Craig Wright, an Australian computer scientist who claims to be Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of the maiden cryptocurrency Bitcoin (BTC), has recently said that people can prove that he truly is the mysterious figure.
Asked in a recent interview with an Australian TV program whether he was indeed the pseudonymous author of the Bitcoin whitepaper, Wright insisted that there were people who know him and who also can confirm that he indeed is Satoshi, Investing.com reported on August 8.
As he stressed:
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“Proof is always people. (…) I mean, I had family, I had friends. I’ve got people who are high up in the industry.”
Wright didn’t reveal who or where these people that can attest to his identity were but did declare in his words that being the Bitcoin founder “actually makes life harder” and that he wasn’t motivated by money or fame.
The burden of proof
Even though Wright was unable to send a message from the private key matching the public key of Bitcoin’s block 0 (also called the Genesis block – the network’s first block ever mined), he tried using an analogy with car keys.
Indeed, Wright argued that:
“Again, you can’t prove with keys. If I own your car keys, that doesn’t mean I own your car. Honestly, that is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”
As it happens, the interview is the same one that turned sour when the host, Hamish Macdonald insisted that Wright produced concrete evidence that he was indeed Satoshi, which seemed to irk Wright.
In response, he started swearing at the host, telling him to “pick up a law book, and look what proof is, and do a course. (…) And when you come back, and you actually know what the f*** you’re talking about, then we can have a discussion. Otherwise, you’re just being a w****r.”
False claims?
Recently, Finbold reported on a conclusion by the London High Court which refuted Wright’s claims as false in a lawsuit in which Wright accused crypto podcaster and blogger Peter McCormack of libel over stating that he wasn’t Satoshi and that his claims of being Satoshi were fraudulent.
In June 2021, Ethereum’s founder Vitalik Buterin also hit out at the self-proclaimed Nakamoto, comparing Wright with the former United States President Donald Trump and daring his lawyers to sue him.
Featured image via Kitco News YouTube
