While mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto is the most accepted candidate for creating Bitcoins, Craig Steven Wright has arrived as a new but formidable contender. Wright claims he created Bitcoin technology but the numbers just don’t add up. It has been over seven years since the virtual currency exploded into the mainstream market, and still no one has been able to answer who created Bitcoin?
If William Shakespeare is the most talked about anonymous person in the history, Satoshi Nakamoto is an equivalent enigma of the modern age tech-world. Known only by his “Nakamoto” alias, no one really knows who he is and even if he is a he not they. Trying to stand on the shoulders of Bitcoin’s fame, many have claimed to be Bitcoin investors, including the all-new Craig Steven Wright.
According to The Verge, mathematical facts don’t rest on Wright’s side. And when it comes to the world’s first most successful virtual currency, all the magic is played by math. So if somebody claims to be the inventor of Bitcoins, all he has to do is show the private key, coins or mining fees from the very early days, when the currency was still very young.
Whoever holds the key owns Bitcoin
In fact, the person who has the very first record of Bitcoin transaction would definitely be the manifestation of Satoshi Nakamoto’s ghost in flesh and blood. I know what you are thinking; can’t somebody just hack into the Bitcoin network and steal the very first private key…? You, my friend, live lightyears away from computer coding and programming, I can tell you that.
Your technological naivety is not to be blamed; even a pro hacker who has not done his homework on the story might think the same thing. Here’s the catch: It is virtually impossible! That is because the strength of Bitcoin network does not only depends on software but hardware components as well. So don’t just go on trusting those YouTube videos showing how to get unlimited Bitcoins with key generators and cheat codes.
In fact, the very pillars of Bitcoin are crack-proof. Explaining why would get us out of the scope, so let’s get back to who owns the behemoth virtual currency that is insufferable from any kind of economic collapse.
Bitcoin is the most expensive currency in the world, with only 21 million units available worldwide. This is the total number of Bitcoins ever created. While billions of dollar bills, euros and pounds are created by the banks each year, Bitcoins will never grow in number and thus continue to mount in conversion rate over the years. Currently, currency exchange rate of 1 Bitcoin is 445.07 US Dollars.
Craig Wright: First Appearance
Craig Steven Wright, a tech-head Aussie, first appear on the scene back in December as a possible founder of Bitcoin technology. He was instantly picked up in headlines; when high authority tech sites like Wired and The Verge brought some clues, the internet went haywire. Of course, the first in line were fans of the amazing technology: Bitcoin community who were actively participating in its development and investment as well.
However, Bitcoin community found cracks in Wright’s story and a controversy took the internet by storm. Time passed, everybody eventually became calm and happy with ambiguity, that was until yesterday. On Monday morning, May 2, the champ rose again to nominate himself as Satoshi Nakamoto… The Satoshi Nakamoto.
This was the first time after in the long debate that Wright came out publicly, and according to BBC, this time with a solid proof: the coins that were thought to be owned by Bitcoin’s original maker. The word spread like fire, nothing can stand in the face of solid evidence, even Bitcoin community has approved his claim, including founding members of the digital cash system namely Hal Finney and Jon Matonis.
However, the most decisive approval came from Gavin Andresen, who is Bitcoin’s core developer and is thought to be true Satoshi Nakamoto successor. After meeting Craig , he publicly stated, “I believe Craig Steven Wright is the person who invented Bitcoin.” That clearly leaves us no choice. He has both digital proof and trust of most prominent names of Bitcoin veterans.
Craig Wright has The Key, but he won’t use it
Wright is Nakamoto, but not every bit of him. There are still some missing pieces. He has shown reporters and Andresen digital signature generated by a unique private key that expert think only Bitcoin creator would possess. But when Patrick McKenzie tried to test the signature, it failed to pass verification which tech-geeks say is due to modification of OpenSSL protocol in the last seven layers.
It is being suspected that the signature provided Wright has been cleverly copied from a public message signed by Nakamoto in 2009. But remember, we only believe him because Andresen says so. Now we hit upon another paradox: Wright has THE KEY that leading Bitcoin developers believe is authentic, but to fully resolve his identity he must use it. He says he can’t!
The alleged Bitcoin creator says that all the Satoshi-linked coins are all owned by a trust and he can’t spend them. In other words, $400 million worth of Bitcoins only a true Nakamoto would possess, now belong to Tulip trust. Gavin Andresen still believes him, and Wright’s provided key signature might be authentic, but he must use it and conduct a new Bitcoin transaction so you and I could finally thank and appreciate Bitcoin’s real architect.
What critics are saying?
Leading Bitcoin developer Jeff Garzik: “Wright needs to sign something new, today, to prove he holds the crypto keys.”
Cryptography specialist professor Emin Gun Sirer: “We have yet to see proper cryptographic proof. What we’ve seen looks like a deliberate attempt to mislead.”
Bitcoin Core Project (@bitcoincoreorg) May 2, 2016: “There is currently no publicly available cryptographic proof that anyone in particular is Bitcoin’s creator.”
How’s Bitcoin community handling the situation?
It is in bad shape, without a one-above-all leader, the Bitcoin organization is dividing. Transactions are taking up to 43 minutes, Bitcoin networks are becoming overloaded, and the main organization itself has been divided into Core and Classic developers. Furthermore, Wright has openly favored Andresen’s version of development, enraging the ‘non-believers’ for his lopsidedness.
It is worth noting that Bitcoin developers community is the supporting pillar of the entire network. Their effort to dig more coins keeps the system online and if people started cutting away, it wouldn’t take long before there would be no place to conduct the transaction of the virtual currency. If it were only for a true Satoshi Nakamoto to save the day, the Bitcoin universe could have been more united.
Verdict: Craig Wright is Nakamoto but not in Every Bit
As noted before, yes, but not in every bit. Andresen’s claim outweighs the denials but on the other hand using the Satoshi’s private key is the only way to be sure. Strangely, though, instead of jumping in front of the cameras, Wright clarified to BBC during an interview that he is not in it for the money, nor fame. He says he just wants to be left alone.
Craig Steven Wright is holding the key in one hand, the lock in the other, telling people to believe that the key will open the lock, without demonstrating it. And that’s what it will exactly take so you and I can believe that he is the real Satoshi Nakamoto. In the latest update on his website, the Australian businessman has promised to soon bring forward an extraordinary proof.
