🔎 Who is Len Sassaman, and why does HBO think he might be Satoshi Nakamoto? 🤔
Let's delve into the mystery of Bitcoin's founder. 🧵 👇
Len Sassaman was a renowned cryptographer and privacy advocate. In his late teens, he became involved with cryptographers in San Francisco.
Sassaman has worked on important privacy projects such as Pretty Good Privacy and GNU Privacy Guard, and co-founded the software-as-a-service startup Osogato with his wife, computer scientist Meredith Patterson.
In 2011, he committed suicide at the age of 31. He was a PhD student in electrical engineering at the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium at the time. A memorial to him is encoded on the Bitcoin blockchain.
Now, the upcoming HBO documentary “MoneyElectric: The Bitcoin Mystery” suggests that Sassaman may be Satoshi Nakamoto, the mysterious creator of Bitcoin.
There is circumstantial evidence to support this theory: Sassaman's impressive academic record, his expertise in cryptography, and linguistic analysis that points to similarities between his writings and Nakamoto's.
Interestingly, Nakamoto disappeared two months before Sassaman's death. Some speculate there is a connection, while others, including Sassaman's wife, do not believe he was Satoshi.
Interesting detail: Sassaman reportedly left a suicide note containing “24 random words.” Some in the crypto community are wondering if this could be related to the 24-word seed phrases used in cryptocurrency wallets.
It is worth noting that the $64 billion in Bitcoin held by Nakamoto has never been touched, adding to the mystery surrounding the identity of the creator.
With the HBO documentary set to premiere, it is sure to reignite discussions about Satoshi's true identity.
Whether or not Sassaman is Nakamoto, his contributions to cryptography and privacy are undeniable.
