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Bitcoinβs pseudonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto has been noticeably absent for most of its existence. Thereβs been many attempts to reveal their true identity, but the reason for their sudden disappearance in 2011 is just as curious.
While Nakamoto was still active in Bitcoin development, they mostly kept contact with the outside world with forum posts, emails, and IRC channels. Archives of Nakamotoβs communications can be found here.
The thing is, whoever maintained the Nakamoto moniker never directly signalled they were going to leave. It took a third party to confirm that Nakamoto had indeed ceased Bitcoin development to mysteriously work on other projects.
Enter the Central Intelligence Agency
A running theory for Nakamotoβs urge to leave involves the CIA and software developer Gavin Andresen, who previously served as technical lead developer for the Bitcoin project, and is even credited as Nakamotoβs successor.
On April 27, 2011, Andresen infamously claimed to be preparing to talk Bitcoin at an emerging technologies conference at the CIA headquarters.
When Gavin Andresen visited the CIA in 2011, it lead to 30 pages of debate. https://t.co/oyFj2EknkX Satoshi left the project shortly after.
β Tuur Demeester (@TuurDemeester) August 31, 2017
βIβm only very slightly worried that talking about bitcoin [sic] at the CIA will increase the chances theyβll try to do something we donβt want them to do,β wrote Andresen. βI think accepting their invitation and being open about exactly what bitcoin [sic] is will make it less likely theyβll see it as a threat.β
Just four days prior to Andresenβs CIA announcement, Nakamoto curiously emailed early Bitcoin figure Mike Hearn to say: βIβve moved on to other things. Itβs in good hands with [Andresen] and everyone.β
Andresen left Bitcoin too, but under different circumstances
A few months after Andresenβs CIA visit, he appeared on a Bitcoin podcast to discuss its development. There, Andresen was quickly asked to reveal the last time heβd been contacted by Nakamoto.
βUm, I havenβt had email from [Nakamoto] in a couple of months, actually,β Andresen replied. βThe last email I sent him, I actually told him I was going to talk at the CIA. So itβs possible thatβ¦ that may have had something to do with their deciding [to leave].β
Andresen eventually moved away from Bitcoin. In 2016, core developers revoked Andresenβs βcommit accessβ after he publicly supported Craig Wrightβs claim to the Nakamoto name β a statement he later confessed to be a mistake.
As with most things Nakamoto, weβre unlikely to discover how Andresenβs CIA meeting factored into their plans to leave, but be honest: if you created Bitcoin, would you have stuck around?
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