The post originally appeared on the Unbounded Capital newsletter and we republished with permission from its author, Dave Mullen-Muhr.
Late last week, Dr. Craig Wright sat down with Cointelegraph for an interview. Cointelegraph has historically been dismissive of his Satoshi claim but appears to be subtly pivoting as of late. The interview is interesting in its entirety but we have summarized select sections below with time-stamped links.
Craig clarifies that he doesn’t have the private keys to the Satoshi Bitcoin because it is a “staged process” where the trust holds them and he is not a trustee. He says that he did this for “asset protection reasons” with the aid of “lawyers and other wealth protection/asset specialists.” He says that he is not a trustee in order to remove the possibility of asset seizure from the Australian Tax Office (ATO) or other people seeking his assets.
He says that the money was always intended to be used in building the bitcoin ecosystem and puts a “99.9999 and a few more 9s percent” certainty that he will gain access to his “BTC and whatever else.” He also cites other proof of his assets like a “binding private ruling” with the ATO in the early days of bitcoin through which he “paid $3.2 million of tax” on the then relatively worthless bitcoin.
Winning and Andrew Carnegie
“I win. I win or I die trying.”
Craig talks about his admiration for the self-made steel tycoon, fellow Wesleyan, and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie who “has much of the same philosophy as I do. I’ve followed what he believes. And…his idea of how you ensure you get to be where you are is you put yourself (in a position) so that you can’t fail…You basically sit there and you create a scenario where it’s going to be nothing but you’re winning. You don’t give yourself an out….You win. Then end.”
Expectations for the future of Bitcoin
Craig describes Bitcoin as “plumbing” that enables killer apps like micropayments. He explains how this can solve problems we now face with the tech giant scheme that relies on sales of private data and advertising.
He also describes the benefits of a permanent digital audit trail that enables online privacy but not anonymity. He sees this as a powerful tool for “tracing corruption” without relying on overwrought and broad metadata collection that we have now which does away with online privacy.
What sets Craig Wright apart from others working on blockchain
Craig simply answers, “I work.”
Regardless of what other “thought leaders” and “influencers” are doing, Craig discusses his time spent on published research and patent filing. “I’ve got 1540 whitepapers now from nChain. When everything goes through and the updates happen this month I should hopefully hit 1000 patents filed.” He also talks about his time management which enables him to fulfill his academic and professional commitments, thanking his wife and family for understanding his “workaholic” nature.
‘The original Bitcoin’ and the confusion of ticker symbols
Craig explains part of the confusion surrounding the name “bitcoin” and which ticker symbol deserves the identity of bitcoin. He also touches on how changes to the protocol without reflection in the ticker symbol avoids “demutualization and dematerialization law the way it is in securities” and how this may legally affect cryptocurrency exchanges.
How BSV can beat BTC
“We’re already doing it. The end.”
Craig discourages people to rely on past or future speculation to dictate the bitcoin winner. BSV’s technical metrics and the utility it will provide will enable it to win in the long run. He goes on to explain the meaning of decentralization as it relates to computer science rather than political theory.
New to blockchain? Check out CoinGeek’s Blockchain for Beginners section, the ultimate resource guide to learn more about blockchain technology.
