“The mere acknowledgement of the existence of FBI records on third-party individuals could reasonably be expected to constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy,” the US intelligence agency said.
US flag next to the FBI. Reproduction.
For the first time in history, the FBI spoke about the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto this Monday (12). To obtain this statement, journalist Dave Troy used the “Freedom of Information Act” (FOIA), a law that guarantees public access to information held by American government agencies.
The figure of the creator of Bitcoin has been the subject of long debates and investigations for years. Among the main suspects are Hal Finney, Nick Szabo and Len Sassaman, just to name a few.
While all of those mentioned deny any involvement in the creation of Bitcoin, others have taken advantage of Satoshi Nakamoto's disappearance to try to occupy the vacant throne. The biggest example is Craig Wright, an Australian who spent years lying until he was unmasked.
What does the FBI have to say about Satoshi Nakamoto?
Satoshi Nakamoto continued developing Bitcoin even after its launch, but handed over responsibility to the community in late 2010. Months later, in April 2011, one of the main developers, Gavin Andresen, was invited by the CIA to give a talk about the cryptocurrency.
“I want to make this public because it’s the kind of thing that spawns conspiracy theories: I’m going to be giving a presentation about Bitcoin at CIA headquarters in June at an emerging technologies conference for the US intelligence community,” Andresen said at the time.
As pseudo-anonymity and other features of Bitcoin could be seen as a threat by these agencies, it is possible that they investigated the life of its creator.
Trying to find out what information the government has on Satoshi Nakamoto, journalist Dave Troy sent them a request. The response arrived this Monday (12).
“You have requested records about one or more third-party individuals. Please be aware that the FBI will never confirm or deny the existence of such records under exemptions (b)(6) and (b)(7)(c), 5 U.S.C. §§ 552 (b)(6) and (b)(7)(C) of the FOIA.”
“The mere acknowledgement of the existence of FBI records on third-party individuals could reasonably be expected to constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy,” the U.S. intelligence agency continued. “This is our standard response to such requests and should not be construed as an indication that records do or do not exist.”
FBI speaks about the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto, creator of Bitcoin. Source: Dave Troy/Reproduction.
On social media, Troy commented that this is the standard response they give to “people who are not from the US.”
“My intent is not to establish the identity behind the alias, but rather to obtain whatever information the bureau may have on the subject,” Troy continued. “If that helps establish the identity in any way, great, but that’s not my primary question.”
4/And for the record, my intent is not to establish the identity behind the pseudonym, but rather to get what info the bureau may have on the subject. If that helps establish identity somehow, fine, but that’s not my primary question.
— Dave Troy (@davetroy) August 13, 2024
Finally, the journalist comments that this could also be a sign that the FBI did not carry out any direct investigation into Satoshi Nakamoto, and may have passed his name over in cases where he was not the main focus.
Regardless, the mystery behind the identity of Bitcoin's creator remains a great topic that fuels the curiosity of historians and the imagination of theorists.
