Australian Computer Scientist Claims To Be Bitcoin Founder

A business and computer scientist from Australia recently claimed to have created the Bitcoin. The claim of Craig Wright may end speculations about the person behind the digital currency. Wright published a blog post indicating that he and Satoshi Nakamoto, a name associated with the person behind the digital currency, are the same person.

If the claim is true, it will end of the biggest mysteries in the tech industry. The digital currency aims to serve as the replacement for cash and conventional financial system through the sharing of unique codes between users. Prices of the digital currency have been unstable for the past three years. It went up due to its potential before declining after an exchange collapsed and the connection of the digital currency with criminal activity. However, the blockchain technology of the currency has proven to be an attractive to major financial institutions.

The post is mainly technical in nature as he explained how he can prove his claim through cryptographic keys, which are critical components in the technology. Wright indicated on the post that while “Satoshi is dead,” it was “only the beginning.” A report from BBC showed that Wright wanted to end all the speculations about the true identity of Satoshi.

BBC and other publications gained access to Wright and checked evidence provided by Wright proving his claim of being the Bitcoin founder. He told BBC that he did not want to become the public face of the digital currency. He said many of the stories that emerged were made up and he did not want to hurt the people he cared about. He did not want them to be affected by the situation.

BBC said Satoshi amassed around 1 billion Bitcoins, which is equivalent to around $450 million in cash.

Australian Computer Scientist Claims To Be Bitcoin Founder - image credit: commons.wikimedia.org

Gavin Andresen, chief scientist of the Bitcoin Foundation, said in a separate post that he is convinced that Wright in the founder of the digital currency following a meeting in London. Andresen said the cryptographic keys Wright used were the ones only Satoshi would have access to. Andresen said he was happy to shake his hand and thanked Wright for bringing the digital currency to the world.

However, there are doubts on the claim of Wright. Emin Gun Sirer, a computer science professor at Cornell University and cryptocurrency expert, said Wright did not provide the “free-standing signature” of Satoshi.

Sirer indicated through an email interview that there was no proper cryptographic proof, and if the proof is provided, it may be possible that the real keys of Satoshi were compromised or reverse-engineered. This has yet to be provided and the only thing that came out was a “deliberate attempt to mislead.”

The claim is not first time the founder of the digital currency was misidentified. Newsweek claimed in 2014 that they found the elusive founder, Dorian Satoshi Nakamoto, who lives in California. The disclosure of the magazine resulted to a chase in the suburbs of Los Angeles as reporters flocked to the house of Nakamoto. However, Nakamoto denied the reported in a later interview.

Earlier reports pointed to Wright as the founder of the Bitcoin. Wired and Gizmodo reported in December that Wright was Satoshi. However, later reports from Wired indicated that Wright may be attempting a hoax based on clues found by the publication.

Posted by George Daniels on Tuesday May 03 2016, 12:31 AM EDT. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Technology. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0