The Australian entrepreneur who declared himself to be the mysterious creator of bitcoin today provided cryptographic keys that support his claim.
Wright, who entered the public attention in December last year after Gizmodo and Wired identified him as the bitcoin inventor, has made his announcement to the BBC and the Economist. To further reinforce his claim, Wright has provided a technical proof by using cryptographic keys linked to bitcoin blocks known to belong to Satoshi Nakamoto.
The Australian businessman published a verification of a set of cryptographic keys in a blog post earlier today. Wright also thanked the bitcoin community which has taken his “small contribution and nurtured it, enhanced it, breathed life into it.” “Satoshi is dead,” wrote Wright, “but this is only the beginning.” He referred to his continuing research and collaboration with an unidentified team of developers the results of which will eventually be made available:
“Be assured, just as you have worked, I have not been idle during these many years. Since those early days, after distancing myself from the public persona that was Satoshi, I have poured every measure of myself into research. I have been silent, but I have not been absent. I have been engaged with an exceptional group and look forward to sharing our remarkable work when they are ready.”
As a follow-up, Gavin Andresen, one of the original Core developers who collaborated extensively with Satoshi, has shared his conviction that Craig Steven Wright indeed is Satoshi:
“I believe Craig Steven Wright is the person who invented Bitcoin. …During our meeting, I saw the brilliant, opinionated, focused, generous – and privacy-seeking – person that matches the Satoshi I worked with six years ago.”
After the numerous false revelations as to who is the real ‘father’ or ‘mother’ of bitcoin, however, it will take more than a key verification for Wright to prove his parenthood. As the Economist writes:
“We interviewed him, reviewed the documents he has provided and talked to bitcoin insiders who have communicated with Mr Nakamoto in the past and who had access to the same information. Our conclusion is that Wright could well be Nakamoto, but that important questions remain. Indeed, it may never be possible to establish beyond the reasonable doubt who really created bitcoin.”
Diana Bogdan