The identification of Satoshi Nakamoto with an Australian tech entrepreneur Craig Wright sounds problematic, says bitcoin core developer Greg Maxwell. Some elements of the digital signature used by “Satoshi” were not in use until very recently.

All current media buzz about possible identification of bitcoin inventor Satoshi Nakamoto is just another buzz, says Maxwell on Reddit.

Bitcoin core developer argues that the only piece of verifiable evidence that allows journalists to identify Satoshi with Craig Wright – his digital signature – is problematic.

“The PGP key being used in identification was clearly backdated: its metadata contains cipher-suites which were not widely used until later software,” wrote Maxwell on Reddit.
Reddit users reacted to Maxwell findings positively and expressed support for his doubts.

The new Satoshi-related media hype began on 8 December. On that day Wired provided some evidence that an Australian tech entrepreneur Craig Wright could have created bitcoin, referring to his blog posts, leaked emails and general background. The investigators point out that companies founded by Craig Wright possessed suspiciously large sums in bitcoin digital currency, and one of them even attempted to establish the world’s first bitcoin bank. Investigators from another site, Gizmodo, came to similar conclusions.

On 9 December the Guardian decided to pour some oil on the flames and named Wright as a “reported bitcoin founder”. The newspaper reported that Australian police raided Wright’s house in Sydney. The reason for the raid may have nothing to do with bitcoin: Wright seems to have problems with Australian Taxation Office. According to the latest info, Wright moved to London.

As usual, media buzz around Satoshi contributed to bitcoin price rally. The price of bitcoin (CoinDesk BPI) gained 5%, climbing up to the three-month maximum of $415.

Roman Korizky