Australian Ends Attempt to Prove He Founded Bitcoin
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Version 0 of 1. LONDON — The mystery behind who created the online currency Bitcoin deepened on Thursday. Craig Steven Wright, an Australian entrepreneur and computer programmer who earlier this week said he was that person, on Thursday withdrew an offer to prove his assertion, removing the contents of his blog and replacing it with a post simply titled, “I’m sorry.” “I believed that I could do this,” Mr. Wright wrote on his blog. “I believed that I could put the years of anonymity and hiding behind me. But, as the events of this week unfolded and I prepared to publish the proof of access to the earliest keys, I broke. I do not have the courage. I cannot.” Mr. Wright was first identified as Bitcoin’s founder in December 2015 by Wired magazine and the technology website Gizmodo, but he did not come forward then. This week that changed, and he said in interviews with the BBC, The Economist and GQ that he was the digital currency’s creator, known by the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto. Almost as soon as Mr. Wright announced he was the creator of Bitcoin on Monday, skepticism surfaced in the Bitcoin community about the authenticity of his claims. In a news release on Monday, Mr. Wright said that he had decided to make his identity public to “dispel any negative myths and fears about Bitcoin.” “I cannot allow the misinformation that has been spread to impact the future of Bitcoin” and the blockchain, the currency’s communal digital ledger, he said at the time. “I’m now able to build on what I have previously completed by releasing my research and academic work and help people understand just how powerful this can really be.” Outside Organization, a public relations company that distributed his release on Monday, verified that the comments on the blog were from Mr. Wright and did not provide any additional comment on Thursday. Bitcoin was founded as a digital competitor to existing currencies, and it has gained traction as financial institutions and others have begun researching how they can use the blockchain technology to improve transactions. The currency is created by people using computers to solve complex math problems, and it can then be traded digitally. Each coin is associated with its owner by a digital key. The mysterious identity of its founder created an aura around the digital currency since it surfaced in 2009 and fueled a parlor game of speculation about Satoshi Nakamoto’s identify. Satoshi Nakamoto communicated only by electronic message and never revealed his or her true identity before ending all communication in 2011. To verify his assertions this week, the BBC said, Mr. Wright provided digitally signed messages using cryptographic keys inextricably linked to Bitcoins generated by Satoshi Nakamoto. Mr. Wright also posted evidence on his blog, including a technical walk-through of how to verify cryptographic keys. All of that information was wiped from his blog on Thursday. “When the rumors began, my qualifications and character were attacked,” Mr. Wright said on his blog on Thursday. “When those allegations were proven false, new allegations have already begun. I know now that I am not strong enough for this.” In his post on Thursday, Mr. Wright apologized to Jon Matonis, one of the founding directors of the Bitcoin Foundation, and Gavin Andresen, who succeeded Satoshi Nakamoto as the lead Bitcoin developer. Both men said on Monday that, after reviewing evidence provided by Mr. Wright, they believed that he was Satoshi Nakamoto. “I can only hope that their honor and credibility is not irreparably tainted by my actions,” Mr. Wright said on his blog. “They were not deceived, but I know that the world will never believe that now. I can only say I’m sorry.” After the Wired and Gizmodo articles last year, Australian Federal Police raided Mr. Wright’s home in a suburb of Sydney in connection with a tax investigation. Tax authorities in Australia said at the time that they had determined that Mr. Wright was not Satoshi Nakamoto. On Thursday, Mr. Wright seemed determined to return to the shadows, ending his post with the words, “And goodbye.” |