While the creator of Bitcoins remains shrouded in mystery, a new investigation has revealed that he is most likely a 45 year old Australian entrepreneur named Craig Steven Wright. Up until now, this mysterious person was only known by the alias of Satoshi Nakamoto.
Reports also indicate that Wright denies climate change, is a serial entrepreneur and a total eccentric. Every prior attempt made to reveal this person’s identity resulted in failure.
Wright has been linked to Bitcoin because of several posts on his blog, which was, up until very recently, available to the public. A post from 2008 revealed his intentions to release a “cryptocurrency paper”. Then, three months later, Wright mention a PGP key that has also been used by the mysterious Bitcoin founder. A PGP key allows users of encryption software to receive secure messages.
But perhaps most revealing was a deleted post from very early in the day of January 10, 2009 that announced the beta launch of Bitcoin. Although Bitcoin was actually launched late in the day on January 9th, the fact that Wright lives on the east coast of Australia means that the post might have been made just hours before the beta’s launch.
With rumors that Nakamoto is actually Wright, the blog has since been taken down. This has only fueled the fire of allegations that Wright is behind Bitcoin. Furthermore, leaked emails and accounting records suggest that Wright conducted a large amount of financial activity around the time Bitcoin was launched. Reports indicate that Wright mortgaged three properties in order to launch the digital currency. In the process, he invested more than $1 million in computers, power and connectivity.
Wright has even appeared on panels at Bitcoin investor conferences. It could very well be that the currency creator was lurking among prominent users and investors the entire time. Unsurprisingly, Wright has declined all requests for interviews.
While there’s still no definitive proof that Wright invented Bitcoin, the evidence largely shows that he did. It is believed that Wright enlisted the help of his friend and computer forensics expert Dave Kleiman to create Bitcoins. Kleiman passed away in 2013.
Wright apparently used his Nakomoto pseudonym to lobby lawmakers in Australia to prevent the regulation of Bitcoins. Reports even indicate that Wright used the same email addresses as Nakomoto and that Wright met with Australian tax officials regarding Bitcoins on multiple occasions. However, these reports have not been confirmed.
Additionally, Wright’s ex-wife Lynn Wright has stated that her ex-husband was working on “digital money” during their marriage. Wright’s current wife Ramona Watts declined to comment on the rumors.
Wright owns a company called DeMorgan that specializes in “alternative currencies” and “next-generation banking”. His wife serves as a director at the company. Investigators who visited the office were allegedly driven away by Watts, who did not allow the investigators to talk to any employees. Attempts to contact DeMorgan offices over the phone failed.
This morning, Sydney police raided the suspected founder’s home.
Nakamoto has been suggested as being a recipient of a Nobel prize for economics for his work on Bitcoins, but his use of the pseudonymous identity makes him ineligible. Since being released in January of 2009, the total value of all Bitcoins has grown to almost $5 billion.
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