Satoshi Nakamoto has been a mystery in the crypto world since the inception of Bitcoin in 2009. This time, James Murphy, or “MetaLawMan” as he is popularly known on X (formerly Twitter), is looking for answers and is knocking on the door of the DHS with a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) complaint filed in a D.C District Court.
Murphy sought the legal expertise of former assistant U.S. attorney Brian Field, a Freedom of Information Act litigation specialist. So, what prompted the cryptocurrency lawyer to file this lawsuit?
What The Department of Homeland Security Knows
In 2019, DHS Special Agent Rana Saoud claimed that the department had met and interrogated Satoshi Nakamoto. The statements came from her presentation during the Offshore Alert Conference on Financial Intelligence and Investigations.
Citing this as the crux of the lawsuit, Murphy wrote, “My FOIA lawsuit seeks documents concerning claims made by a high-ranking Special Agent of the DHS that DHS found and interviewed Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto.”
Saoud allegedly revealed that they traced the creator of Bitcoin and planned a meeting. Instead of meeting one person, they met a group of four people who explained how they created Bitcoin and for what purpose.
The DHS has never released what it found or knows about Satoshi Nakamoto. However, Murphy insists that the agency release any emails, documents, and notes from the meeting since it is standard procedure to have a paper trail of such an important event.
Murphy has also asked the DHS to release all records, including transcripts of Saoud's remarks during the 2019 conference. If the DHS resists disclosing any information, Murphy has pledged to pursue the case to the very end.
Bitcoin’s Milestones
From a white paper describing digital currency as the future of money to being a valuable asset worth over $1.5 trillion, Bitcoin has undoubtedly come a long way. The first ever recorded retail transaction of Bitcoin was by programmer Laszlo Hanyecz, who bought two pizzas from Papa Johns with 10,000 BTC in 2010, now worth billions.
Today, Bitcoin is mainstream, with billions of dollars in BTC traded daily. Bitcoin has also grown from a token only used in the tech space to being incorporated in various industries like retail, ecommerce, finance and gaming.
In gaming, players can use BTC to buy upgrades in video games and place bets in casino games. Some casino sites have gone fully crypto and even provide an exchange platform within their sites.
Seeing the popularity of crypto, new sweepstakes casinos have come up that use virtual currencies, similar to crypto tokens. These platforms provide an exciting way for players to experience casino-style games without the need to deposit real money. Instead, they use virtual currencies, such as sweepstakes coins or gold, allowing users to try, new sweepstakes casinos are out games for free and win real prizes. As the demand for crypto and online gaming grows, new sweepstakes casinos are blending the best of both worlds
Through its continuous adoption in many sectors, including financial investments, Bitcoin finally crossed the $100k mark, making it the highest-valued cryptocurrency ever. As Bitcoin continues to dominate the markets, it was only a matter of time before crypto enthusiasts started to seek credible answers about Satoshi Nakamoto.
As the speculations and rumors go on, crypto lawyer James Murphy, known as MetaLawMan, is seeking answers from the Department of Homeland Security.
Who Is Satoshi Nakamoto?
Crypto’s greatest unanswered question remains the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoin’s creator. So far, there has been no indication of whether Satoshi is an individual or a group of people, so many crypto fans speculate about who this person or entity might be.
All that is known is that Satoshi published the Bitcoin whitepaper in 2008 and launched the network one year later. However, there have been rumors and guesses about who Satoshi is. At first, cypherpunks Nick Szabo, Hal Finney, and Adam Back were suspected of being Satoshi but denied the claims.
Craig Wright claimed to be Nakamoto, and a U.K. court refuted his claims and ended the years-long legal battle in 2024 between Craig and the Crypto Open Patent Alliance. Another interesting narrative came from HBO when they released the documentary The Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery, hinting at Canadian Bitcoin cypherpunk Peter Todd as Bitcoin’s creator.
Todd denied the claims, calling the filmmaker “irresponsible” for making such baseless accusations and potentially putting his life in danger. The latest Satoshi conspiracy suggests that Twitter’s founder, Jack Dorsey, created Bitcoin. Sean Murray started the theory on X, listing the connections and coincidences between Satoshi and Jack Dorsey.