The legend of Satoshi Nakamoto, the anonymous bitcoin founder, is a mystery built for the digital age. His true identity has become mythologized, and while no one knows who he is, he's become a symbol of a new era of freedom in finance and technology. The heat is now on an Australian scientist, who has claimed for years to be the enigmatic founder.
The hunt for Satoshi Nakamoto and the Craig Wright problem
The murky history of bitcoin began in 2008, in the "shadow of a global financial meltdown," when someone under the name Satoshi Nakamoto released a white paper outlining the vision for "a new electronic money and peer-to-peer payment system that would obviate the need for troublesome intermediaries like banks," Wired said. The enigmatic creator sent the first bitcoin transaction in 2009, and little more than two years later, they disappeared from the internet. "The hunt for Nakamoto began," said Wired.
The absence of a leader has helped bitcoin flourish since Nakamoto disappeared, making it "robust" by forcing it to evolve unfettered in an anarchistic system, software developer and early bitcoin adopter Jameson Lopp said to Wired. "Free from the overbearing influence of a founder, anyone that volunteered their time to work on bitcoin could have a say in its direction," Wired said. But one man's claims threaten to complicate that ecosystem.
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Nakamoto's name has been linked to many people, including Australian computer scientist Craig Wright, who orchestrated an "elaborate but unconvincing demonstration" that he was the mysterious creator in 2016, Billy Bambrough said at Forbes. Since then, Wright has spent years "dragging naysayers through the courts in a largely unsuccessful attempt to legally be recognized as bitcoin's creator." With the help of former gambling billionaire Calvin Ayre, Wright has sued bitcoin developers, social media users, podcasters, and anyone else who doubted the credibility of his claims. However, last year, a leaked email hinted that Ayre's faith in Wright was waning.
The high-stakes lawsuit that could finally solve the mystery
Three years ago, a nonprofit coalition of crypto and tech companies called the Crypto Open Patent Alliance brought a lawsuit against Wright, asking the court to officially declare that he is not Nakamoto. Wright has leveraged his "substantial financial backing" against crypto developers based on a lie, "many of whom cannot even afford to present the most basic defense," Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal said on behalf of COPA. "This is the exact opposite of the vision that animated Satoshi's white paper in 2008," he said. "It's a drain on the talent and spirit of the crypto economy as a whole, and it needs to stop — now." The case finally went to trial in the U.K. on Feb. 5.
Unlike other recent crypto-related lawsuits, like Sam Bankman-Fried's fraud trial, "the COPA v. Wright case has attracted little attention," Joel Khalili said in Wired. The case has drawn a small crowd of photographers, journalists, and crypto enthusiasts. "But the case has the potential to be highly consequential."
A week into the case, the ongoing courtroom tension has "left onlookers astonished," Forbes' Susie Violet Ward said. "Each revelation seems to cast ripples of uncertainty and produce more questions than answers, further muddying the waters." So far, the trial has been a "showcase of detailed technical evidence," Ward said, "punctuated by moments of drama." At one point, Wright exclaimed, "But I AM Satoshi!" The declaration happened when he was cross-examined by Jonathan Hough, who represented COPA.
In a surprise twist, Wright admitted to the court that some of the documents he presented to prove he was Nakamoto were indeed forgeries, "a revelation that once again sent a wave of disbelief through the courtroom," Ward said. The admission came after COPA's "meticulous" presentation of evidence highlighting "time discrepancies in the documents, such as fonts that were not available when the documents were supposedly created."
The trial is expected to last about six weeks.
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FAQs
The truth about who founded bitcoin. The legend of Satoshi Nakamoto, the anonymous bitcoin founder, is a mystery built for the digital age. His true identity has become mythologized, and while no one knows who he is, he's become a symbol of a new era of freedom in finance and technology.
Is the Bitcoin founder rich? ›
But there are some compelling theories for who Satoshi really is — and who might control the 1.1 million bitcoin in known Satoshi wallets. If Satoshi is alive and in control of his keys, then he has access to holdings worth around $70 billion at today's prices. But they've never moved.
Who is the man claims to be Bitcoin founder? ›
Craig Wright has for eight years claimed that he was the man behind “Satoshi Nakamoto,” the pseudonym that masked the identity of the creator of bitcoin. His claim was rejected by the Crypto Open Patent Alliance, or Copa, a non-profit group of technology and cryptocurrency firms, who brought the case to court.
