A US court ruled that Dr Craig Wright invented Bitcoin and could be worth £36 Billion.
Wright, 51, has been identified as the true identity of ‘Satoshi Nagamoto’, a pseudonymous Japanese cypherpunk whose genius opened up a new era of global money movement via digital technology.
Nakamoto was the one who wrote the groundbreaking 2008 academic paper titled ‘Bitcoin, a peer-to-peer electronic money system’. It has been called the most important [scientific] work of this century’.
But soon after, and without ever making a public appearance, “Satoshi” issued an online farewell to the world and vanished without a trace.
Satoshi is a true Australian — though many decry him for being a fake — but he must be considered the father of bitcoin. The cryptocurrency, or digital currency, has gone from a mere cent when it was first launched 13 years ago, to a record-breaking $68,000 (£51,000) last week. Dr Wright will likely be “one of the 25 wealthiest men in the world” as a result.
According to legal documents, his decision to move to Cobham to be a millionaire’s row is modesty and not conspicuous consumption. He is believed to have created the Bitcoin economy, in which he still holds a substantial stake. It is worth billions, if not trillions of dollars.
Bitcoin and cryptocurrency were considered fringe activities until recently. They are now thriving.
According to a recent survey, most financial tech experts believe that bitcoin will become the global standard for finance in 30 years.
China is so sceptical of cryptocurrencies that it has banned traders from using them. Hillary Clinton, a former presidential candidate, warned last month that cryptocurrencies could threaten the status of the U.S. Dollar as the world’s reserve currency.
El Salvador in Central America has, however, adopted bitcoin as its national currency. Fortune magazine reports that many teenagers trade in it regularly and are earning tens to thousands of dollars doing so.
Six years have passed since Craig Wright, first identified as Satoshi Nakamoto in Australia by investigative journalists. Last week his story was retold in a landmark case in which a federal jury in Miami ruled in Wright’s favour in what has been called the ‘bitcoin trial for the century’.
Wright, a father of three children and a married father of two, was sued in civil court on behalf of Dave Kleiman’s estate. Kleiman was a paraplegic U.S Army veteran and computer forensics expert that he had met online. Kleiman died aged 46 in 2013.
Both sides arrived at court understanding that Wright was Satoshi Nakamoto, who had created bitcoin. The plaintiff claimed that Kleiman was Wright’s business partner and co-creator of bitcoin. Therefore, Kleiman’s brother Ira was entitled to a portion of a $36 billion trove of 1.1 million bitcoins.
Wright claimed Kleiman was his best friend and that he was nothing but his best friend. Wright had assisted him in editing the Satoshi paper but he did not provide any other input.
Wright’s testimony over the course of four days at the hearing shed light on his past and complicated personality. He declared that he won, even though observers may feel that he took a big hit.
Kleiman was Wright’s business partner. After finding Wright liable for conversion, which is a legal term that refers to making use of property, not yours, the judge ordered Wright to compensate Kleiman’s W&K Info Defense Systems with $100 million.
Wright stated that he felt remarkably happy after being vindicated. Wright said, “I’m not a fraud. I’ve never been one.”
He claimed that he offered Kleiman’s estate “twelve million many years ago”, which, if he had taken that amount in bitcoin back then when bitcoin was worth $200 and kept it — you’ll be able to do the maths.
This is the eye-watering math: Each bitcoin now has a value of around £38,000. Wright’s interpretation is that Kleiman’s estate lost about £2.3 billion by refusing to accept his original offer.
The Florida court case, however, has brought what was called “the greatest mystery of tech” to a wider audience. They have read about Bitcoin and even invested in it but weren’t aware of the counter-claims and claims that were made over its creation.
Craig Wright is a mystery. Why did he choose to live in Britain? He has ambitions to become a magistrate. What more can we learn about him since the Kleiman trial.
Wright was born in Brisbane. He described during the trial how his parents divorced and how he was raised by a single mother who worked three jobs. Wright was a strong believer in hard work.
According to his counsel, Wright was from a difficult family and had few friends growing up. He was also considered unusual by the court. . . Even by his sister’.
The court heard that he wore a ninja costume to school at 13 and was called a freak by all the other children.
His mother had spoken to Andrew O’Hagan, a British writer, about her son’s obsession with Japanese culture as a teenager.
She said, “He was different.” He used to dress up. In samurai clothing, with some wooden shoes and everything. Making all kinds of noises. He would make a lot of noises and his sisters would be annoyed. In the 1980s, he had a group of nerdy friends: They’d gather in horn-rimmed glasses to play Dungeons & Dragons all day.
