REPORTS: The secret creator of bitcoin has been unmasked, again
Or, it could be Wright and his close friend Dave Kleinman, who died two years ago, according to Gizmodo.
Or Wright could be a man who really wants to take credit for it.
Or the hunt to identify bitcoin's creator is wrong again.
In 2009, someone (or some people) named Satoshi Nakamoto invented bitcoin, a type of digital currency that uses cryptography to move money and records it in a ledger without the need of a bank. The cryptocurrency was once an obsession among finance geeks, but emerged into more of a mainstream economic obsession. A bitcoin startup even sponsored the Bitcoin Bowl, a college football bowl game, last year.
Finding the creator of it has been obsession among bitcoin enthusiasts and journalists alike. In March 2014, Newsweek published a cover story alleging that Dorian Satoshi Nakamoto, a man living in southern California who denies having heard of the cryptocurrency, was its mysterious creator.
But Wired's Andy Greenberg may have the most compelling evidence that points to the Australian genius so far:
- Posts from Wright's blog hint at writing papers about a cryptocurrency, although Wired admits these could have been planted by Wright himself to make himself seem like the creator.
- Wright owns two supercomputers, including the most powerful privately-owned supercomputer. These aren't on corporate campuses, but wired to his home in Australia.
- According to leaked documents, Kleiman had a trust containing the same number of bitcoins that Nakamoto is rumored to own. When he died, that trust was passed to Wright. Those bitcoins, at bitcoin's price peak, were worth more than a billion.
Gizmodo has posted many of the emails in its own report, and read Wired's full story on the unknown Australian genius here.