Whenever Bitcoin SV is discussed, the conversation very often gets steered towards Dr. Craig Wright, and if he really is Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto. Naysayers will often point out that if Wright was Satoshi, he could prove it with the private key for the genesis block.
In a March 13 post, titled Proof, Craig Wright responds to this theory. The essence of the article is fairly simple, and Wright returns to it often: code-is-law is bunk.
Wright establishes that in any court of law, there is no clear black and white. Judges and juries have to weigh all the evidence and come to a decision based on the preponderance of evidence. Using the fable of Othello as an example of a man who provided proof, Wright notes:
“Othello had given proof of his valour through action and deed. A signature issued through a digital file is at best a conditional or presumptive proof, that is, a fact that amounts to proof where no other fact amounts to disproof.”
As Wright notes, regardless of what proof is provided, the commons will make their judgement based on the entire story told, and not a single proof. Wright has provided some of that evidence, giving us his background, some of his degrees, and stories of the early days of Bitcoin, but he is still doubted for not providing the single piece of digital proof they demand.
Why hasn’t he though? As Wright explains, even that one private key is not proof of anything. He says:
“Computers are not secure, and the average person will never get to the point where everything they do can be secured… In a world where everything is digital and by those who seek the dystopia arising through code is law, we would see people wrongfully not only accused but framed.”
Ultimately, Wright’s right to privacy outweighs the public’s need for proof. He notes that what proof he’s given was under duress, and even then he was attacked for providing anything. He doesn’t owe the world any answers.
If you follow the man on Twitter, you know he often shows how little he cares of what the world thinks. This lays in his conviction that Bitcoin, now reborn as Bitcoin SV, will ultimately show the world what’s really true. He wraps up the article with this telling passage:
“Some fail to see the change that is happening. It’s slow, and it will take decades, yet it’s going to occur. The promise of blockchain, Bitcoin, lies in the truth. Not the subverted version that they sell. Not sidechains and Lightning and methodologies that allow people to create many sets of books and ledgers, but one truth, one source of immutable evidence.
“What you are going to see in the next decade is the creation of thousands of pieces of intellectual property. Software and code and more patents than many countries own. Such is my legacy. Not caring what you think or even allowing you to understand me fully but creation as its own reward.”
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