Kraken May Have Data on Satoshi Nakamoto’s Identity
Date: 2025-02-07 Author: Gabriel Deangelo Categories: BUSINESS
Coinbase’s head of product, Conor Grogan, has suggested that Kraken may know the true identity of Satoshi Nakamoto. He examined wallet data that is likely linked to Nakamoto, based on information from the Arkham analytics platform. The last time activity was recorded on these wallets was in 2014.
An interesting clue in the investigation is a 2013 transfer from the Canadian exchange CaVirtEx. In 2016, this platform was acquired by Kraken. If the exchange retained data on early customers, including KYC information, then it may have access to information about the owner of these transactions. Thus, Kraken could potentially hold one of the most secret secrets in the crypto industry.
However, Grogan recommended that the exchange's founder Jesse Powell remove any possible information about Nakamoto's identity. According to him, this will help protect the privacy of clients' data and avoid leaks.
Kraken responded to Grogan's statement briefly: "We are all Satoshi." The crypto community was skeptical about this hypothesis. Some users noted that in 2013, few platforms implemented the KYC procedure, so it is unlikely that CaVirtEx client data was preserved.
"Yes, but at that time KYC was more of a recommendation than a requirement. It is unlikely that Kraken has accurate information about the owners of these wallets. Especially since verification was not required to send funds to the exchange," one of the commentators noted.
In addition, some users criticized Grogan's approach itself. "First you hint where to look for information about Nakamoto, and then advise deleting it. This seems illogical," said a user under the nickname tomcm.
According to Arkham, Bitcoin wallets believed to belong to Satoshi hold around 1 million BTC, equivalent to $108 billion. If these funds do indeed belong to the creator of Bitcoin, his net worth would exceed that of Bill Gates.
In 2024, HBO released a documentary, Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery, which claimed that Nakamoto's identity had been revealed. The creator of Bitcoin was allegedly Peter Todd, but he quickly refuted this claim, and the crypto community remained skeptical of this theory.
