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Twelve years ago, on this very day of April 23, 2011, a cryptic individual, known only as Satoshi Nakamoto, penned one of the final correspondences to software developer Mike Hearn. The elusive mastermind behind Bitcoin conveyed in the message that he, she, or they had moved on to other things and confidently asserted that the project was entrusted in good hands.

Following the creation of Bitcoin and the initial implementation of the technology, the enigmatic Satoshi Nakamoto vanished from the public eye in December of 2010. The last public message from the elusive innovator was issued on December 12th of that year, in which Nakamoto underscored that theres more work to do on [denial-of-service] DoS. Subsequently, Nakamoto corresponded with a few of the developers behind Bitcoin, including Mike Hearn and Gavin Andresen.

Hearn received an email from Nakamoto on April 23rd, 2011, titled Holding coins in an unspendable state for a rolling time window, in which he inquired about the possibility of Nakamotos return to the Bitcoin community. However, Nakamoto asserted that he, she, or they had moved on to other things, confidently stating that the project was in good hands with Gavin and everyone. The Bitcoin creator also expressed hope for the continued development of Bitcoinj, Mike Hearns Java version of Bitcoin, as it gives Java devs something to work on.

A few days later, Andresen received an email from Nakamoto, in which the pseudonymous innovator expressed frustration with the negative portrayal he received in the press. I wish you wouldnt keep talking about me as a mysterious shadowy figure, wrote Nakamoto. The press just turns that into a pirate currency angle. Maybe instead make it about the open-source project and give more credit to your dev contributors; it helps motivate them. This email is widely considered to be the last known communication from Bitcoins enigmatic creator to anyone.

There was speculation on March 7th, 2014, when an article in Newsweek claimed that the creator of Bitcoin was a 64-year-old Japanese-American named Dorian Nakamoto. However, a message purportedly authored by Nakamoto appeared on the P2P Foundations online forum stating, I am not Dorian Nakamoto. Since then, no additional messages from the elusive Bitcoin creator have surfaced, and the emails to Hearn and Andresen remain a poignant reminder of Nakamotos decade-long absence from public view.

What do you think happened to Satoshi Nakamoto? Share your thoughts and theories in the comments below.

Jamie Redman is the News Lead at Bitcoin.com News and a financial tech journalist living in Florida. Redman has been an active member of the cryptocurrency community since 2011. He has a passion for Bitcoin, open-source code, and decentralized applications. Since September 2015, Redman has written more than 7,000 articles for Bitcoin.com News about the disruptive protocols emerging today.

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The Elusive Satoshi Nakamoto: Last Emails Reveal Bitcoin Creator's Thoughts Before Disappearing Over a Decade ... - Bitcoin News