1. Hal Finney
2. Gavin Andersen/Bell
is it even confirmed that they knew him irl?
even pictures of him?
I dont think so, it was only a nickname.
No, I dont think Hal and Gavin ever saw satoshi's face.
I think in the rise and rise of bitcoin, gavin said he has no idea who satoshi is. given his facial expression and behaviour I am pretty sure he was lying.
We just covered this VERY thoroughly in another thread....I think it covers everything with links to all facts.
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=890233.msg10321992#msg10321992This video is kind of funny because as Gavin is explaining what really happened with Satoshi, there is a guy(Legendary Member) in full conspiracy mode talking right over what Gavins trying to tell us. This may be the point that Gavin and Satoshi decided to let the stories run wild, because this video shows the conspiracy theories are more fascinating than the truth that Gavin was trying to let us know.
Start @01:05
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDRwgbWkxFw