He's either dead, worked for a spy agency or avoided arrest by some other non-standard means. I don't believe it was just good opsec. 

 Whatever they did, they did a good job, I think.  💜🫂💜 

 Could be simply Bitcoin being uninteresting at creation and by the time it became interesting the trail vanished. 

 True, online privacy was significantly easier to achieve in 2008-2011 than it is now. This is even pre Snowden revelations. 

 Revenge is a dish best served cold? 

 It's wonderful founding myth, but what worked for him doesn't necessarily work for everyone. He also had the advantage of being in charge of the project, things at his pace, but we wouldn't do that now.
nostr:note185497gmzgm0qtu4azz5f7p27h943r96a7xjhcnn2wg4vpda8te9svz3pez 

 there is what we personally believe... and then there is the truth.

your other post - you being distressed by what is going on with judges & devs - I respect that, and will not engage further... looking forward to continuing this conversation in person sometimes soon. 

 It comes with serious downside. Harder to get grants, can't promote your work at conferences and podcasts, nag other devs in person to review your work. And it reduces your chances of getting arrested by 0%.

There's gradations of anonymity, but they have a real cost. If you're super introverted and hate conferences, then sure, use a fake name and photo - that's low opportunity cost. 

 So you're saying it's more beneficial to devs to be known rather than anon. Seems like the majority of your reasoning is compensation based 

 Well without compensation you have to either already be rich, get a fiat job - given you less time to work on Bitcoin - or live very cheaply. Those are all legitimate options, but they come with trade-offs. 

 But I did mean opportunity much more broadly than financial. 

 As does being known. I just wanted to get to that point.
The trade offs. So it comes down to what the individual wants. 

No single playbook, if you will, will apply to everyone.  

 Normally I would ask: how do you make money? How do find gigs, jobs. But I want to respect your privacy. Being "famous" has often given me opportunities. But the potential downside is clear.

By the way I'm not arguing that anon devs should dox themselves. Everyone has to make their own cost-benefit analysis, and/or just follow their preference. 

 True, as soon as you want to make a living or create a "brand" privacy has major tradeoffs. It's probably more a matter of clearly and consciously separating public and private life.