Becoming Nakamoto: How Satoshi Created His Alter-Ego

Captain America began life as Steve Rogers. Tony Stark only created Iron Man after being kidnapped. Bruce Wayne spent seven years in ninja training before eventually returning to Gotham as Batman. We don’t know Satoshi Nakamoto’s birth name, but we do know something about the steps he took to create Bitcoin and indelibly forge his alter-ego.

Also read: Satoshi’s Final Messages Leave Tantalizing Clues to His Disappearance

Unmasking the Legend of Satoshi

We don’t know who Satoshi is or was, but like the superheroes of today’s Marvel and DC movies, beneath the mask was a flawed human capable of extraordinary things. Deifying – or rather superhero-ifying – any one man is the antithesis of everything Bitcoin stands for. Indeed, it may have been the growing cult of Satoshi that sent Bitcoin’s creator scurrying into exile. For evocative purposes, however, the superhero metaphor works. Just think about it:

One man, taking on a corrupt system (central…