An email sent in 2009 by Bitcoin’s mysterious founder, Satoshi Nakamoto, has resurfaced. Researcher Seán Murray suggests that a Bitcoin node Satoshi said he was connected to may belong to Dustin Trammell, one of the network’s early users.
According to Murray’s assessment shared today, the connection may have originated from a Roadrunner home internet address in Austin, Texas. The claim centers around an email Satoshi sent to Nicholas Bohm on July 20, 2009.
In the correspondence, Bohm explains that the Bitcoin software is having difficulty establishing a connection. Satoshi, in turn, states that his own node is also trying to reach Bohm’s IP address but is unsuccessful.
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Satoshi says in his message that he has been connected to a different IP address since the previous day. This is where the address that Murray associated with Trammell comes into play.
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The email also reveals how few participants the Bitcoin network had in its early months. Bohm recounts that there were typically three to five connections previously, while Satoshi asks new users to keep their computers on so they can find someone to connect with.
Murray’s research highlights the association of the IP address with the Austin area and the fact that Trammell was working in the same region at the time. A later addition to the research revealed that another address Trammell had previously shared with Satoshi was also connected to the Roadrunner home internet service in Austin.
However, these matches do not definitively confirm that the node belongs to Trammell. The email does not specify the owner of the link by name; the Trammell connection is based on Murray’s assessment using geographical and technical traces.
Trammell’s direct communication with Satoshi is known through his own published correspondence. In his personal blog, Trammell stated that Satoshi sent him 25 BTC on January 14, 2009.
*This is not investment advice.