The New York Times says it has identified Satoshi, bitcoin's inventor. The crypto industry doesn't seem to care.

By Steve Goldstein and Frances Yue

The person known as Satoshi Nakamoto is estimated to hold 1.1 million bitcoin - worth roughly $78 billion at today's price

The inventor of bitcoin is Adam Back, according to a new report.

A report in the New York Times claims to have identified the person who goes by the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto, the inventor of bitcoin and one of the richest people on earth. However, the crypto industry seems to be shrugging it off.

According to the report, the inventor is Adam Back, a British cryptographer and still a major player in the bitcoin movement. The New York Times analysis relies heavily on textual analysis of old emails and posts, and in particular incorrect hyphen usage and British spelling.

Back has repeatedly denied that he is Nakamoto, both in the New York Times story and previously. He did so again after the story was published.

For many in the industry, though, the bigger point is that the answer may no longer matter much.

"I think at this point, bitcoin has taken on a life of its own," Alexander Blume, co-founder and chief executive at crypto financial-services firm Two Prime, told MarketWatch.

"So long as the 1.1 million 'Satoshi Bitcoin' don't move and Adam Back doesn't claim it's him, it doesn't really matter," Blume said.

Blume was referring to the stash of 1.1 million bitcoin the person known as Nakamoto is estimated to hold - worth roughly $78 billion at today's price.

Louis LaValle, co-founder and chief executive at crypto investment advisory firm Frontier Investments, echoed the point. "I don't think the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto matters unless it's linked to a governmentthat will lead to some negative perception of what bitcoin is," LaValle said.

"The baseline assumption most people are operating with is that Satoshi was a private individual or small group with relatively benign intentions," he added.

As long as any new evidence strengthens that case, "the market would absorb the news relatively quickly," LaValle said.

Bitcoin rose 3.1% to $71,156 Wednesday morning, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

That gain was driven by a two-week cease-fire agreement reached between the U.S., Israel and Iran Tuesday evening, according to Denis Dariotis, founder and chief executive of GoQuant, a crypto trading infrastructure platform.

The New York Times report is unlikely to affect bitcoin's price, because Nakamoto is not a central operator of the bitcoin network, Dariotis said.

-Steve Goldstein -Frances Yue

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04-08-26 1156ET