Kraken's 2016 Cavirtex Acquisition: Unveiling Satoshi's Identity?

New evidence has emerged suggesting that Kraken, a major cryptocurrency exchange, might possess information about the true identity of Bitcoin's mysterious creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, through its 2016 acquisition of Canadian exchange Cavirtex.

Conor Grogan, head of product business operations at Coinbase, revealed this week that he discovered on-chain transactions linking a wallet believed to belong to Satoshi Nakamoto with Cavirtex, a former Canadian cryptocurrency exchange that Kraken acquired in 2016.

Grogan's analysis revealed 24 outbound transactions from addresses associated with the Patoshi Pattern. These transactions included 200 Bitcoin sent to an early Bitcoin faucet and a 500 Bitcoin transfer in 2010 to the 1PYYj address, which is believed to be Satoshi's.

The discovery marks the first known instance of Satoshi potentially interacting with a centralized cryptocurrency exchange. This detail is particularly important because such exchanges typically require users to verify their identities through Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures.

Blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence has strengthened the connection by identifying over 1,096,354 Bitcoin addresses linked to Satoshi's mining activities. These addresses, containing approximately $108 billion worth of Bitcoin, were identified using the "Patoshi Pattern," a method for tracking blocks likely mined by Bitcoin's creator.

The wallet in question, labeled "1PYYj," received Bitcoin from Cavirtex. According to Grogan's analysis, this address is connected to funding another wallet known as "12ib," which ranks among the largest active Bitcoin addresses.

Historical records indicate that Cavirtex maintained strict KYC policies as early as December 2013, when the alleged transaction occurred. The exchange was known for implementing "stricter KYC policies" similar to those used by major platforms like Coinbase and Kraken.

The timing of these events creates an intriguing timeline. The transaction occurred around December 2013, six months before Canada officially required crypto exchanges to collect customer identification data. Cavirtex had already established robust verification procedures by this point.

When Canada introduced new crypto regulations in 2014, Cavirtex stated they were already maintaining a "proactive" KYC policy,