The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has reignited debate over the identity of Bitcoin’s elusive creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, following a cryptic response to a recent inquiry. On August 13, investigative journalist Dave Troy shared on social media platform X that the FBI had issued a “Glomar response” to his Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. This standard response neither confirms nor denies the existence of any records, a tactic often used by government agencies when dealing with sensitive or non-U.S. persons.
Troy, undeterred by the vague reply, plans to appeal, noting the FBI’s intriguing assertion that Nakamoto might be a “third party individual.” The FBI’s refusal to clarify only adds to the growing mystery surrounding the Bitcoin creator’s identity. Speculation about Nakamoto’s true identity has been rampant since the release of the Bitcoin white paper in 2008, with theories ranging from a single individual to a consortium of developers or even a government entity.
1/Sigh, this just in from the FBI, which asserts that Satoshi Nakamoto, the apocryphal creator of Bitcoin, is a “third party individual,” and can neither confirm or deny the existence of any records on this person. Typically this is their answer for requests re: non-US persons. pic.twitter.com/oFVB4hHJcJ
— Dave Troy (@davetroy) August 13, 2024
One of the more plausible theories points to Hal Finney, an early Bitcoin contributor, as Nakamoto. However, Finney’s death in 2014 has left the question unresolved. According to Troy, if the FBI believed Finney to be Nakamoto, releasing his file should pose no issues.
This is not the first time U.S. agencies have shrouded Nakamoto’s identity in mystery. A similar FOIA request to the FBI and CIA in 2018 met with an identical Glomar response. Despite numerous investigations, the true identity of Satoshi Nakamoto remains one of the most enduring mysteries in the cryptocurrency world.
