identification public-law statement
What are the legal implications for denying you are Satoshi Nakamoto?
<p>The creator of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitcoin" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Bitcoin</a> chose to hide in the pseudonym <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satoshi_Nakamoto" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Satoshi Nakamoto</a>. For years there had been a lot of interest, debate, and research on the true identity of Satoshi. The most-probable candidates have denied that they were him.</p>

<p>What are the legal ramifications if one was really Satoshi, denied it publicly, but then later proven to really be him?</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>What are the legal ramifications if one was really Satoshi, denied it publicly, but then later proved to really be him?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>In general, the person's false denial is irrelevant for legal purposes. One would have to add very special circumstances for the person's misrepresentation to have any legal ramifications.</p>

<p>Those additional circumstances would have to be material (1) for claims where the intent and/or effects of the falsehood meet one or more of the <em>prima facie</em> elements of the claim(s) at issue (examples: fraud, defamation, tortious interference with business/relation, etc.), and/or (2) as a hindrance to fact-finding in a case (examples: perjury, spoliation of evidence).</p>

<p>Furthermore, the circumstances that would render the false denial actionable are most likely very intricate. For instance, two of the <em>prima facie</em> elements of fraud are [plaintiff's] <em>reasonable reliance</em> and <em>resulting losses</em>. It would be very hard for a plaintiff to prove that (1) he <em>reasonably</em> relied on the person's public denial on a dubious matter with seemingly no financial or criminal repercussions, and (2) in a way that led the plaintiff to losses.</p>

<p>Not only the matter of Satoshi Nakamoto's true identity is/was an elusive matter (thus defeating an argument of plaintiff's <em>reasonable reliance</em>). If anything, a person would seek to partner or to transact <em>with</em> Satoshi Nakamoto than with a seemingly ordinary individual who publicly purports to be <em>not Satoshi</em>. Accordingly, it will be hard to establish that the false denial was reliable and caused losses.</p>
