Bitcoin Creator Craig Wright Steps Forward

After a few years of speculation — and a couple of fairly notable wrong guesses — the real creator of bitcoin has been identified — mostly because he identified himself.

Australian entrepreneur Craig Wright has stepped forward and admitted to being the real “Satoshi Nakamoto.”

Apart from the claim, Wright has also submitted proof in the form of coins known to be owned by bitcoin’s creator. Said proof has already been accepted by the bitcoin community as legitimate proof of identification.

The big reveal was to three publications: BBC, The Economist and GQ. Following those meetings, Wright sent messages digitally signed with cryptographic keys created during the early days of bitcoin’s development. The keys are inextricably linked to blocks of bitcoin known to have been created or “mined” by Satoshi Nakamoto.

“These are the blocks used to send 10 bitcoins to Hal Finney in January [2009] as the first bitcoin transaction,” said Wright during his demonstration.

“I was the main part of it, but other people helped me,” he said.

Gavin Andresen, chief scientist at the Bitcoin Foundation, published a blog supporting the claim.

“I believe Craig Steven Wright is the person who invented bitcoin,” he wrote.

Jon Matonis, an economist and one of the founding directors of the Bitcoin Foundation, said he was convinced that Wright was who he claimed to be.

“During the London proof sessions, I had the opportunity to review the relevant data along three distinct lines: cryptographic, social and technical,” he said.

“It is my firm belief that Craig Wright satisfies all three categories.”

“There are lots of stories out there that have been made up, and I don’t like it hurting those people I care about,” Wright said. “I don’t want any of them to be impacted by this.”

“I have not done this because it is what I wanted. It’s not because of my choice,” Wright said – noting he is not about to become the public face of bitcoin.

“I really do not want to be the public face of anything.”

“I would rather not do it,” he said. “I want to work. I want to keep doing what I want to do. I don’t want money. I don’t want fame. I don’t want adoration. I just want to be left alone.”

Whether he wants it or not, he seems to have both fame and money. Nakamoto/Wright is believed to have about 1 million bitcoin, which (if converted into fiat money) would cash out at around $450 million.