alt Hacker News>I read up to here, but I wasn't convinced that this is the revelation that the author claims
The rest of the arguments is as weak:
1) both released open-source software
2) both don't like spam
3) both like using pseudonyms online
4) both love freedom
5) both are anti-copyright
etc.
Basically, the author found that Adam Back used the same words on X as Satoshi did in some emails (including such rare words as "dang," "backup," and "abandonware") and then decided to find every possible "link" they could to build the case, even if most of the links are along the lines of "Both are humans! Coincidence? I think not."
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Yep, As fans of Larson's The Far Side, probably every American and Americo-phile computer geek and cypherpunk used 'dang'
Same goes for the rest of your list.
I use "dang" as a nod to Gary Larson.
TIL I am Satoshi.
That's the weak evidence. Nobody cares that they both like open source and freedom, half the cypherpunks list fits that.
The parts worth engaging with: Back described a system combining Hashcash and b-money with inflation adjustment and public timestamping on the cypherpunks list between 1997-1999. That's basically Bitcoin's architecture, a decade early. He was one of the most prolific digital cash posters for years, went silent when Satoshi appeared, came back when Satoshi left. And this person who independently arrived at the same technical design also independently landed on the same Napster vs Gnutella analogy, the same celebrity email filtering idea, and the same FDR gold ban trivia.
Any one of these is a coincidence. At some point you have to ask how many you need before the simpler explanation wins.
I think this misses the point. The point is that interests and writing style matches, which means there's a higher chance they are the same person.
The more similarities you find, the closer the match. It's in no way proof, of course. But it does provide good reason to look closer
It's weird they spent so much time on the written word similarities, when the biggest reveal here is that Back disappears off the email lists (on a topic he is VERY interested in and has historically corresponded on) when Nakamoto appears, and then comes back when Nakamoto disappears.