Multiple media outlets today cited an investigation report by The New York Times, claiming to have confirmed who Satoshi Nakamoto really is. The report says that through long-term technical traceability, analysis of email correspondence, and visits to the cryptography community, Bitcoin’s anonymous creator, “Satoshi Nakamoto,” is highly likely to be the late American cryptographer Leonard Harris (Len Sassaman).

1. The key “disappearance point in time”
The investigation shows that in April 2011, Satoshi Nakamoto sent the last known email, saying he had “moved on to other things.” Meanwhile, Leonard Harris died by suicide in July 2011. The time points when both disappeared from the public eye are highly coincident.
2. Technical background and academic origins
Academic overlap: Many key technologies cited in the Bitcoin white paper (such as Hashcash and P2P networks) are core research areas Harris worked on during his lifetime.
Language style: The report mentions that in early forum replies and code comments, Satoshi Nakamoto mixed British English and American English. Although Harris was American, he was living in Belgium at the time and had long worked alongside European cryptography experts, which fits this cross-regional language characteristic.
3. Connection to the “cypherpunk” movement