Australian Entrepreneur Craig Wright Announces That He Is Bitcoin Creator Satoshi Nakamoto
Will the real creator of Bitcoin please stand up? It appeared he did in 2014 when Satoshi Nakamoto was identified as the mysterious man behind the popular cryptocurrency that took the world by storm. Newsweek even tracked him down for a cover story. He's since denied any involvement with Bitcoin, and adding to the intrigue is a blog post by an Australian entrepreneur who claims he is the real creator of the digital currency.
His name is Craig Wright, and if we're to believe him, Satoshi Nakamoto was nothing more than a pseudonym, a "public persona" so that he could still contribute to Bitcoin's growth while keeping his real identity hidden. Not anymore, apparently.
"Since those early days, after distancing myself from the public persona that was Satoshi, I have poured every measure of myself into research. I have been silent, but I have not been absent. I have been engaged with an exceptional group and look forward to sharing our remarkable work when they are ready. Satoshi is dead. But this is only the beginning," Wright states in his blog post.
The bulk of his blog post outing his identity deals with the technical process of verifying a set of crytographic keys that can prove he is Bitcoin's creator. Wright shared further proof with a trio of media outlets, including BBC, The Economist, and GQ, While meeting with BBC, Wright digitally signed messages using cryptographic keys linked to blocks of Bitcoins that are known to have been mined by Satoshi Nakamoto.
It appears there's some strong evidence to suggest Wright is telling the truth, that he indeed the creator of Bitcoin. Gavin Andresen, chief scientist at the Bitcoin Foundation, certainly believes Wright.
"After spending time with him I am convinced beyond a reasonable doubt: Craig Wright is Satoshi," Andresen wrote in a separate blog post.
Nevertheless, there are those who are skeptical of Wright's claim. Some cryptographers and developers going over the information Wright provided are having a tough time extracting verifiable information. And if you head to over reddit, you'll find plenty of naysayers poking holes in Wright's story.
We suspect this is just the beginning of the story. Whether Wright or someone else, whoever created Bitcoin is one lucky fellow—he's said to have amassed 1 million Bitcoins worth around $450 million at today's exchange rate.
His name is Craig Wright, and if we're to believe him, Satoshi Nakamoto was nothing more than a pseudonym, a "public persona" so that he could still contribute to Bitcoin's growth while keeping his real identity hidden. Not anymore, apparently.
"Since those early days, after distancing myself from the public persona that was Satoshi, I have poured every measure of myself into research. I have been silent, but I have not been absent. I have been engaged with an exceptional group and look forward to sharing our remarkable work when they are ready. Satoshi is dead. But this is only the beginning," Wright states in his blog post.
The bulk of his blog post outing his identity deals with the technical process of verifying a set of crytographic keys that can prove he is Bitcoin's creator. Wright shared further proof with a trio of media outlets, including BBC, The Economist, and GQ, While meeting with BBC, Wright digitally signed messages using cryptographic keys linked to blocks of Bitcoins that are known to have been mined by Satoshi Nakamoto.
It appears there's some strong evidence to suggest Wright is telling the truth, that he indeed the creator of Bitcoin. Gavin Andresen, chief scientist at the Bitcoin Foundation, certainly believes Wright.
"After spending time with him I am convinced beyond a reasonable doubt: Craig Wright is Satoshi," Andresen wrote in a separate blog post.
Nevertheless, there are those who are skeptical of Wright's claim. Some cryptographers and developers going over the information Wright provided are having a tough time extracting verifiable information. And if you head to over reddit, you'll find plenty of naysayers poking holes in Wright's story.
We suspect this is just the beginning of the story. Whether Wright or someone else, whoever created Bitcoin is one lucky fellow—he's said to have amassed 1 million Bitcoins worth around $450 million at today's exchange rate.
