Who Is Satoshi Nakamoto & Why Is Craig Wright Trying to Pose As Him?

Satoshi Nakamoto is the most important name in cryptocurrency – and the most mysterious. But who does Craig Wright think he is?

Who is Keyser Soze? Who shot J.R.? Who ran over “Stone Cold” Steve Austin? These defining questions of our age were eventually answered, but as of yet, we still don’t know the identity behind Satoshi Nakamoto, the inventor of Bitcoin. One thing we do know: It’s not Craig Wright.

At least that’s what the London High Court of Justice ruled last Thursday, determining that Wright is not the person he claims to be. Which leads to the obvious question: Who is Craig Wright?

Before betting on who Nakamoto is at crypto betting sites, let’s dig deep, peel back the layers and see if we can make some sense of this entire boondoggle.

Who Is Satoshi Nakamoto?

Satoshi Nakamoto is the pseudonym of the person – or people – behind the invention of Bitcoin.

The name was used in October 2008 by the author and publisher of the original Bitcoin whitepaper, and used again when the first version of the Bitcoin software was released in January 2009.

Nakamoto’s true identity remains a mystery. “He” claimed in 2012 to be a man living in Japan, but even that was never confirmed; speculated candidates over the years have included crypto pioneers Hal Finney (who passed away in 2014), Nick Szabo and Adam Back. The Financial Times even said in 2016 that all three of these people might be part of a larger group working under the Nakamoto aegis.

Why Is Satoshi Nakamoto Anonymous?

Maybe because he doesn’t want people endangering his life. As the first Bitcoin miner, Nakamoto has amassed an estimated 1 million Bitcoins, which would be worth about $67 billion in U.S. currency as we go to press.

It could also be because Nakamoto wants Bitcoin to succeed on its own merits, and wants to avoid becoming a figure like Elon Musk that casts a long shadow over his products. This is ostensibly why Charlie Lee, the inventor of Litecoin, decided to sell off almost all of his LTC holdings in December 2017.

In either case, to paraphrase David Bowie (and John Lennon and Carlos Alomar), the threat of becoming famous was enough to make Nakamoto think things over. By remaining anonymous, Nakamoto gets to enjoy the fruits of his/their labor while avoiding legal action, hacking or harm in general.

Who Is Craig Wright?

Craig Steven Wright is a computer scientist from Brisbane, Australia, who’s been mired in legal controversy for much of the past 20 years. Wright’s background is in information systems, where he worked as a manager for the accounting firm BDO Kendalls before starting his own business.

Wright’s first significant legal hurdle came in 2004 when he was convicted of contempt of court and sentenced to 28 days by the Supreme Court of New South Wales. Then Wright faced some regulatory issues trying to launch a Bitcoin-based bank, efforts that were eventually scuttled in 2014.

Things got very interesting in December 2015 when both Wired and Gizmodo suggested that Wright may be Satoshi Nakamoto after Wright showed them some emails and various documents. Shortly afterward, after doing some more digging, Wired alleged that Wright was actually part of an elaborate cryptocurrency hoax, and his home and business were both raided by Australian police.

Ever since, Wright has been trying to prove his claim – and he’s been debunked at every stop. The legal tipping point may have come in April 2019 when Wright filed for U.S. copyright for both the Bitcoin whitepaper and the original software release (aka “Bitcoin 0.1”). That set off a cascade of events that led the Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA), a group including Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, to take Wright to the London High Court this past February.

What Happened to Craig Wright in Court?

He got nutmegged. This case was expected to drag out for months, but instead, after five weeks of testimony, Mr. Justice Mellor immediately ruled the “evidence was overwhelming” that Wright was not Nakamoto.

Now we wait to see what punishment Wright will face – if any. Mellor will issue a “fairly lengthy written judgment” that could provide the basis for COPA to refer Craig for criminal proceedings regarding perjury; Mellor’s ruling will also presumably impact the multiple cases (somewhere around 50 in the U.K. alone) that Craig has brought upon others for calling him a fraud.

In the meantime, while we still don’t know who Satoshi Nakamoto is, at least we’ve reduced the number of potential candidates by one.