craig wright bitcoin

Why Craig Wright can't be (yet) Satoshi Nakamoto

30 September 2022

Many people have claimed to be the real "Satoshi Nakamoto". We can say that the Australian entrepreneur and computer scientist Craig Wright is the one who has been the most credible (at least, to a certain point). 

It all started in December 2015 when two investigations were published in two magazines, Wired and Gizmodo, and posed the hypothesis that Satoshi Nakamoto was in reality Craig Wright. Understand that everything started from the investigation of two journalists and not from Craig Wright himself.

This created a real tidal wave in la Bitcoin community who did not want a hypothesis but tangible proof.

So, in 2016, Craig Wright, who had not yet spoken out, decided to write an article on his personal blog to prove that he was – indeed – the real Satoshi Nakamoto. In his article he will reveal evidence linked to the first sendings of bitcoin to Hal FinneyIncluding.

However, very quickly, these signatures will turn out to be false... This is how he very quickly lost his credibility with the community. 

Craig Wright persists in proclaiming himself to be Satoshi Nakamoto

When Craig Wright declared that he was the Satoshi Nakamoto, the general consensus was that Satoshi Nakamoto was a collective of individuals. They allegedly created Bitcoin and decided never to reveal their identity.

Craig Wright has conducted interviews with numerous magazines (rather well-known in fact) such as GQ, The Economist and even the BBC. Remember that these magazines have always been very skeptical about his deflation of being the inventor of Bitcoin. 

However, Craig Wright asserts and continues to assert with great confidence that he is Satoshi Nakamoto. Obviously, everyone wants to know if what they say is true.

If so, that would make him the man who created one of the most revolutionary inventions ever (financially at least) and one of the richest people in the world. Indeed, the founder of bitcoin has more than a million bitcoins which have still not been moved to this day.

So he had to give us the evidence very quickly. 

What evidence does Craig Wright give?

To prove that he was the true inventor of Bitcoin, Craig Wright wrote a long explanatory article on a blog (now deleted). His article contained several serious technical details and justifications to prove his claims. 

Quickly, many people were very skeptical and immediately refuted Craig Wright's assertion. To prove that he was Satoshi Nakamoto, the ultimate proof would have been that he had the same signature attached to the very first Bitcoin transaction.

Indeed, the same signature would be irrefutable proof that it would be the real Satoshi Nakamoto. His signature is recorded on the first block called “genesis” with the 50 BTC which were created for the first time. 

Also, the community asked him to move a bitcoin from the first blocks to be mined. Craig Wright refused (or could not) do it…

For the Bitcoin community, this is the only proof that is admissible. 

However, Craig Wright has not shown that he possesses this key. Anyone who wants to prove that he is the inventor of Bitcoin has no choice but to show us that he has the private key of the first transaction. No need to make a long speech, a simple key and a small movement would be enough. For example, Charlie Lee, the creator of Litecoin proved his status as a founder by signing with the same private key used in the Litecoin genesis block.

>>>Read the difference between Bitcoin (BTC) and Litecoin (LTC)

Could Craig Wright be Satoshi Nakamoto?

Even if he failed to prove that he was Satoshi Nakamoto, the fact remains that not everything he says is false.

For example, no one disputes that Craig Wright has been involved with bitcoin since the early days of its creation. 

Craig Steven Wright is a talented computer scientist. Born in 1970, he obtained more than a dozen degrees, including various master's degrees related to computing and security, in statistics, in management and even a doctorate in philosophy. He also explained that he would have chosen the name “Nakamoto” in reference to Tominaga Nakamoto, a 19th century Japanese philosopher. He was a supporter of free trade and this remains perfectly consistent with the “libertarian” vision of bitcoin.

Craig Wright obtained 19 certifications from GIAC, which is a leading organization in IT security. This makes him an expert in cyber security on current computer technologies. 

From an academic point of view, Craig Wright could have scientifically been the inventor of Bitcoin. We cannot deny it. He has all the intellectual skills to understand the details of Bitcoin blockchain technology. 

He worked for various IT companies before starting his own company, Hotwire PE. He planned to create the world's first Bitcoin-powered bank in 2014 but was banned by the Australian Tax Office.

Why does Craig Wright want to pretend to be Satoshi Nakamoto?

We can't really know what motivates Craig Wright to impersonate Satoshi Nakamoto. Could it be for fortune? For his ego? For fame and glory?

Still, there would be a patent issue. According to rumors, Craig Wright would be linked to the Antigua-based company "EITC Holding Ltd", which specializes in filing blockchain-based patents. This would therefore be a way for him to make money from the sale of patents. By claiming to be Satoshi Nakamoto, the patents would rightfully belong to him. 

This way of filing patents linked to blockchain is very poorly received by members of the eco-system. Indeed, making a profit on this technology is not in the DNA of this technology, as evidenced by the philosophy of CypherPunks which underpins it.

Craig Wright therefore fell into disgrace due to his actions and the patents he filed. Blockchain is intended to be democratic and decentralized and no one should be able to gain private advantage from it. It is a technology of the collective for the collective in its principle. And that's why it remains fundamentally open source software. 

This is why some people hate Craig Wright and call him an opportunist and a liar. His hatred is then visible on social networks. For example, when he wanted to file a complaint against the Twitter user “Holdnaute”, many users changed their handle to a similar name. The idea was to show support for Hodlnaute rather than Craig Wright. 

Recently he wore complaint to the site bitcoin.org which he asks to withdraw the bitcoin white paper which is available for download. For him, the site goes against his property rights on "Bitcoin".

Final word on Craig Wright

In the prestigious London Review of Books, the writer Andrew O'Hagan published an article that has become a reference entitled: “ The Satoshi Affair ". He describes Craig Wright as a very complex personality. He does not judge Craig Wright and explains that he remains an enigmatic individual. He writes that it is very difficult to decide on the question of his identity. Is he the inventor of bitcoin or not? He leans towards the negative while saying that we must keep this possibility…

If for some, he is an opportunist and an impostor, for others, judgment is suspended. In any case, it is not insignificant if the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto has not been revealed. There are reasons for this anonymity (other than being wanted by the police). It is also this element that makes Bitcoin so grandiose and collective. Sorry, but it goes to the very nature of Bitcoin that it is not the product of a single person…

Indeed, if no individual is attached to it, it means that it belongs to everyone...


Note: No financial advice is given in this or any other article on zonebitcoin. This is information of which you are the sole judge and master. Be responsible with your investments and only invest as much as you are willing to lose.

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