Early bird prices are coming to an end soon... ⏰ Grab your tickets before January 17

This article was published on April 3, 2018

Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin calls ‘Bitcoin creator’ Craig Wright a fraud


Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin calls ‘Bitcoin creator’ Craig Wright a fraud

The long-standing dispute between Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin and self-proclaimed “Bitcoin creator” Craig Wright is far from over.

Earlier today, Buterin took to Twitter to share some of his thoughts on the “Bitcoin, Controversy over Principle” presentation at Deconomy conference. The segment in question featured talks from Bitcoin.com CEO Roger Ver and Wright himself.

Among other things, Buterin touched upon some common misconceptions about the overlaps between the history of cryptocurrencies and fiat currencies, as well as the philosophy behind decentralized currencies.

The 💜 of EU tech

The latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol' founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It's free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!

Here are a couple of more interesting tweets from Buterin:

But that was not all. Moments after Buterin finished tweeting, attendees uploaded footage showing the young entrepreneur addressing some of the erroneous claims made by Wright in a post-presentation Q&A session.

This is when the Ethereum founder drops the ball. “Given that [Wright] makes so many non-sequiturs at this stage,” Buterin begins, “why is this fraud allowed to speak at this conference?” The confrontational remark was loudly applauded by numerous members of the audience.

Those interested can see the full video below:

Following the altercation at the stage of Deconomy, Wright has since downplayed some of the statements made by Buterin on Twitter.

Here is what he had to say:

For the record, this is hardly the first time Buterin and Wright have crossed swords.

The Ethereum founder has long expressed skepticism about Wright’s claims of being the person behind the mysterious moniker Satoshi Nakamoto. Indeed, a few months back Buterin once again asked Wright to cut the lies and drop the claims he created Bitcoin.

Wright was recently hit with a lawsuit alleging the self-proclaimed Nakamoto swindled $5 billion worth of Bitcoin from his former business partner Dave Kleiman.

Get the TNW newsletter

Get the most important tech news in your inbox each week.

Also tagged with