The Creator of Bitcoin has Officially been Revealed

One of the mysteries surrounding Bitcoin may have been solved today, as Australian entrepreneur Craig Wright has claimed to be it’s creator.

Speculation over who was the creator of Bitcoin has been high since its inception. The reclusive inventor had been using the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto to communicate with developers for the past seven years. Nakamoto’s personal bio stated that he was a 37 year old man from Japan, but many doubted this due to his perfect use of English and his Bitcoin software not being labeled in Japanese.

Numerous articles have been posted theorizing the true identity of the creator of Bitcoin. The first publication to consider Australian entrepreneur Craig Wright was Wired, in December of 2015. They claimed that Wright, “either invented Bitcoin or is a brilliant hoaxer who very badly wants us to believe he did.” Gizmodo published a story the same day making similar claims about Wright. On Tuesday, the Australian made gambling news when he publicly claimed he was indeed the creator.

How did the supposed creator of Bitcoin prove his case?

Immediately after Wright came out with this Bitcoin news, a contingent of naysayers began to pick apart his story. They highlighted his unconvincing and somewhat bizarre blog post in which he seems to have lied about his educational credentials. Some speculated it could be an elaborate hoax, or even a con. In fact, that’s what Gavin Andresen, the chief scientist at the Bitcoin Foundation thought.

It wasn’t until Andresen received a call to personally meet Wright that he began to truly consider these claims. He met Wright and two of his colleagues at a hotel in London, and asked him to “sign” a message using cryptographic keys that belonged to the first ever coins claimed by a Bitcoin miner; meaning the creator of Bitcoin. Wright was able to perform the task, convincing Andresen he was indeed Nakamoto.

Despite being able to “sign” the message using Nakamoto’s Bitcoins, many remain unconvinced that he is actually Nakamoto. A writer at Github went so far as to say that Wright, “used amateur magician tactics to distract non-technical or non-expert staff of the BBC and the Economist during a stage-managed demonstration.” It will likely become clearer in the next few days whether Wright is actually the man behind Bitcoin, or just pulled off one of the best hoaxes of this century.