Wired's Andy Greenberg speaks with NewsHour Weekend anchor Hari Sreenivasan on why the mystery of the Bitcoin creator remains unresolved. Video by PBS NewsHour
After years of speculation and independent investigations that sought to identify the elusive inventor behind the digital currency Bitcoin, the apparent creator decided Monday to come forward himself.
Australian entrepreneur Craig Steven Wright granted interviews to the BBC and other outlets, claiming he was the man behind the long-unknown "Satoshi Nakamoto" pseudonym, the currency's creator. Nakamoto reportedly has nearly 1 million Bitcoins, worth nearly half a billion dollars, Wired's Andy Greenberg told the NewsHour.
But thanks to eyebrow-raising developments in the seven-year mystery, the case of the Bitcoin inventor's identity isn't 100 percent solved. Greenberg said a huge amount of skepticism in the Bitcoin community and the larger cryptographic community remains.
"There's this bizarre disconnect between essentially two different kinds of proof that Wright has offered," Greenberg said, as detailed in his latest Wired story.
Some of Bitcoin enthusiast Mike Caldwell's coins are pictured at his office in this photo illustration in Sandy, Utah. Photo by Jim Urquhart/Reuters
We know that the earliest Bitcoins belonged to Nakamoto, Greenberg said, and there's a private key that's used to spend those Bitcoins. The key can also be used to "sign" a message in a way that could be offered as proof that someone possesses the key that only Nakamoto would have access to, he added.
Wright gave demonstrations of providing that unforageable, digital John Hancock for journalists and prominent members of the Bitcoin community.
When approached by Wright, The Economist said it reviewed his documented proof and corroborated that same info with bitcoin insiders. The conclusion? The Economist, joined by the BBC and GQ magazine, concluded that Wright could be Nakamoto, "but that important questions remain."
"Indeed, it may never be possible to establish beyond reasonable doubt who really created Bitcoin," The Economist wrote.
Previously, Wired and Gizmodo released twin stories that pointed to Wright as the creator of the cryptocurrency. Soon after Wright went public Monday, Gavin Andresen, chief scientist at the Bitcoin Foundation, came to a similar result.
"I believe Craig Steven Wright is the person who invented Bitcoin," he said in a blog post Monday.
Wright said in a statement that his public identification was prompted by a decision to "dispel any negative myths and fears about Bitcoin."
Wright offered more proof in a blog post that appeared to back his claim.
"Satoshi is dead," the 45-year-old said in the post. "But this is only the beginning."
One problem: The cartographic signature offered in Wright's blog post was quickly deemed fraudulent by experts.
The plot, as it were, thickened.
"This has only gotten hairier as a story," Greenberg said. "It was unclear, at first, whether this was a hoax or whether we've found the creator of Bitcoin. I think we've only gone further down that rabbit hole," he said.