Satoshi Nakamoto lives!
After four years of inactivity the account at P2P Foundation of the person or persons who invented bitcoin has posted and it has got the crypto community buzzing with excitement.
If the account is genuinely controlled by Satoshi Nakamoto then what should we make of his solitary post and the befriending of a Brazilian of Japanese descent, Wagner Tamanaha?
Crypto sleuths who have followed the twists and turns of the modern-day folklore that surrounds the true identity of Nakamoto, have gone into overdrive.
What is the meaning of the post of the word “nour” on 29 November?
Who is Tamanaha and why was he friended?
Newsweek didn’t do much to enhance its journalistic reputation when it claimed to have found Nakamoto back in 2014 after tracking down someone with a similar name living in California. Suffice to say they were barking up the wrong tree.
The story was referred to by Satoshi at the time and was the last post to P2P Foundation before the latest activity began.
But is it really Satoshi?
But before everyone gets too excited at the prospect of the big reveal, many have questioned the significance of the new activity, suspecting that the account is no longer under Nakamoto’s control.
The email used by Satoshi Nakamoto to sign up to P2P Foundation – [email protected] –was apparently “hacked” or at any rate the ownership of the gmx domain was allowed to lapse. It may well have passed to an entity known to Nakamoto.
According to the Urban Dictionary nour is defined as:
The most loving, affectionate and caring person you’ll ever meet. Extremely smart, funny and sensitive. A bit lost, still figuring out what she wants in life and how to reach it. Stubborn and not willing to take other peoples advice. when she smiles she makes you forget all the problems you have, her hug will give you an assurance that you have never felt and will never do.
… which seems to mean lots of different things, so that’s not a very convincing interpretation of the usage.
Another theory is that it is a transliteration of the Arabic word into Latin alphabet “nour”, in which case its meaning is “light”.
That got some people thinking it was a reference to the Lightning Network side-chain technology currently being used to scale transactions on the bitcoin network.
Not wanting to miss out, several hours after the “nour” post, Craig Wright, a leading light behind Bitcoin SV and who claims to be Satoshi Nakamoto, tweeted.
https://twitter.com/ProfFaustus/status/1068450824098115585
نور العالم في التجارة means “The light of the world in trade”, according to Google Translates.
Now if he had tweeted that before and not after the post at P2P Foundation, then it might have had more import, but instead it just seems to be Wright trolling the trolls he attracts under his particular bridge.
He also tweeted in Chinese, presumably to cover all the bases: 光线追逐黑暗.
In English that means “Light chasing darkness”.
None of that adds any light to the matter at hand, so to speak.
Besides, Wright was busy at the CoinGeek conference launching his on-chain scaling plans for Bitcoin SV, although that does not preclude him indulging in a bit of mischief making.
Other stabs at what it all means include a reference to Litecoin, which could certainly do with some help at the moment.
Single version of the truth
Chances are that the single version of the truth resides with Wagner Tamanaha.
His social media profiles have been trawled through for clues.
On 29 November 2016 he wrote on his blogspot:
The first time I heard about blockchain and Bitcoin, I understood almost nothing, it was 2011 and it was just nerds, but I downloaded software and thought I was already mining, participating in a decentralized processing chain worldwide and helping the movement in SETI @ home style (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, late 90’s internet fever). I did this and forgot.
He also references Dan Tapscott’s Blockchain Revolution, considered the sector’s seminal work.
Tamanaha’s P2P Foundation profile does not mention any coding skills, although he is active on Steemit.
His “about me” states:
I’m a brazilian with japanese ancestry, working with advertising in social media and a blockchain and cryptocurrency enthusiast. I’m also a member of Faircoop São Paulo local node, author of a personal blog and Blockchain Cat comics on Steemit and recently added in Satoshi Nakamoto’s friends list here.
He lists his social assets as follows:
- Website:
- http://steemit.com/@wagnertamanaha
- Facebook:
- http://www.facebook.com/wagnertamanaha
For now then we probably need to wait for another post from “Satoshi” and perhaps further communication from Tamanaha.
Before the “nour” post the first thing the woke Satoshi account did was to make friends with Tamanaha.
Tamanaha tweeted on the 30 November, in Portugese, “It looks like Satoshi has reappeared and I’m being investigated”, but does not provide any elucidation on the mystery at hand.
Parece que o Satoshi reapareceu e estou sendo investigado 🙂 https://t.co/Zvqzl9mM3C
— Wagner Tamanaha (@wtamanaha) November 30, 2018
Trustnodes has been doing some digging on his LinkedIn and elsewhere and discovered he is in a group called “I am a refugee” and appears to be domiciled in the US and is aged 50ish and holds a degree in advertising and social communications.
So perhaps there’s a political statement being made but if so, why so cryptic?
Again, there are no coding skills in evidence that would be a common interest to conceivably help to link Tamanaha to Nakamoto or the group that uses the name.
Dump incoming?
Those who think it might be an entity connected to Nakamoto that’s behind the new activity are speculating that is could be the prelude to some activity in the markets.
“next thing we know, all 1 million btc will be moved to an exchange. imagine the chaos and drama that would cause”
says ReactW0rld on the cryptocurrency sub reddit
Is someone about to do some bitcoin trading, be it a dump or otherwise? Probably not but who knows.
It might be a good idea, though, to keep an eye on the next post by the alleged Satoshi Nakamoto and his new-found friend Wagner Tamanaha.
Maybe there is some big news coming down the line.
