Who is Satoshi Nakamoto?
Whether a person or a myth, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin (BTC) remains one of the most enigmatic figures in modern finance. And the identity is as legendary as it is infamous.
One of Satoshi’s most outspoken critics is British economist Gary Stevenson, who has repeatedly urged retail investors to stay away from crypto, calling it a form of high-risk speculation rather than a sound investment.
In one of his remarks, Stevenson went a step further, claiming that Satoshi Nakamoto could be secretly selling Bitcoin to finance a global public relations campaign designed to artificially pump the cryptocurrency’s price.
On Mar. 1, during an interview with “How To Academy,” the former Citigroup trader, known for his sharp economic critiques, was asked whether he viewed blockchain-based economies as a cause for optimism or pessimism.
His response was blunt.
“Imagine you are Satoshi Nakamoto — who is a fake guy who invented a fake currency and is owning like a trillion dollars worth,” Stevenson said.
“If I was this guy and I have a trillion dollars of Bitcoin and I know if I start selling it the price will fall to zero, what I’m going to do is sell 100 grand worth of it, use that money to buy advertising, and then I’m going to sell 200 grand and use that money to buy advertising.”
He went on to say that, in such a scenario, he would devote enormous effort to flooding the world with advertising, persuading inexperienced young investors to buy into what he called a “useless” asset, ultimately allowing him to profit from their losses.
Stevenson compared the alleged manipulation to the marketing strategies behind some celebrity-backed crypto projects, arguing that hype rather than utility continues to drive Bitcoin’s valuation.
“Listen, it’s a scam,” he said, before drawing parallels to Donald Trump’s coin launches. “Look at what Donald Trump did — he comes in, here’s a coin, you give me 50 billion dollars.”
