| > You're a prisoner of your money. Moreover, all these claims of Satoshi having a lot of money are pretty much just speculation -- all they do is show that some early miner mined a few hundred thousand bitcoin. They don't show that miner is Satoshi, that's just a plausible guess because the people speculating know of few other early Bitcoin users. They also don't show that whomever mined those coins hasn't lost the keys for them. Any person 'identified' as Satoshi may not actually be Satoshi anyways, people have shown that they're remarkably able to believe utter drivel. So now imagine all the problems you listed but apply them to someone who isn't actually wealthy because because that early miner wasn't them, they're not Bitcoin's creator, or because the assets had been lost back when they were worth very little. They'd still be subject to all the assumptions and thus threats, but not be able to buy their way out of them to the extent that it's possible to do so-- e.g. they couldn't afford the multi-million dollar a year security. (Someone might reply to you that if their problem was wealth they didn't want they could always dispose of it, but that just reduces to the problem above: people wouldn't believe they did so it wouldn't solve the problem, it would only remove the best tool they have to ameliorate it) > They gave you a software for free which spawned a whole industry, they don't deserve to be harassed for that. If you don't like it then don't use it, but don't destroy the developer's life. Nobody forces you to use it Not just that, the very premise and fundamental design of Bitcoin was to give its creator no particular control or authority over it. So their identity doesn't really matter. The fetishization of the identity of Bitcoin's creator is a stupendous act of missing the entire point. People shouldn't delude themselves that they're not engaging in a mean and harmful act against someone who never caused them harm. It's gross and creepy. If Satoshi is still alive and wanted to be known, he would be. Not only did he expressly complain about the speculation about his identity when he was around (in the last message he sent before disappearing), his continued silence shows he isn't interested in now. |