Bloomberg Senior Analyst Names Alleged Bitcoin Creator

Eric Balchunas, a senior analyst at Bloomberg, has suggested that the real identity behind the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of Bitcoin, is California-based programmer Hal Finney.

Balchunas shared his theory on Twitter, concluding that Hal Finney was, in fact, Satoshi Nakamoto. Within the crypto community, Finney is recognized as one of the earliest supporters of Bitcoin. He contributed to the development of the cryptocurrency and conducted the first-ever Bitcoin transaction with Satoshi Nakamoto in 2009.

Finney passed away in 2014 at the age of 58 due to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Balchunas’s confidence in Finney being the creator of Bitcoin grew after he read a forum post that Finney had written back in 1993. In that post, Finney described the concept of cryptocurrency trading cards, an idea similar to the technology behind non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

In mid-April, it was reported that the fortune of Bitcoin’s creator, Satoshi Nakamoto—who is estimated to own between 750,000 and 1.1 million BTC—had surpassed $61 billion.