Who was Len Sassaman and why is he believed to be the creator of Bitcoin?

Len Sassaman was an American technologist and renowned cypherpunk specializing in cryptographic systems. He stood out for his activism in favor of civil rights and virtual privacy. Additionally, he made significant contributions to the development of the PGP system and showed interest in cryptography applied in the financial world. His tragic and sudden death led to a series of speculations about whether Sassaman was actually Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of Bitcoin technology. In this Cryptopedia, we will tell you his story.

Len Sassaman was born on April 9, 1980, in Pennsylvania. In 1998, he graduated from The Hill School and at a young age was part of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), an organization responsible for technical standards that make up network protocols. At the age of 18, he was diagnosed with depression, a disorder he would have to fight for the rest of his life.

In 1999, he moved to San Francisco, where he became a notable member of the cypherpunk community. His roommate was Bram Cohen, the founder of BitTorrent and the programmer responsible for creating the peer-to-peer (p2p) protocol.

Sassaman later worked as a security architect and systems engineer for Anonymizer, a company specializing in privacy, computer, and network security. There, he contributed to PGP encryption software and regularly appeared at major technology conferences like DEF CON held annually in Las Vegas.

With Bram Cohen’s help, the cryptographer founded CodeCon, an annual conference for software hackers and technology enthusiasts that ran from 2002 to 2009. Sassaman also organized protests against the arrest of Dmitri Skljarov, a young Russian arrested for alleged violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act while writing software for ElcomSoft.

In 2006, Sassaman proposed marriage to the well-known computer scientist and writer Meredith L. Patterson. This happened during the fifth CodeCon, in a question-and-answer session after one of his presentations. Together, they conducted various research and collaborations, including criticizing the security flaws of OLPC (One Laptop per Child) and Bitfrost, cheap computers intended to promote children’s education.

Len Sassaman’s research focused mainly on developing technologies that would optimize privacy and designing protocols to meet specific user needs. He believed in considering human interaction factors in systems. This means that his projects should not only remain in theory but should be verified in practice, taking into account the human factor.

Death and obituary in Bitcoin

On July 3, 2011, Sassaman’s wife informed about his death by suicide. As we know, the cryptologist had been struggling with depression since a young age, which would explain the reasons for his death.

In honor of Sassaman’s work and to commemorate his commitment to digital privacy, an obituary was embedded in the Bitcoin blockchain. In the tribute, we see the immortalized face of the young man in an alphanumeric code. This tribute also served to support the theory that Sassaman is Satoshi Nakamoto.

Len Sassaman’s connection to OpenPGP and friendship with Phil Zimmermann

Len Sassaman was a contributor to the OpenPGP working group, a public key system created by cryptographer Phil Zimmerman. This project was very important and revolutionary because it consists of an open standard that ensures the PGP encryption technology remains accessible and up to date. Individuals and businesses use OpenPGP to protect confidential information, trade secrets, and personal data.

Moreover, these two technologists together created the Zimmermann-Sassaman key signing protocol, which speeds up the verification of the public key fingerprint. A remarkable fact is that this protocol was invented during a significant signing party where Werner Koch, the creator of GNU Privacy Guard, was present.

Sassaman’s relationship with the cypherpunk movement

Len Sassaman not only participated in the mailing list of the cypherpunk movement but was one of its most active members. The technologist shared values with other members such as privacy, security, and freedom, which formed the pillars of this group. On the other hand, they were all united by the passion for developing decentralized technologies and digital monetary systems.

Similarly, the young cryptographer corresponded and collaborated with important members of the group, such as Tim May, an engineer and political writer, and Eric Hughes, a mathematician and programmer. Their discussions laid the foundation for developing technologies of the magnitude of Bitcoin.

In the Cypherpunk Manifesto, written by Eric Hughes, we find summarized the beliefs shared by this group of programmers, cryptographers, scientists, and journalists. One of its most iconic statements can be emphasized: “Privacy is the power to selectively reveal oneself to the world.”

Sassaman’s relationship with Bitcoin technology

Len Sassaman was interested in defending digital privacy and in creating a fairer monetary system, values that align with Bitcoin’s objectives. Additionally, he shared the interest in making cryptography enable a more secure, efficient, and decentralized financial system. However, there is no evidence that he had any significant involvement in the development of Bitcoin technology, aside from emails and knowledge shared with other members of the cypherpunk movement.

