Unless you’ve been off the grid for a few years or just don’t keep up with tech news, you’ve probably heard about Bitcoins. But where did they come from and who invented them? Well, there’s a man from Australia that’s now claiming he invented the Bitcoin - but some are skeptical. Here’s the complete story.

The Bitcoin Invention and Inventor

It has long been understood that the inventor of the Bitcoin was a man by the name of ‘Satoshi Nakamoto,’ but that was an alias, of course. Now the real Nakamoto has stood up - so he says. The man behind the alias goes by the name Craig Steven Wright. Wright is an Australian native that recently reached out to The Economist, The BBC, and The London Review of Books with his identity.

Wright tried to prove his authenticity by signing his name with the earliest Bitcoin cryptographic keys - keys that would have been hard to use were Wright anyone other than the originator of the Bitcoin. The BBC has also noted that some of the biggest players in the Bitcoin sphere have backed up Wright’s story stating that he is, in fact, the Nakamoto behind the Bitcoin empire.

Why The Silence

The tech world has been wondering who the person behind Bitcoin was for a long time now - since the currency was invented in 2008. But Wright remained silent until recently. His reasons for keeping quiet (he told press) were to protect people he loves, but now he’s decided to come clean. Some major tech blogs have also backed up Wright’s identity - but some are now stating that this might all be a hoax.

Directly after Wright revealed his identity, Australian officials raided his home in order to see what could be found. Whether or not anything proving his identity was found remains to be seen (no reports thus far). If Wright is the true founder of Bitcoin, he owes a fair bit of money to Australian authorities.

Is the Bitcoin Still Alive?

We haven’t heard much about Bitcoins in a few months now, and that’s largely because the Bitcoin is somewhat dead. The coin is still accepted and used in various places, but it’s not the currency it once was. It’s difficult to determine whether or not Wright is the actual person behind the currency, and the fact of the matter is that it might never be possible to tell who the founder of the Bitcoin is.

Does it all matter, though? Only if you are interested in the Bitcoin craze - which is actually something to keep note of, since it was such a widely popular Internet currency for so long. Even though the Bitcoin has largely fizzled out, it’s still interesting to note that such a currency could actually be so popular and have gained so much popularity. It is, in fact, one of the only new currencies to take off in a really long time, and it was also a worldwide currency making it all the more interesting.

So is the Australian that claims to be the founder of Bitcoin truly the founder? We might never know, but if authorities have found anything inside of Wright’s home that links him to Bitcoin’s beginnings, we may just have a face to place alongside the strangest currency that ever was.