Bitcoin mystery solved?
Australian entrepreneur Craig Wright has publicly identified himself as Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto.
His admission follows years of speculation about who came up with the original ideas underlying the digital cash system. Wright has provided technical proof to back up his claim using coins known to be owned by Bitcoin's creator.
Prominent members of the Bitcoin community and its core development team say they have confirmed his claims. But many others in the Bitcoin world are asking for more proof.
Wright has revealed his identity to three media organisations - the BBC, the Economist and GQ.
At the meeting with the BBC, Wright digitally signed messages using cryptographic keys created during the early days of Bitcoin's development. The keys are inextricably linked to blocks of bitcoins known to have been created or "mined" by Satoshi Nakamoto.
"These are the blocks used to send 10 bitcoins to Hal Finney in January [2009] as the first bitcoin transaction," said Wright during his demonstration.
Renowned cryptographer Hal Finney was one of the engineers who helped turn Wright's ideas into the Bitcoin protocol, he said.
Comments