The crypto world was shocked to discover that a user had signed a message to a Bitcoin Block 1018 on the bitcointalk.org forum. The signature was then linked to an address that was first detected in 2022 by the signer. Further investigation tied block 1018 to the current Bitcoin transactions of the late computer scientist, Hal Finney. An additional signature and message was found to be associated with an earlier bitcoin address. This was located by the former hedge fund manager and ‘pharmacist’ Martin Shkreli. The latest message boldly states that the ex-programmer is also a convicted cartel boss, Paul Le Roux, who sent Hal Finney the first bitcoin transaction on January 12, 2009.
Crypto Community Surprised by Signature Connected to 2009 Bitcoin Transaction, Martin Shkreli Claims it is Tied to Notorious Criminal
Amidst the chaos surrounding FTX’s crash and the strange messages being sent by a user on bitcointalk.org to the crypto world, ‘Onesignature’ was witnessed. The user signed a message linking to the ‘1NChf’ address and the coinbase reward for block 102218 was a corresponding number. To prove their existence, the message contained a 2022 Bitcoin address. Onesignature also signed a message with this new address. Upon further research, Bitcoin.com News found that Onesignature’s address 1018 and block 1018 of 1NChf are associated with Hal Finney’s Bitcoin transactions.
The problem is, Finney had been suffering from the complications of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) for years before his death in 2014. This means that although Finney did not sign the transaction, his family or estate may still be in control of the wallet. The wallet could have been sold in its entirety, even though the contents were empty and it would have cost an incredible amount. After the Onesignature reveal, another figure appeared on the internet. This time, it was created by ex-hedge fund manager Martin Shkreli. The convicted criminal and ‘pharmacist’ is a controversial figure and has, more recently, been involved in many cryptocurrency-related discussions.
On December 13, 2022, Shkreli posted a substack blog post titled ‘Paul Le Roux is Satoshi’. The post contained a Bitcoin address associated with the message/sign
For the first time, a mysterious signature has been detected on a 2009 Bitcoin address. Martin Shkreli, the infamous “Pharma Bro,” recently posted a comment in which he mentioned convicted criminal Paul Le Roux as a possible owner of the private keys.
Greg Maxwell, a commentator on the post, suggested that the signature was signed by someone with access to the address recently. Shkreli responded, saying he didn’t care who Satoshi Nakamoto was, sparking further investigation into the matter.
The name “Paul Le Roux” refers to the former cartel boss and software engineer currently in prison following his arrest in 2012 for various crimes. He has been considered a possible Satoshi Nakamoto since 2019, after evidence emerged from circumstantial sources during the Kleiman v. Wright case.
One of the complaint documents (Document 187) also includes an unredacted footnote, which contains a URL linking to Le Roux’s Wikipedia page. This document, alongside Le Roux’s reputation as a cryptographer and software engineer, has earned him a lot of respect as a possible Satoshi.
Evan Ratliff, an investigative journalist, was quoted in a Wired article from July 2016 as saying Le Roux was “the most credible Satoshi yet.” After further review of Maxwell’s comment, Shkreli concluded that he didn’t care who was responsible.
As the story develops, it remains to be seen who is signing the addresses associated with this account. If you have any information on the topic, please let us know in the comments below.
