Who is Satoshi Nakamoto? Conspiracy theories about Bitcoin founder go into overdrive | Daily Mail Online

The mystery over who invented Bitcoin has reached fever pitch after it emerged Apple Mac computers contain a hidden manifesto dedicated to the cryptocurrency.

It spawned a litany of conspiracy theories with crypto obsessives speculating the late Apple founder Steve Jobs was behind the multi-billion-dollar venture. 

Bitcoin was created in 2008 by ‘Satoshi Nakamoto’ – a name long thought to be a pseudonym – in response to the financial crisis. 

It has gone on to become the world’s largest cryptocurrency worth around $540 billion according to CoinMarketCap data on Monday.

What’s more, the value of Bitcoin has surged by 68 percent this year as economic uncertainty sparked by the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) has made customers distrustful of mainstream firms. 

It makes Nakamoto potentially one of the wealthiest people in the world – though very little about his identity is known. 

Crypto fans noted that April 5 marked the unofficial 48th birthday of the founder, according to information on a profile with The P2P Foundation. 

Here Daily Mail rounds up the most popular theories about the so-called ‘Father of Bitcoin’…

Steve Jobs

Conspiracy theorists speculated that the late Apple founder Steve Jobs was responsible for Bitcoin, with some noting Nakamoto disappeared in 2010 – one year before Jobs passed away

The internet went into overdrive last week after it emerged a white paper from Nakamoto was hidden on every Mac computer sold since 2018. 

The discovery was made by tech blogger Andy Baio and prompted speculation that the Bitcoin founder and Apple genius were somehow related.

The paper – titled ‘Bitcoin: A peer-to-peer electronic cash system’ outlines the case for implementing digital currencies globally. It was first published in October 2008. 

Crypto investor Lark Davis pointed out that Nakamoto seemed to disappear in 2010 – one year before Jobs passed away.

‘The timeline fits,’ he wrote on Twitter. 

Separately Jason Williams, Jason Williams, author of Bitcoin: Hard Money You Can’t F*ck With, said on the platform: ‘Steve Jobs is Satoshi Nakamoto. I am serious.’ 

However others were quick to point out that Apple temporarily banned Bitcoin from its app store in 2014 amid concern over volatile cryptocurrencies. 

A viral post last week revealed that a Bitcoin manifesto is hidden on every Apple Mac computer sold since 2018

A copy of the 2008 Bitcoin manifesto is hidden on every Apple MacOS sold since 2018, expert discovers 

Craig White 

An Australian computer scientist came forward claiming to have created Bitcoin in a 2021 court case.

The case – heard in Miami – was sparked after his former business partner’s family demanded a stake in his wealth. 

The family of David Kleiman alleged that he and White together made up the identity of Nakamoto. 

David Kleiman (left) and Craig Wright (right) appeared to be unmasked as the founders Bitcoin as part of a Florida lawsuit but the court never ruled on whether they were genuinely ‘Satoshi Nakamoto’

White was ordered to pay $100 million in damages to Kleiman’s family after a jury surmised he had breached intellectual property rights.

However the case made no ruling over whether the pair had actually found Bitcoin themselves.   

Those embedded in the crypto community have remained skeptical over White’s claims. 

Dorian Nakamoto  

In 2014 Newsweek published a story called ‘The Face Behind Bitcoin’ which claimed to have unmasked the father as retired physicist Dorian Nakamoto.

Columnist Leah McGrath Goodwin claims that when she visited him at is California home he told her he was ‘no longer involved in that,’ adding he ‘cannot discuss it.’

Dorian Satoshi Nakamoto was incorrectly identified as Bitcoin founder Satoshi Nakamoto in 2014

However after the article was published the Japanese-American scientist insisted he had misunderstood Goodman’s questions.

He also claimed he hadn’t heard of Bitcoin prior to the article being published. 

However he has remained the most plausible choice among the crypto community. 

Other names linked to the Bitcoin founder 

Computer scientist Nick Szabo came under scrutiny for his connection to the cryptocurrency after it emerged he had written a research paper in 1998 based on ‘bit gold.’

The paper was seen as a precursor to bitcoin.

Billionaire Twitter CEO Elon Musk was forced to deny he was Nakamoto in a 2017 tweet 

However the American man – who came from Hungarian descent – had always denied any involvement.

Other candidates to have been noted include the government and various computer scientists.

Even billionaire Twitter CEO Elon Musk was forced to deny he was Nakamoto in a 2017 tweet.