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| Australian Entrepreneur Says He Created Bitcoin | Australian Entrepreneur Says He Created Bitcoin |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| An Australian entrepreneur claimed on Monday to be the creator of the online currency Bitcoin. | An Australian entrepreneur claimed on Monday to be the creator of the online currency Bitcoin. |
| Craig Steven Wright, a computer entrepreneur, told the BBC, The Economist and GQ magazine that he was the currency’s creator. He said he had been forced to come forward because so many people were pursuing him. | |
| “I didn’t take the decision lightly to make my identity public, and I want to be clear that I’m doing this because I care so passionately about my work and also to dispel any negative myths and fears about Bitcoin and the blockchain,” Mr. Wright said in a news release. | |
| The BBC said Mr. Wright had provided digitally signed messages using cryptographic keys inextricably linked to Bitcoins generated by Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonym previously linked to the currency’s creator. Mr. Wright said he had received help creating the currency from Hal Finney, a renowned cryptographer. | |
| Speculation about the identity of Bitcoin’s creator has been rife since the currency surfaced in 2009. In December 2015, Wired magazine and the technology website Gizmodo identified Mr. Wright as the man behind Satoshi Nakamoto. | Speculation about the identity of Bitcoin’s creator has been rife since the currency surfaced in 2009. In December 2015, Wired magazine and the technology website Gizmodo identified Mr. Wright as the man behind Satoshi Nakamoto. |
| At the same time, the Australian Federal Police raided Mr. Wright’s home in suburban Sydney in connection with a tax investigation. Mr. Wright told the BBC that he was cooperating with the Australian Tax Office. The Australian tax authorities have said they determined that Mr. Wright is not Mr. Sakamoto. | |
| However, Gavin Andresen, who succeeded Satoshi Nakamoto as a lead Bitcoin developer, wrote Monday on his blog that he believed Mr. Wright’s claim. | However, Gavin Andresen, who succeeded Satoshi Nakamoto as a lead Bitcoin developer, wrote Monday on his blog that he believed Mr. Wright’s claim. |
| “After spending time with him, I am convinced beyond a reasonable doubt: Craig Wright is Satoshi,” Mr. Andresen wrote. “During our meeting, I saw the brilliant, opinionated, focused, generous — and privacy-seeking — person that matches the Satoshi I worked with six years ago. | |
| Bitcoin was for a time associated with the online drug bazaar Silk Road, but interest has grown in its potential as a payment method for legitimate purposes. Financial institutions are putting resources into researching how they can use the blockchain, the currency’s digital communal ledger, to make transactions faster and cheaper. | |
| Even as the currency has attracted mainstream interest, the Bitcoin community has been riven. Competing virtual currencies, like Ethereum, have been developed, offering alternative systems that can also allow money and assets to be exchanged faster than through traditional methods. | Even as the currency has attracted mainstream interest, the Bitcoin community has been riven. Competing virtual currencies, like Ethereum, have been developed, offering alternative systems that can also allow money and assets to be exchanged faster than through traditional methods. |