NYT Investigation Names Adam Back as Satoshi Nakamoto
The New York Times published an investigation identifying Adam Back, CEO of Blockstream and inventor of Hashcash, as Satoshi Nakamoto, $BTC's pseudonymous creator. The 18-month inquiry, led by journalist John Carreyrou, used AI to analyze writing styles, finding patterns in compound words and double spacing within Satoshi's communications that reportedly align with Back's known work.
Back's historical connection as one of two individuals Satoshi Nakamoto contacted via email prior to Bitcoin's launch was noted. Adam Back firmly denied the New York Times' claims.
Adam Back's social media engagement increased, making his account a top-followed profile among key opinion leaders (KOLs) in the hours following the news. $BTC's mindshare registered a 2.8% increase. Overall sentiment for $BTC remained 74.5% bullish, within its established baseline range of 65-75%.
Iran: Strait of Hormuz Tolls Accepted in $BTC Amid Closure Reports
Iranian state media initially announced the complete closure of the Strait of Hormuz as of April 8, 2026. The Strait, a critical choke point for global oil and gas transit, handles an estimated one-fifth of global petroleum consumption. This report triggered extreme fear, with the Fear & Greed Index plummeting to 0/100. In the cryptocurrency market, $BTC registered a 1.10% decline over 24 hours, settling at $70921.00. Despite bearish sentiment, 76% of $BTC positions remained long.
Subsequent reports, confirmed by the Financial Times, indicated Iran commenced accepting $BTC for transit tolls in the Strait of Hormuz. This expands $BTC adoption in international shipping, positioning it as a direct payment instrument for essential logistical services in a key geopolitical region.
Iran Refutes Exclusive $BTC Use for Sanctions Evasion
Reports suggesting Iran's exclusive use of $BTC to circumvent international sanctions have been refuted. While initial claims suggested Bitcoin adoption to bypass financial restrictions, Iran asserts it is not solely adopting $BTC for this purpose. Instead, its strategy involves a basket of alternative assets, including stablecoins, the Chinese Yuan, and gold.
Speculation also arose about potential U.S. government attempts to seize Iranian $BTC wallets. These reports fueled skepticism within the crypto community regarding mainstream media's portrayal of $BTC's link to illicit activities, with community sentiment regarding mainstream media's crypto reporting dropping to 42% positive.
ZachXBT Exposes North Korean Crypto Payment Server
On-chain investigator ZachXBT exposed an internal North Korean IT worker payment server, discovered through data exfiltrated from a compromised DPRK IT worker's device. The server contained records for 390 accounts and approximately $3.5 million in cryptocurrency.
This payment remittance platform was secured with an unchanged default password of “123456”. Exfiltrated data included IPMsg chat logs, fake identities, browser history, and crypto transaction records.
ZachXBT cautioned the decentralized finance (DeFi) community, recommending rebuilding DeFi multisignature wallets with freshly generated keys due to potential hardware backdoors that could remain exploitable.