WikiLeaks Takes to Twitter, Labeling Craig Wright a ‘Serial Fabricator’
February 14, 2019 by Paul de Havilland
WikiLeaks has taken to Twitter to label Craig Wright a “serial fabricator”. Dr. Wright has responded, in an escalating Twitter feud, with a brazen attack against the whistleblowing organization.
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Craig Wright Delivers the First Blow
WikiLeaks’ attack on Craig Wright was prompted by the self-proclaimed inventor of bitcoin taking aim at the organization in his recent “I was Satoshi” blog post on Medium:
“I do not like Wikileaks, and I have never been a fan of Assange’s methods. More importantly, I am strongly opposed to criminal markets and bucket shops. Ross Ulbricht and others like him are criminals. They are not freedom fighters, they are not libertarians. They simply are predators, and they are all that Bitcoin was designed to make far more difficult.”
Dr. Wright’s attacks appear to be part of a narrative he is driving about the purity of bitcoin and his intention for it to operate within the law, rather than as a revolt against the establishment and aider and abettor of criminals:
“Any blockchain is able to be controlled and made to work within the legal frameworks of where it exists. It does not stop government taxing, and it does not bring down banks. It was never designed for such a purpose.”
Which implies he invented bitcoin, people think he did so (at all) and did so to allow people to break laws, and that WikiLeaks broke laws. None of these claims have been proven.
WikiLeaks Strikes Back
But WikiLeaks didn’t take too kindly to Wright’s attacks and has taken to Twitter to return fire.
Craig S. Wright is a proven serial forger of documents claiming that he is the inventor of Bitcoin. He has been repeatedly caught. This has been independently verified by WikiLeaks at the time of his first claim and subsequently. https://t.co/87wu2Eg7WB pic.twitter.com/v4nG018JQF
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) February 12, 2019
The link they cite accuses Wright of altering 2008 documents in 2014-2015 to make it appear he was working on bitcoin in 2008. If Wright had been working on a cryptocurrency in 2008, that would support his widely disputed claims of being Satoshi. If he altered 2008 posts, that would be circumstantial evidence that perhaps he isn’t. Or wasn’t, in honor of the Doctor’s apparent new parlance.
Wright, who has spent the past several months shedding friends and allies in the space, struck back on Twitter, saying that the organization, a “Fake and fabricated news site that I wanted not to have anything to do with Bitcoin” — WikiLeaks — “…makes up more lies. Sorry, this is again, more fake news from Wiki – the lie factory that lies on how it promotes truth.”
And in a bitter outburst of Nouriel Roubini proportions, he labeled WikiLeaks “a fake news cesspool”.
Dr. Craig Wright either has a credibility or a PR problem. Some would say both. It seems to me that Satoshi Nakamoto is of a milder temperament and also has a strong financial and personal security incentive to remain anonymous.
Have your say. Is this latest scrap yet another distraction from more important developments in the blockchain arena?
Images via Pixabay
