I was thinking about why Satoshi may have chosen to stay anonymous. First off, He launches the Bitcoin idea and early versions. Then, as soon as feasible He turns it over to Gavin. Gavin becomes the public face. I think that Satoshi may have believed that some day, the government(s) may try to make Bitcoin illegal. So at some point, under this assumption, since the network is distributed and tor compatible, the only thing that can be done is making the usage illegal. But like with file sharing, Bitcoin will already be so useful and widely used that it may be impossible to stop usage. He thought sooner or later governments would try to coerce the developers into stopping work. You know maybe a court order, or a severed horse head in Gavin's bedroom.
At this point Gavin will freak out and run away from the project. After all, who would want 25-to-Life for 'running a money laundering operation' by continuing to develop and distributing the BTC client.
This is the day when He shall return. Yes, He will return to be the great anonymous shepard of BTC. He will anonymously release new version through a TOR hidden service signed by his PGP key. Other Devs could rejoin over time under pseudonyms, endorsed by His PGP key as a Web of Trust.
I think that its unlikely that the devs will be targeted or told to stop, but hey, I though a lot of things the US government and western governments in general are doing already wouldn't even happen.
Oh wise one Satoshi, I await His glorious return! Every one must prepare! Load up His PGP key now:
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