Craig Wright: Where is the Computer Scientist Now?

of Craig Wright: Where is the Computer Scientist Now? Kriti Mehrotra
October 10, 2024

With HBO’s ‘Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery’ exploring not just the origins of this titular network but also the identity of its enigmatic creator, we get a documentary film unlike any other. That’s because this Cullen Hoback production delves deep into nearly every aspect of this decentralized payment grid over the years while also making some strong claims based on the evidence he discovered. However, none really enveloped Craig Steven Wright despite his having claimed to be Bitcoin’s innovator, Satoshi Nakamoto, for almost a decade as he has since been outed as a fraudster.

Craig Wright’s Impressive Educational Background Opened Several Doors For Him

Although a native of Brisbane in Queensland, Australia, Craig is a man of the world, considering his academic pursuits have taken him all over in a little more than the past two decades. The truth is he actually graduated from high school in his hometown back in 1987, following which he earned his Bachelor’s in the field of computer science before ultimately enrolling at Charles Sturt University. He was reportedly an adjunct student as well as a researcher in this New South Wales campus, where he even completed his Ph.D. on The Quantification of Information Systems Risk in 2017.

However, Craig has also long claimed to be a 2003 graduate of Australia’s United Theological College, from where he earned a doctorate in theology, comparative religion, and classical studies. As if that’s not enough, he has alleged he holds several other certifications and degrees too, including 16 Master’s from various institutions across the globe, all the while evolving as a professional computer scientist. We say “professional” because he has admittedly worked full-time in numerous establishments since the 1990s, such as the Australian Securities Exchange, Kmart, as well as Mahindra & Mahindra.

It was through these experiences that Craig reportedly managed to expand his wings as a businessman and coder too, resulting in him possibly designing the world’s first online casino in 1999. Subsequently, he even evolved into an author, cryptocurrency expert, and executive, leading to him securing some high-ranking, stable positions at BDO Kendalls, DeMorgan Information Security Systems, and Hotwire Preemptive Intelligence Group (Hotwire PE). However, no one could have imagined that by the time late 2015 rolled around, he would suddenly come forward to claim he is Satoshi Nakamoto, the rightful mastermind behind the whole concept of Bitcoin.

Craig Wright Has Been Involved in Many Legal Situations Since 2015

It was in December 2015 when Wired and Gizmodo both suggested Craig may have been the inventor of Bitcoin due to his particular skill sets as an early cryptographer, which he later reiterated. His home in Gordon, New South Wales, alongside his business space in Ryde, New South Wales, was raided as a part of a tax investigation mere hours later, yet seemingly nothing became of it. Nevertheless, it is imperative to note that despite his assertions that he would give “extraordinary proof” to this “extraordinary claim,” he never did so, and many began raising concerns about him engaging in a hoax.

The fact it took Craig until 2019 to allege that Bitcoin was actually a group effort involving well-known crypto community members like Dave Kleiman and Hal Finney didn’t work in his favor either. And neither did the fact that he only registered for a copyright on the infamous Bitcoin white paper by Satoshi — the one from 2008 to detail what it really is — in April of the same year. But alas, we should mention that an official statement issued shortly after read, “The Copyright Office does not investigate whether there is a provable connection between the claimant and the pseudonymous author.”

In 2019, Craig relocated to the UK and used the English defamation/libel law to sue people who accused him of lying about being Bitcoin’s inventor/Satoshi. Among those to get a legal notice from him were cryptocurrency Ethereum’s founder Vitalik Buterin, early Bitcoin entrepreneur Roger Ver, podcaster Peter McCormack, and Norwegian Bitcoin user Marcus Granath. Yet, while he ultimately ended up dropping his suit against Vitalik by letting it expire, he was only awarded £1 in his claims against Peter, and the courts ruled in Marcus’ favor following intense legal proceedings in 2022.

Craig Wright is Now Hoping to Move On

While it’s true that Craig was the one sued in the US by the estate of Dave Kleiman in 2018, claiming fraud of $5 billion Bitcoin, it was not this case’s 2021 closure that changed things for him. A jury did find the former liable for conversion before awarding Dave’s estate $100 million in damages instead of the $25 billion asked following a three-week trial, yet his claim of being Satoshi still wasn’t challenged. It was only in May 2024 that a UK high court judge eventually ruled there was actually overwhelming evidence against his claims of being Bitcoin’s inventor, resulting in him being ordered to clear things up.

In other words, Craig is now legally bound to disclose he is not Satoshi Nakamoto, apparently manking him feel “truly free” for the first time in years, per his new X (formerly Twitter) account. We say new because he is evidently moving on from the past in a lot of ways, which includes establishing a website as well as new profiles on other platforms to continue publishing his original work on blockchains and Bitcoins. Nevertheless, it is also imperative to note that this 54-year-old London resident has since filed two appeals – one in the Peter McCormack case for the $1.9 million asset freezing order the latter had successfully applied for against him and another in the Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA) case that resulted in the 2024 ruling.

Read More: Samson Mow: Where is the Bitcoin Ambassador Now?

SPONSORED LINKS