Self-proclaimed Bitcoin creator Craig Wright has appeared to confirm he is not Satoshi Nakamoto.
Wright, who has vehemently defended himself against criticism to maintain he is the elusive personality, failed to recognize his own name on a list of Bitcoin ‘influential people.’
The debacle played out on Twitter late last week as CoinDesk called for participants in a survey of Blockchain industry figures.
Civic CEO Vinny Lingham’s forecast the survey could be “controversial” came true sooner than expected. While Satoshi Nakamoto was present on the list, Wright himself was not, leading him nonetheless to publicly ask why his ‘real’ name was absent.
CoinDesk responded that he was mentioned - as Satoshi Nakamoto.
“Haha,” Wright replied, “funny.”
While of a semi-serious nature, the episode appeared to confirm what many had assumed was the case since Wright appeared on the scene - that he is not Nakamoto, and his statements to the contrary were lies.
“It's not really a smoking gun, but it's a nice 'gotcha bitch!' to poke fun at his ridiculous claim,” a Reddit commentary on the situation reads.
Wright himself had described CoinDesk as being “anti-me” in a tone markedly different from his at times overly intense rhetoric about his both identity and the motives of other figures and participants in the Bitcoin ecosystem.
Last month, Wright openly agreed with the words of a New York banker who said there was “no reason” to hold Bitcoin long term “in and of itself.”