Vitalik Buterin says Craig Wright is Not Satoshi. Asks Him to “Stop Being a Fraud”

Vitalik Buterin recently Tweeted about Craig Wright, calling him a fraud and asking him to stop posing as Satoshi Nakamoto, the mysterious founder of Bitcoin, the world's largest cryptocurrency.
While there is no certain proof about the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto, Craig Wright is one man whose name keeps coming up in the contentious debate, and now Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin has weighed in on the issue, calling Craig a fraud.

In his recent Tweet, Vitalik called Craig out and also cited his (Craig’s) Tweets as an example for the ongoing #no280 movement, which is against Twitter’s recent doubling of its character limit for Tweets from 140 to 280.

Dr. Craig Steven Wright has been at the center of several controversies related to Bitcoin and its mysterious founder. Back in 2015, Wired published an article, claiming that the then 44-year Australian was Satoshi.

“In the last weeks, WIRED has obtained the strongest evidence yet of Satoshi Nakamoto’s true identity. The signs point to Craig Steven Wright, a man who never even made it onto any Nakamoto hunters’ public list of candidates, yet fits the cryptocurrency creator’s profile in nearly every detail.”

The post also cited proof and leaked documents and emails, reaching the conclusion that:

“Either Wright invented bitcoin, or he’s a brilliant hoaxer who very badly wants us to believe he did.”

This was followed up shortly by an official claim by Craig Wright on May 2, 2016 and he also spoke to major publications such as BBC and The Economist.

While, at the time, Wright’s claim also found support in a couple of figures involved in the Bitcoin community, he was largely criticized and experts debunked his claims and proofs.

The whole saga was quite dramatic and while more proof was expected, Craig Wright abruptly put an end to the story by posting a note on his website saying:

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.=)

Whether Craig is Satoshi or not, no one knows for certain. However, there are believers on both sides and Vitalik is clearly not on Dr. Craig Wright’s side.