Bitcoin Creator Found? Craig Steven Wright Said To Be The Mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto
Yesterday, within an hour of each other, Wired and Gizmodo each presented evidence suggesting that Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonym of the Bitcoin creator, who owns an amount of bitcoins described as a “nine-figure fortune,” may be an Australian computer programmer and entrepreneur named Craig Steven Wright. Each presented extensive quotes from documents Gizmodo is reported to have received from someone close to Wright in November, as well as other evidence.
In November, Nakamoto, or whoever was his behind the pseudonym, was nominated for a Nobel Prize by Bhagwan Chowdhry, as reported by the Inquisitr. It was decided that he was “ineligible” due to his identity being unknown. Whether recent revelations may change this eligibility in the future remains to be seen.
Though Australian authorities are reporting that it is not related to the articles published yesterday, Craig Steven Wright’s home was raided within hours of the unveiling of the potential Bitcoin founder’s identity.
One thing is for sure, either Craig Steven Wright is Satoshi Nakamoto or he isn’t. In addition to what can only be described as a mountain of evidence pointing to Wright as being the Bitcoin creator, Wired uncovered edits to his blog that might indicate otherwise. Wright’s social media presence, much of which has now been deleted or made private, was reported to have lent credence to the theory.
Is Craig Steven Wright the real #SatoshiNakamoto, founder of #bitcoin? https://t.co/W5seBhcrue pic.twitter.com/ITqXucJAXJ
— Digital Trends (@DigitalTrends) December 9, 2015
In 2013, the owner of a blog, believed to be Wright, made edits to posts presented to appear as being made just before the January 2009 launch of Bitcoin. The editor added text regarding a “cryptocurrency paper” as well as “triple entry accounting,” which both are logical pre-Bitcoin ways to describe the theory behind the cryptocurrency before it was widely understood. Wired concedes that the edits may have been restorations of posts that truly were made just prior to the Bitcoin launch.
Further, much of the evidence presented with regard to Wright came from “an anonymous source” and the documents they provided have yet to be verified. The sheer volume of documents suggests legitimacy in the Craig Steven Wright Bitcoin founder theory; it appears that if he is not the creator of Bitcoin, either he or someone else wants the world to believe he is.
“I do not want to be your posterboy. I am not found and I do not want to be,” another e-mail purported to have been written by Wright was quoted. “A gift freely given is just that and no more!” another e-mail stated.
Wright is described as being “a strange and remarkable person.” It appears that he may waiver on whether he wants to be found and concede that someone who has created a fortune that was valued at over $1 billion at one point cannot stay hidden for long.
The price of bitcoins is trading, and appearing to stay, above $400 for the first time since late 2014, according to Coindesk.
A vast cache of 1.1 million bitcoins sits in the block chain, visible to users, long believed to belong to Satoshi Nakamoto, now possibly being linked to Wright.
Some in the Bitcoin community are said to harbor concerns that once the 2020 lock-up expiration is reached, if Wright decides to sell them, the value of bitcoins could fall significantly. Since the maximum number of bitcoins that will ever be mined will be 21 million, Wright’s 1.1 million bitcoins stake would seem to have the potential to dampen the market value.
[AP Photo/Rob Griffitrat]