Florida’s court heard Wright had recently been diagnosed as autistic.
According to one specialist, Dr Wright is prone to obsessing over specific interests as a way of coping. He was bullied, ridiculed, and excluded by his peers.
Wright, aged 18, joined the Royal Australian Air Force. He worked in computer coding. Wright went on to study computer science at university and has pursued various academic degrees ever since.
Wright stated to the court that he had written the equivalent of a master’s thesis on a good day. I’m currently enrolled at 19 universities, one of which is Harvard. . . Actually, I wrote three papers [academic] last night.
He was also able to get married twice. Lynn, his first wife, was a Canadian nurse who he met online. Within six weeks, he proposed to her.
Ramona, his current wife, was the one he met in 2010. They were initially ‘business associates’, but their relationship grew and they got married in 2013. Bitcoin was already mainstream by that time.
Five years ago, the world was in financial meltdown and a paper from an academic institution was published online by Satoshi Nakamoto.
A small group of cryptographers circulated the paper that described bitcoin. It described how a “decentralised, non-sovereign and entirely digital currency” could be created.
This was done by a process called “mining” and involved computers solving “a series of linked mathematical problems” created by an algorithm that Satoshi Nakamoto developed. The first person to solve the problem was awarded bitcoins.
It sounds complex, and it is. You don’t have to be an expert on bitcoin in order to appreciate its achievements and the impact they have had.
“Satoshi” put his theory into practice the next year by “mining” his first block. Criminals also followed the lead of cryptographers, as did criminals who appreciated the anonymity that bitcoin afforded in financial transactions.
However, it was apparent that ‘Satoshi” had grown bored with his creation by April 2011. He or she sent a cryptic message – ‘I have moved on to other matters’ — and signed off forever.
Satoshi Nakamoto’s disappearance did not diminish interest in bitcoin or the identity of its creator. Interest grew as the bitcoin network grew and the cryptocurrency’s price fluctuated wildly.
Many names were submitted and then rejected. In 2015, two publications were identified through leaked documents as an obscure Australian computer security expert, and university lecturer, Dr Craig Wright.
The Australian Tax Office (ATO), almost simultaneously, invaded Wright’s last known residence, a rented bungalow located in Sydney and a downtown office. According to some reports, the ATO was involved in a lengthy conversation with Wright about bitcoin. Their knowledge of the tax system and how it can be taxed was limited.
Wright, who denies any wrongdoings, was one step ahead. Wright was already well on his way to a new lifestyle in England, having initially settled in London.
He declared himself Satoshi Nakamoto in an interview on American TV the next year. But Wright was not hailed as a genius. Instead, he became the object of ridicule in many corners of the cryptographic community. They didn’t believe him. They didn’t believe him.
He was accused of fabricating technical proofs to back his claim that he is Satoshi. He has been registered as Satoshi Nakamoto in the U.S. Copyright Office. He has not yet been able to provide convincing ‘water-into wine’ proof to silence any naysayers.
One example would be to prove his control over the original “genesis” block of bitcoin. In a blog, he stated that he didn’t have the courage to show the evidence. It is not clear why.
Wright does not take this criticism lightly. A person who met Wright shortly after his arrival in the UK said to the Mail that he was one of the most fascinating and disturbing human beings he had ever encountered. He is a great person and I would not want to be in his company. You believe he would follow you.
He has pursued his enemies. Wright, who has been an Antigua and Barbudan citizen since 2017, and is seeking naturalization in the UK, are litigious Pitbulls who pursue actions against those who call him ‘fake.
Wright’s legal team claimed that he pursued the action because of allegations of dishonesty, which he said had made it harder for him to realize his ambition of becoming a Surrey magistrate’.
Dr Wright predicted that bitcoin and blockchain technology would replace the internet and all other traditional financial systems in 50 years. He would be retirement happy’ if five billion people used bitcoin daily.
He has had other reputational battles before that. Dr Wright filed a copyright infringement suit against a website that published the original Satoshi Nakamoto whitepaper in April at the High Court of London.
The case hinges on the author of the paper if it proceeds. So, Dr. Wright must prove that he is Satoshi. The Australian boy who claimed to be a samurai was transformed into a Japanese-looking man to help launch an idea that would change the world.
Until he does, “the greatest mystery in technology” awaits an answer.
