Finding Satoshi: The 4-Year Hunt for Bitcoin’s Greatest Mystery | Cohan & Maroney

About this episode

William D. Cohan and Tyler Maroney discuss their four-year investigation into the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto and the challenges they faced.

William D. Cohan and Tyler Maroney spent four years hunting the most famous ghost in financial history. They interviewed Michael Saylor, Gary Gensler, Bill Gates, Sam Bankman-Fried, Katie Haun, Joe Lubin, Brian Brooks, and 25 other Bitcoin and crypto heavyweights. Almost every single one of them told them to stop. In this episode of Cypherpunk'd, the investigative duo behind the upcoming documentary Finding Satoshi sit down to explain why they kept going, what wall they hit, and what made them bring in a private investigator to break through it. They walk through the cypherpunk roots of Bitcoin going back to the 1970s, the financial crisis context that opened the door for the white paper, the Eric Hughes manifesto, the Metzdowd mailing list, Hal Finney, and the ethical question of unmasking someone who clearly never wanted to be found. The conversation gets sharp on the question that has divided every Satoshi investigation: can a $100 billion fortune sit untouched for sixteen years if the person holding the keys is still alive? Bill is a former 20-year Wall Street banker. He thinks he knows the answer. Cohan and Maroney are confident in their conclusion. They are also honest…

People in this episode

Guests: William D. Cohan, Tyler Maroney

Topics covered

• Bitcoin
• Satoshi Nakamoto
• cryptocurrency
• investigation
• financial history
• cypherpunk

Keywords

• Satoshi Nakamoto
• Bitcoin investigation
• financial crisis
• cypherpunk roots
• private investigator
• crypto heavyweights

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Puck

Books & works: Finding Satoshi, The Modern Detective

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