What is the name of the anonymous creator of Bitcoin?

Satoshi Nakamoto is the name used by Bitcoin’s anonymous creator.

Nakamoto introduced Bitcoin in a 2008 white paper titled “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System.” In January 2009, the first Bitcoin software and the network’s genesis block appeared. Nakamoto communicated with early developers and users online, but stopped participating publicly around 2010 and never conclusively revealed a real-world identity.

The name may refer to one person or a group. Numerous people, including computer scientists and entrepreneurs, have been proposed as Nakamoto, but none has established the cryptographic proof generally expected to settle the question. The Australian businessman Craig Wright claimed to be Nakamoto, but courts rejected that claim in 2024.

Satoshi Nakamoto is therefore the canonical answer to the identity question, while the person or people behind the name remain unknown. The name also inspired the term “satoshi,” Bitcoin’s smallest unit.