Who is Craig Wright?

The enduring mystery of Bitcoin’s true creator continues to draw fascination. Satoshi Nakamoto is the name, but many believe that the elusive creator used it for anonymity. Over the years, a few people have come forward claiming to be the face behind the name.

One such person is Craig Wright, an Australian computer scientist and businessman who claims to be the creator of Bitcoin.

If he is truly the one, one will wonder why he chose to come out after years of anonymity. These fallacies make light of his claim to be the founder of Bitcoin. Besides, there is no hard evidence that he could be Nakamoto, and his claim is no better than anyone who was part of Bitcoin in the early days.

Did Wright Invent Bitcoin?

Before delving further, who is Craig Wright? He is a computer scientist from Australia who has spent quite some time in the United Kingdom. In 2015, after Wright claimed to be the founder of Bitcoin, Wired and Gizmodo launched an investigation that gave the idea some credibility. However, a report revealed that Wright had little credibility.

His claim stirred expected attention. Moments later, Wired reported their findings, and the police raided Wright’s house. It is reasonable for authorities to gain interest in Bitcoin’s founder because the currency is an alternative to national currencies. Australian police claimed that the raid was exclusively based on a tax investigation and not his claims.

The media also took an interest in whether Wright was the originator of Bitcoin. Both The Economist and BBC published articles on how Wright had used cryptographic keys similar to the one Satoshi used during the genesis of Bitcoin development. The cryptographic key as a signature used by Wright attracted a whole lot of attention; one of such is a website in his name that corroborated the claim of him being Satoshi.

That said, some people did not buy the plot. One notable critic was Dan Kaminsky, a security researcher who smelled foul play. Jeff Garzik, on the other hand, was of the view that the claims brought forward by Wright proved nothing. Jordan Pearson and Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai claimed that Wright was a fraud and that he used an old signature traced back to 2009, which Satoshi used.

In an interview with BBC, Wright promised to provide evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that he is Satoshi. Until today, it is said that he has yet to provide any. Many have said that it should be easy for Wright to prove he is Satoshi if truly he is the one. He simply needs to provide a message verifying his claim with Satoshi Nakamoto’s private GPG key. Some believe that he is unwilling to provide this, but another perspective is that if he cannot provide it, then why come out as the founder?

In 2016, precisely on the 5th of May, a Thursday, Wright closed his blog and circulated an email claiming that his freedom was at stake, an email which he has since retracted. Wright has, since 2019, maintained a low profile, indicating that his claims have no merit.