Bitcoin startup founders and investors are eager to put the mystery of its creator to rest. Bitcoin has survived the collapse of one of its largest exchanges, public associations with the seedy underbelly of Silk Road and severe price fluctuations that would make the most seasoned Wall Street trader’s head explode.
Now some of Bitcoin business leaders and investors believe it is on the cusp of surviving another difficult obstacle as old as the digital currency itself: The strange mystery of the man who made it.
On Monday morning, an Australian businessman named Craig Wright claimed to be Satoshi Nakamoto, the secretive individual credited with creating Bitcoin in 2008 before going dark for years as the currency grew in prominence and value.
Within hours of Wright’s surprise announcement, members of the media and various bitcoin loyalists raised doubts about the claim. But Bitcoin startup founders held out hope it would lay the question to rest once and for all — or at the very least remind us that the answer doesn’t even matter at this point.
"For many people, the fact that the creation was shrouded in mystery made them not trust the technology, and with something that deals with value, I think that is a real issue," said Jeremy Allaire, founder and CEO of Circle, a startup that has raised $76 million to bring bitcoin payments to the mainstream.
The first years of Bitcoin’s existence saw questionable entrepreneurs bootstrap questionable businesses with questionable security. They hoped to capitalize early on this new currency kickstarted by the mysterious Satoshi, intended to revolutionize banking but instead often used for illicit purposes like buying drugs.
After the price of bitcoin soared in early 2013, more established investors and founders like Allaire began entering the market with the goal of creating a truly legitimate form of payment for […]
