Craig Wright Drops Controversial Quest to Prove He's Bitcoin Creator: 'Only Validation I Seek Now Is From My Family'

Australian computer scientist Craig Wright has signaled that he's ending his years-long controversial campaign to prove that he's Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin BTC/USD.

What Happened: After years of futile efforts to prove his legitimacy, Wright appears to be nearing his long-standing quest to convince the world of his identity.

It does not matter if you like me. The goal of what I am doing is simple, global micropayments.

One day, people will understand, not because it is inevitable, but because I will not give up on that goal and vision. We shall start to scale in 2023. Millions of TPS first...

— Dr Craig S Wright (@Dr_CSWright) December 22, 2022

Wright has declared that he no longer seeks validation from the public or courts in relation to his claim of being the creator of Bitcoin. “I care for my wife, my mother, and my family,” he said, “The only validation I seek now is from my family. The rest is no longer important.”

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Why It Matters: Wright has been a contentious figure in the Bitcoin community since he posted a blog in 2016 claiming, with questionable evidence, to be the apex cryptocurrency's inventor. 

Since then, he has gone to court in defense of his claim, filing lawsuits that allege libel — such as suing Magnus Granath (also known as “Hodlnaut”) for calling him a fraud — or copyright infringement, when he successfully petitioned the courts to have the Bitcoin white paper removed from bitcoin.org.

Wright on Thursday also got the upper edge in a legal battle that started in 2019, when Bitcoiner and podcaster Peter McCormack called him a liar and a fraud for claiming he was Satoshi. McCormack was ordered by a British court to pay about $1.1 million in costs, Coindesk reported.

Price Action: At the time of writing, BTC was trading at $16,831, down 0.14% in the last 24 hours, according to Benzinga Pro.

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