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Craig Wright / "Faketoshi"

Craig Steven Wright is an Australian computer scientist who has claimed since 2016 to be Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin. Despite years of assertions, lawsuits, and media appearances, Wright has never provided cryptographic proof of his claim. This is something the real Satoshi could trivially do by signing a message with Satoshi's known private keys.

The Bitcoin community overwhelmingly rejects Wright's claims, derisively calling him "Faketoshi." His saga has become one of Bitcoin's strangest and most persistent controversies, involving forged documents, failed proofs, billion-dollar lawsuits, and the creation of Bitcoin SV (BSV).

The Claim

What Would Prove It

The real Satoshi Nakamoto has access to:

  • Private keys that mined the earliest Bitcoin blocks
  • The private key behind the genesis block
  • Keys controlling approximately 1 million unmoved BTC

To prove identity, Satoshi need only sign a message with one of these keys. This is trivial to do and impossible to fake. Every legitimate Bitcoiner would accept this as proof.

Craig Wright has never done this.

What Wright Has Provided

Instead of cryptographic proof, Wright has offered:

  • Personal testimony: "Trust me, I'm Satoshi"
  • Documents: Later shown to be backdated or forged
  • Vague technical claims: Often containing errors
  • Private demonstrations: To a few individuals, later disputed
  • Legal threats: Against anyone who publicly denies his claim

Timeline of Events

2015: Initial Leaks

In December 2015, Wired and Gizmodo published articles suggesting Craig Wright might be Satoshi, based on leaked documents and emails. Within days, Australian police raided Wright's home (related to tax issues, not Bitcoin).

Initial excitement quickly faded as researchers found problems with the "evidence."

2016: The Failed Proof

In May 2016, Wright came forward publicly, claiming to be Satoshi in interviews with the BBC and The Economist. He demonstrated a signature verification to several prominent Bitcoin figures, including Gavin Andresen (an early Bitcoin developer).

The problem: Wright's "proof" was quickly debunked. He had used a signature that was already publicly available on the blockchain, not a new signature proving key access. It was a sleight of hand, not cryptographic proof.

When challenged to provide real proof, Wright wrote a blog post promising to move coins from a known Satoshi address. The post was deleted and replaced with an apology, claiming he didn't have the "courage" to continue. He never provided the proof.

Gavin Andresen later said he was "bamboozled" and regretted supporting Wright's claim.

2017: Bitcoin Cash and Drama

Wright became involved in the Bitcoin Cash (BCH) community after the August 2017 fork. He positioned himself as a thought leader, claiming his Satoshi status gave him authority.

2018: Bitcoin SV Fork

In November 2018, Wright led a contentious hard fork of Bitcoin Cash, creating Bitcoin Satoshi Vision (BSV). The fork was accompanied by threats of a "hash war" to destroy the original BCH chain.

BSV was explicitly designed around Wright's interpretation of Satoshi's "vision", primarily larger blocks and removing protocol changes. The fork was backed by Calvin Ayre, an online gambling billionaire who has been Wright's primary financial supporter.

2019–2023: The Lawsuit Era

Wright launched an aggressive legal campaign:

  • Kleiman v. Wright (2021): The estate of Dave Kleiman, a deceased computer forensics expert, sued Wright for half of Satoshi's Bitcoin (~1.1 million BTC). Wright claimed he and Kleiman mined early Bitcoin together. A Florida jury found Wright liable for $100 million related to a joint venture, but the verdict didn't confirm or deny Wright was Satoshi.

  • COPA v. Wright (2024): The Crypto Open Patent Alliance (backed by companies including Square, Coinbase, and others) sued Wright seeking a declaration that he is not Satoshi. In February 2024, a UK judge ruled definitively that Craig Wright is not Satoshi Nakamoto and that he had forged documents to support his claims.

  • Defamation Threats: Wright has threatened or sued numerous individuals and organizations for calling him a fraud, including Bitcoin developers, podcasters, and Twitter users.

