Here's an interesting twist to the commentariat drama unfolding over Satoshi's real-life identity (#1467304, #1467318, #1467306):

THE TREASURY COMPANIES ARE INVOLVED!

To me, the financialization/gambling nonsense and how AB had his fingers behind basically every single one of them, was the moment I lost most respect for him — and consequently, also why I don't consider him Satoshi. There's just no way the real, true Satoshi, the guy who invented the financial-system exit, would so diligently fund every attempt to bring it back inside those wallet, regulated, monitored gardens.

(but...That's what a spook would say!)

Anyway, the John Carreyrou long read for the New York Times is kind of worth reading (it's long as fuck and you could scroll through some tired and eye-roll worthy Satoshi hunt behavior). The treasury twist at the end I did not see coming.

Carreyrou had assembled all his stuff by November, and reached out to Back and delivered the conclusion that he was Satoshi. Ignored, Carreyrou decided to attend an El Salvador event and confront him in person. He recounts his skulking around at the event, trying to find Back:

Thirty minutes later, Mr. Back came out. I walked up to him, reintroduced myself and explained why I had come. He was slightly flustered but, to my pleasant surprise, he agreed to meet with me the next morning in the lobby of his hotel, which was doubling as the conference venue.
When I arrived at the appointed hour, Mr. Back was flanked by two executives from a new Bitcoin treasury company he had co-founded. He explained that the company was in the process of going public, forcing him to be more careful about how he interacted with the press.

THE TREASURY SCAMS ARE PROTECTING HIM! Oh wow:

I had completely missed this new development. Bitcoin treasury companies borrow money and use it to amass bitcoins, providing investors with a more aggressive way to bet on the cryptocurrency. Mr. Back had started his last summer and was merging it with a publicly traded shell created by Cantor Fitzgerald, the Wall Street firm formerly led by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. As chief executive of the merged company, Mr. Back was required under U.S. securities law to disclose any information that was material to its investors. A secret stash of 1.1 million coins that could crash the Bitcoin market if it were suddenly sold, for example, would probably be considered material.

Over the next two hours, I presented my evidence piece by piece. In his soft British lilt, Mr. Back insisted he wasn’t Satoshi and chalked it all up to a series of coincidences. But at times, his body language told a different story. His face reddened and he shifted uncomfortably in his seat when confronted with things that were harder to explain away.

I still had a few things I wanted to confront Mr. Back with, but his aides said he had other meetings to attend. We took the elevator back down to the lobby and shook hands like two chess players after a hard-fought match.

Oh well. As far as Satoshi mystery quests go, this one is pretty convincing. Still, _ugh_.

archived: https://archive.md/1jJje