While much debate has surrounded the genuine identity of bitcoin founder Satoshi Nakamoto, Elon Musk appears to concur with the most prevalent notion.
He was interviewed on Wednesday by Lex Fridman for his podcast, where they talked about his space company SpaceX, Mars, Tesla's self-driving capability, and cryptocurrencies, among other topics.
They also discussed Dogecoin and Satoshi Nakamoto during the interview's crypto-related section.
The billionaire clarified that he is not Satoshi Nakamoto, the widely recognized but anonymous inventor of Bitocoin, but speculated on who the person might be.
The Tesla CEO agreed with the widely held belief that crypto specialist Nick Szabo is the brains behind the world's most popular digital asset.
Musk was quoted as telling Friedman, "It appears as though Nick Szabo is probably... responsible for the evolution of those ideas."
"He claims not to be Nakamoto... yet he appears to be more responsible than anyone else for the ideas underpinning bitcoin," Musk remarked.
Bitcoin was first proposed in October 2008 by "Satoshi Nakamoto," a pseudonym for a single or numerous individuals, according to many.
A group of language researchers looked into Nakamoto's bitcoin whitepaper, as well as the writings of Szabo and 10 other potential founders, in 2014. They discovered that the results were unmistakable.
This isn't the first time Musk has stated that he isn't Satoshi Nakamoto.
In November 2017, Sahil Gupta, an intern at SpaceX, claimed on Medium that the CEO was Satoshi Nakamoto, but Musk denied it, saying that he had gotten some bitcoin a few years before but had lost it.
Szabo was also credited as being the inventor of bitcoin in a 2015 New York Times article.
Szabo has talked openly about the history of bitcoin and blockchain technology, but he has consistently refuted accusations that he is the crypto's enigmatic creator.
Another reason he's associated with bitcoin is his 1998 conception of the "bit gold" cryptocurrency.
Musk also indicated in the interview that he views Bitcoin as a store of value rather than a currency since people prefer to "HODL" (hold) a currency that is too deflationary and expected to gain in value over time rather than use it.
Szabo has mostly kept a low profile as a computer guru and avoided media attention since Bitcoin first appeared on the scene and grew in popularity.
Despite Szabo's repeated denials that he is Satoshi Nakamoto, some factors continue to point to him as the Bitcoin inventor.
