Craig Wright: “I don’t have the courage” to prove I’m Satoshi Nakamoto

Wright says he's sorry, blames "allegations" and "attacks" for his withdrawal.

Joe Mullin – May 5, 2016 3:49 PM | 119

Publicity shot from Craig Wright's now-deleted website. Credit: Craig Wright

Craig Wright, the Australian investor who claimed just three days ago to be the inventor of Bitcoin, said he's backing away from the world stage.

Wright's claims were debunked by experts within hours, who noted that his Satoshi signature was actually a 2009 signature he copied from the blockchain.

Just yesterday, Wright said he knew his claims would need "extraordinary proof," and he said such proof was on the way. A day later, he has decided not to prove his claims after all. Wright says that he "broke" as he was about to publish proof of access to the earliest keys. "I do not have the courage," he wrote in a note on his website. "I cannot."

Wright's note, on a stark white background, is all that's left of the website he made public on Monday, which was filled with images of himself looking thoughtful along with several Bitcoin-related blog posts. It reads in full:

I’m Sorry

I believed that I could do this. I believed that I could put the years of anonymity and hiding behind me. But, as the events of this week unfolded and I prepared to publish the proof of access to the earliest keys, I broke. I do not have the courage. I cannot.

When the rumors began, my qualifications and character were attacked. When those allegations were proven false, new allegations have already begun. I know now that I am not strong enough for this.

I know that this weakness will cause great damage to those that have supported me, and particularly to Jon Matonis and Gavin Andresen. I can only hope that their honour and credibility is not irreparably tainted by my actions. They were not deceived, but I know that the world will never believe that now. I can only say I’m sorry.

And goodbye.

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Of course, Craig Wright already said goodbye on Monday, telling the BBC his discussion would be the one and only television interview he would do. "I don't think I should have to be out there," he told the BBC. "There's nothing owed to the world... Why do I have to take credit for it? Why do I?"

"I want to work," he continued. "I don't work and invent and write papers and code by coming in front of TVs. I don't want money, I don't want fame, I don't want adoration, I just want to be left alone."

That's the persona Wright built—brilliant but incredibly sensitive and disdaining the limelight—even though he apparently hired a PR firm to put himself in the public eye. Since minute one, he has been certain to remind everyone that he's desperately concerned with his own privacy, to the point of being rude to the journalists sharing his story (the very same journalists he sought out.)

Real proof that a person or group of people is Satoshi Nakamoto, the moniker of the creator of Bitcoin, could be had within minutes. Moving around early bitcoin or creating a new signature with Satoshi's encryption keys would be enough.

Barring that, it looks like Wright will only be known as the first "cryptographically proven con artist," as security researcher Dan Kaminsky put it.

"It's not 'allegations' that Craig Wright is a fraud," wrote Errata Security's Rob Graham on Twitter. "We have 'proof' he tried to defraud, trick, scam everyone."

One of the reasons Wright's claims were taken seriously on Monday is because he convinced Gavin Andresen, former lead Bitcoin developer, that he was truly Satoshi. On Monday, Andresen spoke to Wired about his meeting with Wright in London, and described Wright as "visibly emotional" while he signed a message as Satoshi.

"He’s either a fantastic actor who knows an awful lot about cryptography, or it actually was emotionally hard for him to go through with this," Andresen said.