Australian computer entrepreneur has publicly identified himself as Satoshi Nakamoto, inventor of the widely-used cryptocurrency Bitcoin.
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It also said prominent members of the bitcoin community, including leaders of the Bitcoin Foundation, had validated Mr Wright’s claim to identity.
The claim follows years of speculation over the identity of the system’s mastermind, with the creator formerly known under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto.
Wright cited Hal Finney, a well-known cryptographer, as one of the engineers who helped develop Wright’s ideas for Bitcoin, BBC News notes. These details include the crypotographic key used for the first recorded Bitcoin transaction in 2009.
Finally, Australian tech entrepreneur Craig Wright has accepted that he has created the controversial digital currency bitcoin. Wright provided proof of his claim as the bitcoin creator by using signature bitcoins believed to be associated with its inventor.
The Economist, though, was more sceptical about the evidence provided by Wright. “I have been engaged with an exceptional group and look forward to sharing our remarkable work when they are ready”, he said in his blog post.
Ever few months, it seems another news organization claims to have figured out the real identity of the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto.
After spending time with him I am convinced beyond a reasonable doubt: Craig Wright is Satoshi.
Cryptocurrencies, among which bitcoin is the dominant version, allow consumers to make electronic transactions without commercial banks as intermediaries, and outside the reach of central banks.
He was also a lecturer at Charles Sturt University for five years up until 2015, where he says he developed a Masters degree in digital forensics. “I was flown to London to meet Dr. Wright a couple of weeks ago, after an initial email conversation convinced me that there was a very good chance he was the same person I’d communicated with in 2010 and early 2011”.
In December, both Wired and Gizmodo named Wright to be the creator of bitcoin.
At the time, the Australian Taxation Office said the raid was linked to a long-running investigation into tax payments rather than to Bitcoin. Craig Wright has identified himself as the enigmatic inventor nearly five months after he was outed in media reports as the man who created the online currency. Nakamoto possesses around 1 million bitcoins worth some $440 million; those coins have never been touched.
Wright explained to the BBC how he was forced to identify himself since the leak.
Wright said he was speaking out now because he was exhausted of being pursued.
He wrote on his blog: “Satoshi is dead. I just want to be left alone”, he added.
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Dr Wright said: “I firmly believe that Bitcoin and the Blockchain can change the world for the better”.
