In his latest blog post, Craig Wright claimed that he (as Satoshi Nakamoto) never wanted WikiLeaks to use Bitcoin. On March 31st he wrote:
“I’m not the anarchist they want, nor have I ever been anything like one. You see, I didn’t want WikiLeaks to use Bitcoin because I didn’t like what they stood for.”
However, publicly available web links from July 2011 suggest this was not the case. In the wake of PayPal’s decision to freeze the accounts of the non-profit WikiLeaks in 2010, Wright told commenters on his article in The Conversation that it was the foundation’s own fault for not using Bitcoin as a donation method. Wright wrote in the comments section:
“If you want to look at anything to blame, look to WL’s stupidity in selecting PayPal as a provider over BitCoin and others like them when PayPal is known to shy away from controversy.”
The posts from 2011 lack the same targeted criticism of WikiLeaks that characterize Wright’s current blog. Wright’s article defends PayPal against the prospect of a cyber-attack from Anonymous and LulzSec, but only because he thought it was WikiLeaks’ own fault for not using Bitcoin. He claimed:
“Basically, I know of over 50 alternatives to PayPal. Some are close to PayPal in size and we also have to remember that WikiLeaks was the site that selected PayPal and not one of the alternatives. WL could have selected BitCoin, but it did not.”
Craig Wright loves the law
Recently, Wright said that the law is coming for Bitcoin, and that anyone who wishes to use it anonymously will be punished in the end. That’s a long way from his recommendation that WikiLeaks use the currency precisely to maintain their anonymity. Wright stated in 2011:
“Bit Coin (Bit Coin) is a digital currency. Bit Coin offers a full peer-to-peer currency solution. P2P transfer of funds is available using methods that can even be untraceable. They’re a ways (sic) using this technology to transfer funds that cannot be intercepted or stopped.”
Craig Wright remains embroiled in a potential multi-billion dollar lawsuit with the family of former computer forensics expert, Dave Kleiman. The ongoing trial in Florida has been held up numerous times, partly by Wright’s inability to provide straightforward answers to the court.
