Len Sassaman

Detail	Value	Notes
Full name	Leonard Harris Sassaman
Birth date	April 9, 1980
Birthplace	Pottstown, Pennsylvania, USA
Family: parents	Jim and Dana Hartshorn	(from Bitcoin tribute)
Family: siblings	Calvin	(from Bitcoin tribute)
Family: spouse	Meredith L. Patterson	m. 2006
Family: children
Education	Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
Fields	Computer science, anonymous remailers
Employment	COSIC, Network Associates1, KnownSafe, Inc.
Affiliations	Cypherpunks mailing list, Shmoo Group
Residence	Leuven, Belgium
Website
Social

Len "rabbi" Sassaman (Leonard Harris Sassaman) was a prominent figure in the field of computer security and privacy. He was an OG cypherpunk, PhD student, entrepreneur, and startup founder. Sassaman contributed to projects like the Mixmaster anonymous remailer, and involved in the development of technologies that enhance user privacy online. He was also an advocate for digital rights and privacy issues.

He was pursuing a PhD at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium, and known for his work on cryptography, particularly in relation to anonymous communication systems. He was a researcher with the Computer Security and Industrial Cryptography (COSIC) research group, led by Bart Preneel. David Chaum and Bart Preneel were his advisors.

Dan Kaminsky presented at Black Hat USA 2011, and shared that a testimonial to Sassaman written to the Bitcoin blockchain².

---BEGIN TRIBUTE--- 
#./BitLen           
::::::::::::::::::: 
:::::::.::.::.:.::: 
:.: :.' ' ' ' ' : : 
:.:'' ,,xiW,"4x, '' 
:  ,dWWWXXXXi,4WX,  
' dWWWXXX7"     `X, 
 lWWWXX7   __   _ X 
:WWWXX7 ,xXX7' "^^X 
lWWWX7, _.+,, _.+., 
:WWW7,. `^"-" ,^-'  
 WW",X:        X,   
 "7^^Xl.    _(_x7'  
 l ( :X:       __ _ 
 `. " XX  ,xxWWWWX7 
  )X- "" 4X" .___.  
,W X     :Xi  _,,_  
WW X      4XiyXWWXd 
"" ,,      4XWWWWXX 
, R7X,       "^447^ 
R, "4RXk,      _, , 
TWk  "4RXXi,   X',x 
lTWk,  "4RRR7' 4 XH 
:lWWWk,  ^"     `4  
::TTXWWi,_  Xll :.. 
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 
LEN "rabbi" SASSAMA 
     1980-2011      
Len was our friend. 
A brilliant mind,   
a kind soul, and    
a devious schemer;  
husband to Meredith 
brother to Calvin,  
son to Jim and      
Dana Hartshorn,     
coauthor and        
cofounder and       
Shmoo and so much   
more.  We dedicate  
this silly hack to  
Len, who would have 
found it absolutely 
hilarious.          
--Dan Kaminsky,     
Travis Goodspeed    
P.S.  My apologies, 
BitCoin people.  He 
also would have     
LOL'd at BitCoin's  
new dependency upon 
   ASCII BERNANKE   
:'::.:::::.:::.::.: 
: :.: ' ' ' ' : :': 
:.:     _.__    '.: 
:   _,^"   "^x,   : 
'  x7'        `4,   
 XX7            4XX 
 XX              XX 
 Xl ,xxx,   ,xxx,XX 
( ' _,+o, | ,o+,"   
 4   "-^' X "^-'" 7 
 l,     ( ))     ,X 
 :Xx,_ ,xXXXxx,_,XX 
  4XXiX'-___-`XXXX' 
   4XXi,_   _iXX7'  
  , `4XXXXXXXXX^ _, 
  Xx,  ""^^^XX7,xX  
W,"4WWx,_ _,XxWWX7' 
Xwi, "4WW7""4WW7',W 
TXXWw, ^7 Xk 47 ,WH 
:TXXXWw,_ "), ,wWT: 
::TTXXWWW lXl WWT:  
----END TRIBUTE----

Interesting coincidence matrix

Some interesting coincidences between publicly visible activity and communications between Sassaman and Nakamoto:

• Both have repeatedly used British English

SNNO minted by obxium in 2022 on a custom Ethereum ERC-1155 contract restricted to one token.

Aliases and handles

• Sion used in Multi-User Dungeon (MUD) online games³

Articles of note

Media articles and research that suggests Sassaman is Nakamoto:

• Len Sassaman and Satoshi: a Cypherpunk History⁴
• CNBC India suggested Sassaman as a potential candidate to be Satoshi Nakamoto⁵.

---

Footnotes

1. Sassaman worked on PGP at Network Associates. It's worth noting that Finney also worked on PGP. ↩

2. https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/black-ops-of-tcpip-2011-black-hat-usa-2011/8776015 ↩

3. https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/sfgate/name/len-sassaman-obituary?id=8183177 ↩

4. https://evanhatch.medium.com/len-sassaman-and-satoshi-e483c85c2b10 ↩

5. https://www.cnbctv18.com/market/is-crypto-expert-len-sassaman-the-creator-of-bitcoin-satoshi-nakamoto-8520761.htm ↩