2024: The Verdict

In the COPA v. Wright trial, UK High Court Justice Mellor delivered a detailed ruling:

  • Craig Wright is not Satoshi Nakamoto
  • Wright forged documents on a "grand scale"
  • His evidence was "deliberately false"
  • The ruling was "emphatic"

The judge didn't mince words, describing Wright's claims as "a lie" and his evidence as fabricated.

Evidence of Fraud

Forged Documents

Multiple documents Wright presented as evidence have been proven to be backdated or fabricated:

  • PGP keys: Keys allegedly created in 2008 were shown to use cryptographic parameters that didn't exist until years later
  • Blog posts: Allegedly early writings about Bitcoin contained metadata showing they were created or modified much later
  • Emails: Headers and formatting inconsistent with claimed dates
  • Academic papers: Submitted to support his claims but containing anachronistic references

Failed Proofs

Every time Wright has been cornered into providing cryptographic proof, he has failed:

  • May 2016: Recycled a public signature instead of creating a new one
  • Bonded Courier: Claimed a bonded courier would deliver keys that would prove his identity; the courier never materialized
  • Tulip Trust: Claimed his Bitcoin was locked in a trust until 2020; when 2020 arrived, new excuses appeared

Technical Errors

Wright has made statements about Bitcoin that reveal misunderstandings a creator couldn't have:

  • Confused technical details about how Bitcoin works
  • Made claims about the protocol that are demonstrably false
  • Shown unfamiliarity with aspects of Bitcoin's design that Satoshi would know intimately

Community Response

Bitcoin Community

The Bitcoin community overwhelmingly rejects Wright's claims:

  • "Faketoshi": The derisive nickname is universally used
  • Developers: Bitcoin Core developers have been vocal in their rejection
  • Researchers: Cryptographers and security researchers have debunked his "proofs"
  • Humor: Wright has become a meme, with his claims treated as a running joke

BSV Community

A small community of BSV supporters continues to believe Wright is Satoshi. BSV has experienced:

  • Declining market cap and relevance
  • Delistings from major exchanges (citing fraud concerns around Wright)
  • Isolation from the broader cryptocurrency ecosystem

Why Does It Matter?

Protocol Control

If Wright were accepted as Satoshi, he could claim authority over Bitcoin's direction. His vision involves:

  • Massive block sizes (128MB+)
  • Removing privacy features
  • Making Bitcoin more amenable to government oversight
  • Aggressive patent enforcement

The community's rejection of Wright is partly about protecting Bitcoin from capture.

Wright's lawsuits have targeted:

  • Bitcoin developers (for alleged copyright infringement)
  • Anyone who publicly calls him a fraud
  • The Bitcoin whitepaper's distribution

A successful Wright legal campaign could have chilling effects on Bitcoin development and free speech.

Reputation

Wright's saga damages Bitcoin's reputation with mainstream audiences who don't understand the nuances. Headlines about "Satoshi suing developers" or "Bitcoin founder" create confusion.

The Real Satoshi

While Wright is not Satoshi, the real Satoshi's identity remains unknown. Key facts:

  • Satoshi's coins haven't moved: The ~1 million BTC from early mining remain untouched since 2010
  • No public appearances: Satoshi stopped communicating in 2011 and has never returned
  • Cryptographic proof pending: Anyone with access to Satoshi's keys could prove it instantly

The contrast is stark: the real Satoshi has remained silent for 15+ years, while Wright can't stop claiming the title without ever providing proof.

Conclusion

The Craig Wright saga is a bizarre footnote in Bitcoin history: a man who claims to be the creator but cannot prove it, who has forged documents and lost lawsuits, yet continues to assert his identity backed by a wealthy patron.

For the Bitcoin community, Wright serves as a useful reminder:

  • Proof of work matters: Claims require evidence. In Bitcoin, cryptographic proof is king.
  • Decentralization protects: Bitcoin has no CEO or founder who can be captured. Even if someone credibly claimed to be Satoshi, they couldn't control the protocol.
  • The community decides: Consensus (whether about code or identity) emerges from the network, not from proclamations.

Craig Wright is not Satoshi Nakamoto. A UK High Court has ruled it. The cryptographic evidence (or lack thereof) proves it. And the Bitcoin community has always known it.

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