Who is really behind the creation of Bitcoin? ›
Bitcoin was created by an anonymous person or group using the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto. Nakamoto published a whitepaper titled "Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System," outlining the concept of a decentralized digital currency. 1 The true identity of Satoshi Nakamoto remains unknown to this day.
Why is the creator of Bitcoin unknown? ›
Privacy and Security Concerns: By remaining anonymous, Satoshi Nakamoto protected his personal privacy and reduced the risk of being targeted by hackers, criminals, or government authorities. Bitcoin was designed to be decentralized and resistant to censorship, and Nakamoto's anonymity helped maintain that ethos.
How many millionaires made from Bitcoin? ›
There are 88,200 crypto millionaires worldwide. 40,500 of these millionaires have amassed their fortune in Bitcoin (BTC). The number of global crypto owners reached 580 million by the end of 2023, according to Crypto.com.
How much Bitcoin is left? ›
Limited Supply: Bitcoin has a maximum supply of 21 million coins, and as of March 2023, more than 19 million have been mined. Remaining bitcoins: There are approximately 2 million bitcoins left to be mined.
Who is the mastermind of bitcoin? ›
Satoshi Nakamoto is the name used by the presumed pseudonymous person or persons who developed Bitcoin, authored the Bitcoin white paper, and created and deployed Bitcoin's original reference implementation.
Who is the disgraced CEO of bitcoin? ›
Sam Bankman-Fried, founder and CEO of the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, late last week was convicted of all seven counts of fraud, money laundering and conspiracy to commit these crimes. Was he a criminal from the start, or did he get in over his head?
How much money did FTX steal? ›
NEW YORK, March 28 (Reuters) - Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison by a judge on Thursday for stealing $8 billion from customers of the now-bankrupt FTX cryptocurrency exchange he founded, the last step in the former billionaire wunderkind's dramatic downfall.
Australian computer scientist Craig Wright entered the witness box at the High Court and testified he was the man behind “Satoshi Nakamoto,” the pseudonym that has masked the identity of the creator of bitcoin. Wright has long asserted that he is Nakamoto.
Is Bitcoin in the Bible? ›
The Bible does not specifically mention cryptocurrency as it is a modern invention and did not exist at the time the Bible was written.
Will we ever know who created Bitcoin? ›
The identity of bitcoin's inventor remains elusive, even on today's internet. There are no secrets online — except the identity of the person who developed bitcoin.
Who owns most Bitcoin? ›
Who owns the most Bitcoin in the world? The top Bitcoin holder is still believed to be Satoshi Nakamoto, the anonymous creator of Bitcoin, who reportedly holds around 1.1 million BTC across many wallets. Despite this large holding, the top 10 holders collectively only possess about 5.5% of the total Bitcoin supply.
Who controls Bitcoin? ›
Bitcoin is not controlled by any single group or person. Instead, it is governed by multiple stakeholders — including developers, miners, and users. Developers write the code that makes Bitcoin run; miners validate transactions; and users put the software to work by trading, transacting, holding, and more.
Is Satoshi Nakamoto the richest person in the world? ›
Furthermore, were Nakamoto to be ranked on the Forbes Real-Time Billionaires list, the creator of Bitcoin would stand as the 26th richest individual globally. The 24th through the 27th richest in the world if Satoshi Nakamoto was included in the billionaires' list on Feb. 25, 2024.
Who is the richest Bitcoin owner in the world? ›
For the third year running, Changpeng Zhao, founder and former CEO of crypto exchange Binance, is crypto's wealthiest person.
How many billionaires own Bitcoin? ›
Out of all 210 million Bitcoin users, the report says only six are Bitcoin billionaires. That is, six individuals hold at least a billion dollars in bitcoin each. 78 Bitcoin users are centimillionaires, which means that those individuals each hold at least $100 million worth of Bitcoin.
How much Bitcoin does the founder own? ›
How Many Bitcoin Does Satoshi Have? As a result, Satoshi is estimated to have more than 1.1 million BTC, valued at approximately $47 billion in February 2024. This bitcoin is not stored in one address but spread across roughly 22,000 addresses. None of it was ever spent besides a few test transactions.
Who personally owns the most Bitcoin? ›
Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin, is believed to own the most bitcoins, with estimates suggesting over 1 million BTC mined in the early days of the network.
