Ask HN: What if the NSA is Satoshi Nakamoto (anagram of I AM A HOST TO NSA OK)?

Exactly, the Japanese initial N.SA haha :)

Not an expert, but... The WWII German codes were mostly broken by the British GC&CS at Bletchley Park. While breaking the Japanese codes was the US Navy's signals intelligence folks (with quite a bit of foreign help).

Vs. the NSA was only created in the 1950's, out of the SIS - which was very closely associated with the US Army.

Fair questions.

- Not easily, but possible for a genius perhaps.

- Linus Torvalds, Einstein, Grothendieck, Zuck.

  First two points is why the loner theory has legs. It's compelling, satisfies the "lone hero" narrative impulse. But maybe that's why it's lasted so long, and maybe that's even why it was designed that way as cover.

- From a financial point of view, Idk. I'm not up on my subversive/combatant commerce history as may have been performed by DoD/intel. But from a tech point of view? Similar to the development, analysis release of sophisticated hashes and ciphers that became widely adopted. Similar in use to other cipher tools that came from the same places around the same time: TOR, encrypted messaging apps.

- Good point. But it could cut 3 ways: 1) "so stupid it couldn't be us", 2) "so provocative we don't care if you know" / "we never intended it to be a secret, we assumed everyone would figure it out and laugh at the ridiculous of 'Satoshi Nakamoto' -- instead they revered him and turned this fiction into an idol."; 3) "deliberate misattribution by another actor probably a cryptologic agency"

- I don't find the peppering of a few Britishisms to be as compelling as the tech history alignment in the DoD/IC at the time (TOR, encrypted messaging apps, research into crypto currencies), tho maybe there's more to the GCHQ angle than that? And I'm not up on British history, maybe they had more motivation to create an 'alt digital reserve'? Fits with London being a fin powerhouse, I guess. Superficially there's also the GHCQ created it but disguised attribution with Britishisms and NSA anagram. Not that intriguing but could become more so with additional factoids. :)

- Idk. I assume it's useful for agents to receive payment, and anonymously purchase supplies, and goes in the bag with encrypted communications. If DoD/intel had focus on a lot of HUMINT and covert subversion/influence then they'd need to run thousands of agents worldwide, this could be a very useful tool for that arm of US power. Scale seems reasonable post-9/11, and around the Arab spring and other color revolutions. But Idk, just speculation.

Many of these uses would also be valid for commies too. The utility to all sides does not weigh heavily on an assessment of origin. I think the timing and tech antecedents, and motivation, play strongly into the hand of it being an NSA-CIA creation.

Maybe it was like Bill buying DOS. Maybe there was an inventor, just he or she didn't end up playing that large a part once other, possibly more ambitious, focused, aggressive or perceptive, players got involved! Haha :)

Given all these questions, sir, what is your assessment? Or are you only content to be up in there in the stands, rather than on the field? :)

edit: I just thought of a new acronym - OK I AM HOT NSA SOTA hahaha! :)

CHyeah, if they had a time machine. Second order effects.