Perhaps surprisingly, todays reveal of Satoshi Nakamotos true identity (hint: its actually Satoshi Nakamoto) has spurred not excitement but rage towards the journalist that wrote the revealing article. The de-facto head honcho of #Bitcoin development, Gavin Anderson, wrote an open letter to the journalist and posted on Reddit. reddit/r/Bitcoin/comments/1zqjq6/open_letter_to_leah_mcgrath/ The arguments are that exposing Satoshi as an older, weak, and sick man living with his 93-year old mother, holding probably in his home the key to almost a billion US dollar, is kind of ludicrous and very, very dangerous. She posted enough information that the internet sleuths quickly found his address, and she even posted a picture of his house, with his car in the driveway, showing the license plate! Satoshi clearly did not want to be identified. He went to great lengths to remain anonymous. He has no desire to be part of Bitcoin anymore, despite his fantastic wealth. Heck, he hasnt even touched the money, despite needing it, according to his family (whom the journalist also exposed with names and locations). Gavin Andersons hope is that articles like these will spur a debate around privacy and the right to be left the f*ck alone (my words, not his). I tend to agree; although I understand the publics right to know certain things (Satoshi is found somewhere in the US, hes alive and fairly well, he has no desire to keep working with Bitcoin), I do not understand the need to go nearly as far as the article did. Imagine this: For some reason, your childhood crush from a couple of decades ago suddenly becomes extremely famous. Because of your association, even if it seems fleeting and casual, you are now a trending topic on Twitter and thousands upon thousands of people start digging into your every personal detail, posting it on any social media outlet. For most, this would be a serious impact in their lives. People have broken down from far less, even seemingly professional public figures (think Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan). Add to that a history of serious illness (Satoshi has had cancer) and its going to be a burden Im not sure hes capable of handling. Leave Satoshi Alone! (No, Im not making that video)
Posted on: Thu, 06 Mar 2014 22:17:11 +0000