Who is Len Sassaman? The man leading Polymarket’s Bitcoin founder market

As HBO’s documentary promises to reveal Bitcoin’s creator, bettors on Polymarket speculate if Len Sassaman is the real Satoshi Nakamoto.

Len Sassaman, a name not widely known outside of cryptography or cryptocurrency circles, has emerged as a key figure in the ongoing speculation around the true identity of Bitcoin’s creator, Satoshi Nakamoto. 

With an upcoming HBO documentary teasing a revelation, bettors on Polymarket, a prediction market platform, are heavily wagering that Sassaman could be behind the pseudonym that introduced Bitcoin (BTC) to the world.

Polymarket allows users to place bets on various events, and speculation around Bitcoin’s founder is currently one of the most discussed topics. Bettors currently have Sassaman at a 46% chance of being named as Satoshi in the documentary.

Who was Len Sassaman? 

Sassaman, who passed away in 2011, was a cryptographer known for his contributions to privacy and decentralization. He worked on tools like Mixmaster, an email anonymizer that shielded users’ identities and was deeply embedded in the cryptographic community. 

His connection to Hal Finney, an early Bitcoin developer and the recipient of the first Bitcoin transaction from Satoshi, adds another layer to the speculation.

In 2008, Satoshi released the whitepaper that laid out the foundation of Bitcoin. Just as the digital currency was gaining momentum, Satoshi disappeared in 2011. Months later, Sassaman passed away; his wife reported his death as suicide. 

Some believe that Sassaman’s death could be linked to Satoshi’s disappearance, with conspiracy theories suggesting that Sassaman may have taken his life to protect his privacy and Satoshi’s identity.

Though Len Sassaman is leading the Polymarket bets, other candidates include Hal Finney, who holds 11% of the wagers. Finney was an early contributor to Bitcoin’s codebase and a prominent figure in the cryptographic world.

Despite all this speculation, many remain skeptical. Another contract on Polymarket shows that 83% of bettors believe the documentary won’t definitively prove Satoshi’s identity this year.