DURBAN - The identity of the Bitcoin's creator has been shrouded in secrecy ever since the cryptocurrency was created in 2009.
Many have pondered and some government entities have tried to determine who is the creator of Bitcoin?
Bitcoin is a type of a digital currency in which encryption methods are used to manage the generation of units of currency and confirm the transfer of funds operating separately from a bank.
News organisations and cryptocurrency websites have attributed the creation of Bitcoin to Satoshi Nakamoto. However, it is believed that that name is actually a pseudonym for an individual or a whole group of people.
Nakamoto was considered to be the creator of the cryptocurrency when a whitepaper entitled "Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System" was found to have his name on it.
However, there are many people that have been associated with the cryptocurrency since it was first launched.
Bitcoin has garnered praise and gained criticism from people all over the world. Mark Carney, the Governor of the Bank of England said that there are many reasons as to why digital wallets are unlikely to be the future of money while the founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates, said that the anonymity of Bitcoin is not a good thing because it can be used on the internet to buy drugs.
Howard Schultz, the Chairman and Founder of Starbucks Corp said that we are going into a new age in which blockchain technology is going provide a significant level of a digital currency that is going to have consumer application.
Peter Thiel the co-founder of PayPal said that Bitcoin critics are underestimating it. He added that is like a reserve form of money. it's like gold and its just a store of value.
Currently, one unit of Bitcoin is worth R88731,46.
Here is a closer at some of the individuals that may be Satoshi Nakamoto.
Nick Szabo
Szabo created "bit gold" which was the forerunner to what people now know as Bitcoin.
According to BitConnect, Szabo enjoyed using pseudonyms and had a keen interest in digital currency. There were claims that Szabo was actually Nakamoto, however, he has denied the claims.
Nick Szabo Photo: Facebook
Dorian Nakamoto
A 2014 article by Leah McGrath Goodman sought to identify a Japanese American man as the creator of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto. Dorian had the same birth of the "supposed" creator of bitcoin and was a systems engineer and financial information services. Dorian denied having any knowledge of Bitcoin or what the cryptocurrency is.
Elon Musk
A blog post that was travelling through digital currencies suggested that MusK may be the bitcoin originator who used the alias Nakamoto. However, the Tesla CEO denied the claims in a tweet. Musk does own some Bitcoin, 0,25 BTC to be exact that a friend sent to him many years ago.
Elon Musk Photo: Facebook
Craig Wright
Wright is the first person to have said to the media that he is Satoshi Nakamoto. Wright who is an Australian entrepreneur provided "technical proof" to the BBC by digitally signing messages using keys made in the beginning stages of bitcoin.
The keys were synched with the blocks used by Satoshi to send 10 bitcoins to Hal Finney in 2009.
Craig Wright Photo: Facebook
Hal Finney
Finney was the first person to use bitcoin after Satoshi, Finney was as an influential architect of bitcoin and its foundations.
He worked closely with the creator of Pretty Good Privacy (PGP), a data encryption programmes that was developed in the 1990's and it would eventually become an important cog in the bitcoin machine.
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