Author: Robert D. Knight, CoinTelegraph; Translated by: Baishui, Golden Finance

A new HBO documentary that aired on Oct. 8 suggests it has discovered the real Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous inventor of Bitcoin.

While this may be a marketing trick, the announcement has reignited speculation about who might be the inventor of Bitcoin.

Nick Szabo, who some believe may be the real Satoshi Nakamoto, is an American cryptographer, legal scholar, and computer scientist who has made significant contributions to the blockchain space since the early 1990s.

That is, Szabo contributed to blockchain before Bitcoin came into being.

Szabo graduated from the University of Washington with a degree in computer science in 1989. He also holds a Juris Doctor from the George Washington University Law School.

In 1994, Szabo introduced the term “smart contracts” to bring legal protections into the digital realm through code. Smart contracts later became the basis for the wider blockchain industry.

In 1998, Szabo proposed a new form of currency called "Bit Gold". Szabo's Bitcoin Gold was different from other currencies because it was completely digital, did not require any intermediaries, and solved the double-spending problem through proof of work.

Szabo’s Bitcoin Gold network uses a proof-of-work cryptographic solution chain, but relies on a quorum of addresses rather than a quorum of computing power to reach consensus. This is said to make Bitcoin Gold vulnerable to Sybil attacks.

Szabo went on to describe the rationale for his theoretical currency this way: "I came up with the idea for Bitcoin Gold a long time ago. In short, the problem is that our money currently relies on trust in a third party for its value. As the many episodes of inflation and hyperinflation in the 20th century have shown, this is not a desirable state of affairs."

If you know anything about Bitcoin and this all sounds familiar, you’re not the only one who notices the similarities. Bitcoin Gold is widely considered to be one of Bitcoin’s main predecessors.

In October 2008, 10 years after Szabo first proposed "Bit Gold", Satoshi Nakamoto released the Bitcoin white paper.

Speculation about the true identity of Satoshi Nakamoto is almost as old as Bitcoin itself, but over the years, many contenders have emerged, with Szabo being the most popular.

HBO Documentary

The inventor of Bitcoin may remain a mystery for now, but prediction market Polymarket is fueling speculation thanks to a new HBO documentary that claims to finally reveal the true identity of Satoshi Nakamoto.

Source: Polymarket

Len Sassaman was the early top contender, but Sabo had already taken a commanding lead. His odds were in the double digits, while the other contenders were in the single digits.

There are several reasons why Nick Szabo could be Satoshi Nakamoto, some of which we have already mentioned.

The first was the invention of Bitcoin Gold, a cryptocurrency that Nick Szabo proposed but never realized, but which has many conceptual similarities to Bitcoin. While Bitcoin Gold was a bit crude in concept compared to Bitcoin, given that Szabo had a decade to iron out the rough edges, wasn’t it possible for him to do it?

The second is Szabo's broader contributions to blockchain and cryptocurrency, which prove his ability and value. There is no doubt that Szabo has the technical ability to at least become a competitor to Satoshi Nakamoto.

In his book (Bitcoin: The Future of Money?), author Dominic Frisby argues that Szabo and Satoshi Nakamoto have very similar writing styles. In addition, both quote economist Carl Menger.

Szabo is known to be very privacy-focused, and Nakamoto is said to have similar tendencies.

Finally, Szabo’s denials at every turn about being Satoshi stand in stark contrast to those who claim to be Satoshi. If history has taught us only one thing about Satoshi, it’s that those who claim to be Satoshi are almost certainly not.