is not strictly a Bitcoin question, it does lead to discussion of techniques that are related to Bitcoin in terms of proof of identity. — Gary, Apr 14 '12 at 15:25

score 20 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 13 '12 at 15:07

20

He has a PGP public key which he can use to sign things.

answered Apr 13 '12 at 15:07

theymos

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Let's hope he didn't lose his hard drive on some electricity hiccup or something, then. – Aviad Ben Dov Apr 13 '12 at 18:22
@AviadBenDov I'm sure he had it backed up. – BinaryMage Apr 14 '12 at 00:04
10

If anyone understands that data doesn't exist unless it's in more than one place, it's Satoshi Nakamoto. – Gary Apr 14 '12 at 15:23

score 8 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 15 '12 at 11:00

8

He can prove that he has the private key matching the address used in the genesis block.

answered Apr 15 '12 at 11:00

Thilo

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Isn't that used to sign the Alert messages by the current developers? – ThePiachu Apr 15 '12 at 12:22
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@ThePiachu No. That's a different key. – theymos Apr 15 '12 at 15:35

How would we know the real Satoshi?

2 Answers2