Now, due to his somewhat mysterious and reclusive personality, his steadfast values, and the strange circumstances of his death, it is believed that Sassaman was not only involved with Bitcoin but also its creator. Indirect evidence has also been found that could support those who endorse this theory.

Why it is believed that Len Sassaman is Satoshi Nakamoto

One of the reasons it is believed that Sassaman could be Nakamoto is because his death in 2011 coincides with the time when Satoshi stopped actively participating in the development of Bitcoin. In April of that same year, Nakamoto sent his last public message in which he, as usual, communicated with Gavin Andresen. There, he requested the following: ‘I would like you to not talk about me as a mysterious figure in the shadows. The press turns that angle into that of a pirate coin. Instead, try to explain it as an open-source project and give more appreciation to the contributors; “That motivates them.”

This raises the following question: What if Nakamoto did indeed disappear, but not for the reasons we think? Would this be a kind of definitive farewell? Would Sassaman, saddened and concerned about being discovered, have committed suicide to remain forever anonymous?

It is known that Len Sassaman did not like to express his opinion about Bitcoin. No quote or opinion of his about this technology and its creator has been preserved. This makes him one of the most discreet candidates for the true identity of Satoshi Nakamoto.

What evidence exists to support the Sassaman-Nakamoto theory

The evidence is not conclusive. Looking at the cryptographic evidence, Sassaman never used a private key or account of Nakamoto. What he did, however, was contribute to the Cypherpunks email list where the Bitcoin whitepaper was shared.

On the other hand, it is assumed that the young cryptographer would have encrypted the entire contents of his computer, making it currently impossible to access his digital information. This would, according to those who support this theory, explain why Nakamoto’s cryptocurrency wallet remained unchanged all this time.

It is also believed that Sassaman, thanks to his extensive knowledge of cryptography, as the young technologist surely had the necessary skills to develop Bitcoin technology. Additionally, he held various conferences and actively participated in developing cryptographic tools aimed at offering financial solutions.

Meredith L. Patterson’s opinion on her husband’s identity

Amidst so much speculation, Len Sassaman’s widow, Meredith L. Patterson, was not afraid to express her clear dissatisfaction with this theory; she categorically denied that her husband was Satoshi Nakamoto. Her statements are not new, as they circulated in 2022 similar remarks. Patterson was also adamant about Sassaman’s identity at the time.

Patterson also claims that Len could not be the creator of Bitcoin because the original protocol design had “some beginner mistakes”, referring to the ancient power function of sending Bitcoin to an IP address, a factor Sassaman would not have overlooked.

Meredith refers to the early versions of Bitcoin where money could be sent directly to an IP address, simplifying the process but compromising privacy; This detail was a concern for users because IP addresses could easily be linked to identities. Satoshi later removed this feature so that transactions would be pseudonymous, and payments to IP addresses would not be possible.

Despite Meredith’s unwavering stance, not everyone close to Sassaman rules out the possibility that he is Satoshi Nakamoto. Bram Cohen, his former roommate, claims that Sassaman used a pseudonym on the Cypherpunks list.

Moreover, Len encouraged Cohen to publish BitTorrent under a pseudonym, which Cohen discovered raised suspicions at the time; Why did Sassaman tend to keep everything hidden, for anonymity? Despite everything, Cohen also emphasizes that Sassaman was his best friend and that he is not very comfortable discussing the topic.

A documentary that aims to provide answers

The theory that Satoshi Nakamoto is the young and mysterious Len Sassaman has been circulating for several years. However, the topic gained relevance and popularity again thanks to the HBO documentary titled ‘The Mystery of Bitcoin’. As a result, speculation that Sassaman could be Satoshi became relevant again. In Polymarket, 46% of the participants chose Len. However, it should be noted that Meredith Patterson stated that HBO never contacted her to conduct the research.

Regardless of Sassaman’s relationship with Nakamoto and the speculations surrounding it, the most important thing is to remember his contributions to the world of encryption, keeping in mind his studies on applied cryptography and his interest in creating programs that consider the human factor. Additionally, Sassaman was a renowned advocate for digital privacy and freedom of speech. Currently, his wife Meredith is responsible for promoting and showing the importance of mental health, highlighting various facets of Len, not only as a cryptographer but as a human being.

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