How would we know the real Satoshi?

Should Satoshi decide to reveal his or her true identity, how can one know the person is the real creator of Bitcoin, rather than a person who hacked the forum login, email address or the like? In other words, what methods of authentication did Satoshi use that could clearly identify him or her?

ThePiachu

Posted 2012-04-13T07:52:33.807

Reputation: 41 594

While this is not strictly a Bitcoin question, it does lead to discussion of techniques that are related to Bitcoin in terms of proof of identity. – Gary Rowe – 2012-04-14T15:25:24.083

Answers

He has a PGP public key which he can use to sign things.

theymos

Posted 2012-04-13T07:52:33.807

Reputation: 8 228

1Let's hope he didn't lose his hard drive on some electricity hiccup or something, then. – Aviad Ben Dov – 2012-04-13T18:22:20.897

@AviadBenDov I'm sure he had it backed up. – BinaryMage – 2012-04-14T00:04:33.623

10If anyone understands that data doesn't exist unless it's in more than one place, it's Satoshi Nakamoto. – Gary Rowe – 2012-04-14T15:23:43.353

He can prove that he has the private key matching the address used in the genesis block.

Thilo

Posted 2012-04-13T07:52:33.807

Reputation: 4 491

Isn't that used to sign the Alert messages by the current developers? – ThePiachu – 2012-04-15T12:22:49.220

1@ThePiachu No. That's a different key. – theymos – 2012-04-15T15:35:49.743