- Len Sassaman has emerged as the frontrunner to be revealed as the pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto in an upcoming HBO documentary on the Bitcoin creator.
- This has led to a surge in meme coins inspired by the deceased cypherpunk, including LEN on Ethereum and Solana and SASHA, named after his cat.
Who is Satoshi Nakamoto? This question, as old as the pioneer digital currency, has been the subject of heated debate, with no shortage of candidates, some more deserving and plausible than others. The latest is Len Sassaman, a deceased cypherpunk who some believe could be revealed as the mysterious Bitcoin creator in an upcoming documentary.
Sassaman was an American tech guru born in Pennsylvania who made his name as a globally revered cryptographer. Among his notable achievements was Mixmaster, an anonymous remailer he released in 2008 that reorders messages for clients, preventing any snooping. He reportedly took his own life in July 2011 at the age of 31.
When he passed away, he was only renowned in the world of cypherpunks and cryptography. However, an article by Bitcoin.com in 2021 unearthed factors pointing to him having the capacity to create Bitcoin, owing to his cryptography expertise. His obituary has also been embedded on every single node on the Bitcoin network, further lending credence to this theory.
The Bitcoin.com speculation didn’t last long and was quickly forgotten. However, an upcoming documentary by HBO has revived these rumours and blossomed into a thriving meme coin mania centred around Sassaman.
The world will soon get to know the possible identity of Satoshi.
Why could Len Sassaman be the real Satoshi Nakamoto?
Let’s Discover The Truth 🧵
— hitesh.eth (@hmalviya9) October 5, 2024
Is Sassaman Satoshi? Why Many Think So
HBO is set to air a new documentary on the creation of Bitcoin and the people who laid the foundations for today’s $2 trillion market on Tuesday, October 8. Many believe that the identity of Satoshi will be among the details that get highlighted, and already, many are staking their bets on whom they think is the most likely candidate.
On Polymarket, a crypto betting platform, Sassaman has emerged as the runaway leader. At press time, over 38% of the platform’s users had bet on the deceased cypherpunk to emerge as the Bitcoin creator, a significant lead over the other candidates, who include Adam Back and Hal Finney.
While the crypto community is getting excited at the prospect of finally unearthing the identity of Satoshi, likely, Sassaman is still not the right candidate. For one, a look at his online activity before his death shows that he was not the biggest fan of BTC.
“Personally, I think Bitcoin is overhyped, but the hype itself is interesting,” he says in one of his tweets from several years ago. In another, he claims that the “digital cash experts I’ve talked to say that [Bitcoin]’s bunk.”
Still, this hasn’t prevented speculation. As expected, this hype has resulted in meme coins. One of these, known as LEN, recorded $1.32 million in trading volume in the past day, while another, also named LEN, hit $3.96 million in that time. The mania has even spread to Sassaman’s cat, Sasha, with meme coins named after the cat hitting over $5 million in market cap over the past week.
However, Bitcoin has been relatively unaffected by the hype, gaining marginally over the past week. It started the day with a 2% gain to trade just above $64,000 at press time.
