The hunt for Bitcoin’s elusive inventor has become a mythical quest, akin to discovering Atlantis or finding Bigfoot. His online wallet contains some 1.1 million Bitcoin, worth some £58bn at today’s price. The pseudonymous innovator has managed to remain in the shadows for almost two decades since launching Bitcoin in 2008. This week, an investigation by the New York Times concluded beyond “any lingering doubt” that Bitcoin’s secretive creator was a 55-year-old British computer scientist living in Malta called Adam Back. The first Bitcoin record contained a headline found in The Times on Jan 3, 2009: “Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks”.

Source: The Times April 10, 2026 14:02 UTC