Lawsuit Demands Federal Disclosure of Bitcoin Inventor
James A. Murphy, a prominent crypto attorney, who blogs on X under the name @MetaLawMan, has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). His goal: to find out what the federal government knows about the mysterious creator of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto.
Murphy’s case, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, is the culmination of a February 12 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request he claims DHS has declined to respond to—exceeding its legal duty to reply.
The DHS Interview That Incited the Case
At the center of Murphy’s request is an alleged 2019 interview with DHS Special Agent Rana Saoud. Saoud, Murphy reports, told her that she had known Nakamoto and had even met the group behind the development of Bitcoin—allegedly four people who collaborated on its creation.
Murphy believes whatever record of that interview exists is significant. His attorney wrote in the filing:
“In light of the huge public and private investment in Bitcoin, it is important. to gain a better understanding of what the federal government knows about the identity of the actor(s) involved.”
Billions in Bitcoin, and a Government That Might Know More
The lawsuit comes as a record amount of investments in Bitcoin exchange-traded funds and news broke of U.S. government moves to establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve. Murphy thinks that transparency is more important than ever.
He has requested that DHS Secretary Kristi Noem release the relevant records voluntarily. Alternatively, he threatens to proceed with a lawsuit to force their disclosure.
The Never-Ending Search for Satoshi Nakamoto
Rumors regarding Nakamoto’s identity have never ceased since Bitcoin’s creation. Since then, names like Dorian Nakamoto, Hal Finney, Adam Back, Wei Dai, and even notorious crime lord Paul Le Roux have all been thrown around as possible candidates.
Most recently, Canadian cryptographer Peter Todd was the subject of the HBO documentary Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery. It theorized stylistic and behavioral affinities between Todd and Nakamoto—something he forcefully rejects.
What’s Next?
Murphy’s suit gives new momentum to the decades-long mystery surrounding the origins of Bitcoin. Whether DHS possesses the key—and will be forced to turn it—remains to be determined.
