'Pharma Bro' Shkreli Says This Former Criminal Cartel Leader Is Bitcoin Creator Satoshi Nakamoto

In a recent Substack post, “pharma bro” Martin Shkreli made an extraordinary claim that Paul Le Roux, a former programmer and criminal cartel leader, is Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin

Paul Le Roux is a former computer programmer and alleged crime kingpin. He has been charged in the U.S. with drug trafficking, money laundering, and murder-for-hire-related crimes. In 2012, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) successfully arrested Roux after a sting operation.

Shkreli's assertion, if accurate, implies Le Roux intended Bitcoin as a method for laundering money from his unlawful activities, verifying the concerns of many who have disparaged the use of cryptocurrencies.

'Pharma Bro' Shkreli Says This Former Criminal Cartel Leader Is Bitcoin Creator Satoshi Nakamoto

Interesting piece of news I came across this morning - Martin Shkreli claims Paul Le Roux, a Cartel leader and programmer is in fact the creator of Bitcoin (the "real" Satoshi Nakamoto).

Based on he background of Paul Le Roux, it certainly sounds plausible (here's his Wikipedia page if curious: en.wikipedia.org...).

What does ATS think about Shkreli's claim here? Shkreli just trying to promote himself/get in the news cycle more, or could his assertion that Le Roux is the true Satoshi have some legs to stand on?

a reply to: FamCore

Paul Le Roux was one of the most wanted men before his capture. Run down a list of what someone could be wanted for, and it would be easier to say what big crimes he wasn’t accused of.

It was a very interesting story on its own, his arrest. It was even more curious how little people reported on it. The guy had international drug networks, allegedly brought down small governments with his private military, and even traded with North Korea (drugs and weapon’s allegedly).

Le Roux had previously been on the Satoshi short list of candidates. He actually started his career in cyber crime.

I personally don’t think it’s him. Satoshi was either someone with altruist leaning ambitions, or very good at faking it. The latter is hard to do for outright sociopaths.

Granted, I have nothing to go off of other than gut feelings. But that’s the tricky part about Satoshi. There’s only forum posts to go off of. For all we knew Satoshi was a group of people, a psyops, an altruist, or a criminal mastermind.

One thing though, if he or them were nefarious, me thinks his wallet would have more activity.

vice did a good piece back before they became a cringe outlet.

It’s a long read for an article but reads like a spy thriller. There’s plenty of tidbits ripe for conspiracy theory.


One of my favorite stories most don’t know about.

If this were true it would be easily confirmed because Paul Le Roux should have some of the first bitcoin ever mined in his wallet/ledger. Which I kinda doubt he does seeing as all this is coming from the con man pharma bro.

If you read the whitepaper PDF it's pretty clear why bitcoin was created. Satoshi Nakamoto was influenced by the financial collapse of 2008 to create a true stable non fungible digital currency. There is no way a criminal organization would design the block chain and bitcoin to work the way it does. They would try and maintain some sort of control over the network rather than allowing it to be peer to peer for the world to see.

This is likely the real Satoshi.

a reply to: CriticalStinker

Thanks for the insights, good additions to the thread/conversation

I'm pretty sure it was Dave Kleiman and Craig Wright that created bitcoin.

A court ruling recently found Wright entitled to billions of dollars worth of early created bitcoins.

I think, private central bankers and corrupt governments would love for people to believe that bitcoin was created by a criminal for criminals, so they would have a reason to try to ban or stifle it.

a reply to: IndieA

Great point about this allegation supporting the narrative that "only criminals use BTC for crimes & money laundering". valid points!!! I wasn't familiar with Kleiman or Wright but they both appear to have the knowledge to have been the creators of BTC as well.

originally posted by: IndieA
I'm pretty sure it was Dave Kleiman and Craig Wright that created bitcoin.

A court ruling recently found Wright entitled to billions of dollars worth of early created bitcoins.

Any details on this?

I found a BBC article describing the court case, but no details.

The best evidence that he is Satoshi would be that he has the keys to the original wallet that has the first million BTCs mined, but the case doesn't say anything about the keys. Does he have them?

To my understanding, that wallet has never been touched since it was created, so which coins was this case about???

ETA: that case was a year ago, and the wallet is still untouched?

When you look at the short sightedness of something like drugs and violence vs something like BTC, it doesn't really stand up to logical scrutiny.

Now, I don't know much about Le Roux so perhaps my judgement is off.

a reply to: tanstaafl

You make some good points.

www.nbcmiami.com...

It seems that the Klieman family supports the claim that Wright and Klieman developed Bitcoin together.

David Kleiman died in April 2013 at the age of 46. Led by his brother Ira Kleiman, his family has claimed David Kleiman and Wright were close friends and co-created Bitcoin through a partnership.

It also seems as though that Wright has promised to prove ownership, but it doesn't seem like he has done so yet. The mystery would be solved as soon as he accesses those original 1.1 million bitcoin.

Now the cryptocurrency community will be looking to see if Wright follows through on his promise to prove he is the owner of the Bitcoin. Doing so would lend credence to Wright's claim, first made in 2016, that he is Nakamoto.

How would "Pharma Bro" know? He doesn't exactly have a sterling reputation.

a reply to: schuyler

While I agree to some extent, I also think he would know before anyone here at ATS would get the memo *shrug*

a reply to: IndieA

It also seems as though that Wright has promised to prove ownership, but it doesn't seem like he has done so yet. The mystery would be solved as soon as he accesses those original 1.1 million bitcoin.

Because that con man clearly didn't create Bitcoin. Also the idea that Bitcoin was created to be anonymous money is totally false, every transaction can be tracked on the Blockchain and there's almost no anonymity features, especially not in the early versions of Bitcoin.

a reply to: ChaoticOrder

All the more reason why it wasn't created to help criminals.

Blockchain technology favors transparency and honesty.

However over time, the technology has evolved to include cryptos that can make anonymous transactions, such as Monero, Zcash, and Dash.

Centralized tokens, such as exchange tokens, probably have the least transparency and highest potential for fraud.

a reply to: CriticalStinker

One thing though, if he or them were nefarious, me thinks his wallet would have more activity.

Wait, Satoshi has a wallet? Does his wallet have any activity at all?

originally posted by: Alien Abduct
a reply to: CriticalStinker

One thing though, if he or them were nefarious, me thinks his wallet would have more activity.

Wait, Satoshi has a wallet? Does his wallet have any activity at all?

I believe it’s multiple, but it’s widely accepted he’s owned about one million bitcoins with little to know movement (or at least selling).

That’s around 5% of the total supply.

originally posted by: schuyler
How would "Pharma Bro" know? He doesn't exactly have a sterling reputation.

Exactly. This is the most punchable face on the internet making this claim. Not exactly a ringing endorsement for the claim.