--- description: “Satoshi Nakamoto” has offered up his cryptographic key as proof title: Bitcoin's Creator Has Finally Unmasked Himself image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9844da6058e16f7b/69886fbb524fc02d2bdf5561/1675119391.jpg?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Tech](/tag/time-section-tech/) ## Tech Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Bitcoin's Creator Has Finally Unmasked Himself by [David Meyer / Fortune](/author/fortune/) ## David Meyer / Fortune Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Updated: Dec 13, 2023 1:18 PM CUTPublished: May 2, 2016 8:30 AM CUT  A twenty-five bitcoin is arranged for a photograph in Tokyo, Japan, on Thursday, April 25, 2013\. The digital currency, which carries the unofficial ticker symbol of BTC, was unveiled in 2009 by an unidentified programmer, or group of programmers, under the name of Satoshi Nakamoto. Supply is capped at 21 million Bitcoins and managed by a software algorithm embedded into the digital currency?s design, rather than a monetary authority such as a central bank. Photographer: Tomohiro Ohsumi/Bloomberg via Getty Images A twenty-five bitcoin is arranged for a photograph in Tokyo, Japan, on Thursday, April 25, 2013\. The digital currency, which carries the unofficial ticker symbol of BTC, was unveiled in 2009 by an unidentified programmer, or group of programmers, under the name of Satoshi Nakamoto. Supply is capped at 21 million Bitcoins and managed by a software algorithm embedded into the digital currency?s design, rather than a monetary authority such as a central bank. Photographer: Tomohiro Ohsumi/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesBloomberg/Getty Images by [David Meyer / Fortune](/author/fortune/) ## David Meyer / Fortune Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Updated: Dec 13, 2023 1:18 PM CUTPublished: May 2, 2016 8:30 AM CUT The creator of the bitcoin virtual currency, who has long been known by the pseudonym “Satoshi Nakamoto,” has apparently come out of the shadows. His name is Craig Wright. Wright, an Australian entrepreneur and prominent bitcoin backer, had [previously been identified](http://fortune.com/2015/12/09/australia-bitcoin-raid/ "undefined") by _Wired_ and Gizmodo, but their stories were met with [some skepticism](http://www.ibtimes.com/craig-wright-not-bitcoin-creator-satoshi-nakamoto-according-new-text-analysis-2276141 "undefined"), as [previous](http://fortune.com/2014/03/06/did-newsweek-just-validate-bitcoin-conspiracy-theory/ "undefined") [attempts](http://fortune.com/2015/05/15/who-is-satoshi-nakamoto/ "undefined") at unmasking Nakamoto had not gone so well. Now Wright has gone to the BBC, the _Economist_ and _GQ_with proof that he says ties him to the identity of Nakamoto: He used the cryptographic key that was associated with the first bitcoin transaction. “Some people will believe it, some people won’t, and to tell you the truth, I don’t really care,” Wright [told the BBC](http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-36168863 "undefined"), explaining that he was stepping into the light to stop people hounding him and people he cares about. Jon Matonis, the founding director of the Bitcoin Foundation, is convinced that Wright is Satoshi Nakamoto, and has written a blog post in which he says previous interactions with Wright had left him with that suspicion: > [](https://twitter.com/jonmatonis/status/727029987392536576) Matonis sat in on a meeting in London where Wright demonstrated that he was Nakamoto. “During the London proof sessions, I had the opportunity to review the relevant data along three distinct lines: cryptographic, social, and technical. Based on what I witnessed, it is my firm belief that Craig Steven Wright satisfies all three categories,” Matonis [wrote](http://themonetaryfuture.blogspot.de/2016/05/how-i-met-satoshi.html "undefined"). Of course, not everyone’s sold on Wright’s claim just yet: > [](https://twitter.com/octal/status/727045911239495680) The _Wired_ and Gizmodo stories in December were swiftly followed by a raid by the Australian tax authorities, though they claimed it had nothing to do with bitcoin. Wright now says he is cooperating with them on working out how much he needs to pay. If Wright has the million bitcoins that Nakamoto is believed to have amassed, that means he’s sitting on around $457 million. “Satoshi Nakamoto” released the bitcoin system in 2009\. It allows people to make peer-to-peer transactions without the aid of an intermediary such as a bank, by using a public ledger called a blockchain. While bitcoin itself is no longer the hot property it was a couple years back, when speculation ran rampant, the blockchain mechanism itself is still [of great interest](http://fortune.com/2016/03/04/crisis-in-bitcoin-rise-of-blockchain/ "undefined") to banks and others, such as those building new online voting systems — although bitcoin is famous for allowing its users to stay anonymous, the blockchain mechanism is terrific for reliably tracking the transactions themselves. [_This article originally appeared on Fortune.com_](http://fortune.com/2016/05/02/bitcoin-satoshi-wright/ "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4313869/bitcoins-creator-identify-craig-wright/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4313869/bitcoins-creator-identify-craig-wright/"},"headline":"Bitcoin's Creator Has Finally Unmasked Himself","datePublished":"2016-05-02T08:30:15.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-13T13:18:48.000Z","description":"“Satoshi Nakamoto” has offered up his cryptographic key as proof","url":"https://time.com/4313869/bitcoins-creator-identify-craig-wright/","keywords":["Tech","Innovation","Bitcoin"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9844da6058e16f7b/69886fbb524fc02d2bdf5561/1675119391.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"David Meyer / Fortune"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9844da6058e16f7b/69886fbb524fc02d2bdf5561/1675119391.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Tibanne CEO Mark Karpeles At Mt.Gox Bitcoin Exchange And Bitcoin Images","caption":"Tibanne CEO Mark Karpeles At Mt.Gox Bitcoin Exchange And Bitcoin Images","creditText":"Bloomberg/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-tech/","name":"Tech"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4313869/bitcoins-creator-identify-craig-wright/","name":"Bitcoin's Creator Has Finally Unmasked Himself"}}]}] ```