The digital currency, Bitcoin, has been in the news lately with a Brisbane based engineer and computer scientist named Craig Wright claiming he created the payment network under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto. His statements have come under much scrutiny, with many people either coming out in support of him or denying that he is truly the creator. Wright promised undeniable evidence in the case, but has now pulled out of that, saying he is not strong enough to deal with the infamy and scrutiny that comes with being the creator of Bitcoin.
Wright originally claimed he would send money from an address previously used by Nakamoto, using a private encryption key only the creator is rumoured to have. When this was attacked, he retracted and deleted all evidence of this claim from his blogs and websites. He has now posted a four page apology in place of any evidence of being Nakamoto, seemingly ending the saga of Craig Steven Wright as the creator of Bitcoin.
This is not the first time Wright has been lauded as the creator, in December 2015 tech magazines Gizmodo and Wired both claimed that he was Satoshi Nakamoto, but an analysis technique called stylometry, which compares writing styles, was used to exclude Wright as a possibility for the creator.
It’s still unclear whether Wright was telling the truth or not, or what his motivations were for finally coming forward and declaring himself the founder of Bitcoin.
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