Craig Wright Claims He's Satoshi Nakamoto, the Creator Of Bitcoin

Australian entrepreneur Craig Wright has put an end to the years-long speculation about the creator of Bitcoin. In an interview with the BBC, The Economist (may have a paywall), and GQ, Wright claimed that he is indeed the person who developed the concepts on which Bitcoin cryptocurrency is built. According to the BBC, Mr. Wright provided "technical proof to back up his claim using coins known to be owned by Bitcoin's creator." Wright writes in a blog post: [A]fter many years, and having experienced the ebb and flow of life those years have brought, I think I am finally at peace with what he meant. If I sign Craig Wright, it is not the same as if I sign Craig Wright, Satoshi[...] 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. Satoshi is dead. But this is only the beginning. According to Wright's website, he is a "computer scientist, businessman and inventor" born in Brisbane, Australia, in October 1970. Some have questioned the authenticity and relevance of the "technical proof" Wright has provided. Nik Cubrilovic, an Australian former hacker and leading internet security blogger, wrote, "I don't believe for a second Wright is Satoshi. I know two people who worked with Wright, characterized him as crazy and schemer/charlatan." Michele Spagnuolo, Information Security Engineer at Google added, "He's not Satoshi. He just reused a signed message (of a Sartre text) by Satoshi with block 9 key as 'proof.'"

Comments

That is not Satoshi

[Anonymous Coward]

I've worked with Mr. Nakamoto before, and this fraud isn't it. Why people are so attracted to the spotlight they pull retarded stunts like this is something I will never understand.

He certainly doesn't know much about SHA-256

[kill-1]

In his blog post, he writes:

"The SHA256 algorithm provides for a maximum message size of (2^128 - 1) bits of information whilst returning 32 bytes or 256 bits as an output value. The number of possible messages that can be input into the SHA256 hash function totals (2^128 - 1)! possible input values ranging in size from 0 bits through to the maximal acceptable range that we noted above."

There are two obvious errors in this paragraph. The maximum message size of SHA-256 is (2^64 - 1) bits and the total number possible input messages is (2^(2^64) - 1). I doubt that the inventor of Bitcoin would make such fundamental mistakes.

Re:The simplest proof

[Lord Bitman]

The simplest proof would be to sign a message from the owner of the "genesis block".

Craig Wright pretended to do this, but actually copied&pasted a random signature from an early transaction, proving only that he's trying to commit fraud

Re:If he were, why isn't he using the money?

[istartedi]

Those BTC may be worth that much at today's prices; but you can't sell out without crashing the market. There are, however, probably some established exit strategies for this kind of thing. He could, at the very least, have small planned sales and provide himself with a steady income without putting too much price pressure on the currency, adjusting the sales from time-to-time if it were causing prices to move in an undesirable direction. Ironically, that would be a lot like what the Fed does.