Hemi CEO Jeff Garzik talks about who he thinks Satoshi really was.

In this video, Jeff Garzik, an early Bitcoin developer, discusses the gradual disappearance of Bitcoin’s creator, Satoshi Nakamoto. According to Garzik, there wasn’t a specific day when Satoshi disappeared. Instead, Satoshi sent an email to Gavin Andresen and posted on the forum, explaining that he would be busy with other projects and less involved. He handed over control of the Bitcoin repository to Gavin, which is a common practice in open source projects when transitioning maintainership. From that point, Satoshi would only occasionally respond to important technical questions, eventually stopping all communication altogether.

Garzik also shares his own speculation about Satoshi’s identity, suggesting that Dave Kleiman, a Florida-based information security expert, might have been Satoshi. Kleiman, who passed away some years ago, was known for his work in security management and for developing a program for the Windows operating system. After a motorcycle accident left Kleiman wheelchair-bound, he taught himself computer security and programming. Garzik points out that the timeline of Kleiman’s activities aligns with Satoshi’s involvement in the Bitcoin project from 2009 to 2010, with Satoshi stepping back in 2010 and stopping communication in 2011. Although Garzik admits there is no hard evidence, he considers Kleiman a plausible candidate for Satoshi Nakamoto.

About the Series

Satoshi Stories is a fascinating deep dive into the history of Bitcoin told by Bitcoin Core Developer Jeff Garzik. Jeff was there at the beginning of Bitcoin’s rise and eventual domination of the cryptocurrency world and his experience working with Satoshi in those early years offers important and fascinating insights into the technology.