--- title: "Guy Claims He Invented Bitcoin But Then “Stomped on the Hard Drive” Containing Proof" description: "The Australian programmer who claims to be the creator of Bitcoin has a super believable excuse for why he can't prove it." date: "2022-09-17" modified: "2022-09-17" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/bitcoin-creator-hard-drive-proof" categories: - "Bitcoin" - "Blockchain" - "Cryptocurrency" - "Future Society" tags: - "bitcoin" - "craig wright" - "crypto" - "cryptocurrency" - "satoshi nakamoto" - "the blockchain" --- # Guy Claims He Invented Bitcoin But Then “Stomped on the Hard Drive” Containing Proof ![The Australian programmer who claims to be the creator of Bitcoin has a super believable excuse for why he can't prove it.]() *\Image: Getty Images/Futurism\* The Australian programmer who claims to be the creator of Bitcoin has a super believable excuse for why he can't prove it. During the raucous proceedings of a defamation trial in Norway, computer scientist Craig Wright claimed that he "stomped on the hard drive" that contained the "key slices" to prove he's the pseudonymous Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakomoto, [as *Coindesk* relays](). As the crypto blog notes, Wright admitted during the proceedings earlier this week — one of two simultaneous defamation cases the infamous Australian programmer is involved in against a previously-unknown Twitter user who called him a "scammer" — that it would be "incredibly difficult" to substantiate his claims of creating Bitcoin without the keys he claimed to have destroyed. "I didn’t want to encourage the arguments that you need keys," Wright told an attorney for [Norwegian plaintiff Magnus Granath](), who is better known by his Twitter handle, Hodlnaut. "Yes, you could say this is a risk, but I think it’s the most important thing I’ve done in my life." While the case is spiritually centered around Wright's longtime — and likely dubious — claim that he's the creator of Bitcoin, the specifics are somehow much messier. The Norwegian case is something of a countersuit to another case Wright and Hodlnaut are engaged in over [in the United Kingdom](), with the Norwegian Twitter user being the plaintiff in his home country and the defendant in the UK. In essence, Wright is suing Granath for talking so much smack about him online that it allegedly resulted in death threats. Per Hodlnaut's recounting, however, it was the self-professed Bitcoin creator who began the dogpiling, and who led to his doxxing to boot. Along with the dueling defamation trials, Wright has also seen other legal trouble in his six-year-long quest to prove he's Nakomoto the hard way, including a [Florida-based case last year]() in which the family of the late David Kleiman, another man who claimed to co-create Bitcoin with the Australian programmer, insisted he prove it so that they could access the creator's sizable crypto stash. Though Kleiman's family lost that suit, his father has [re-filed via the US Court of Appeals](). Given that Wright has now had six years to prove that he's Nakamoto since he first began making the claims in 2016, it seems unlikely that he's going to do so in either the Norwegian or UK-based cases — but we will nonetheless be watching this case, as well as the appealed Florida one, to see if he surprises us after all. **READ MORE:** [Craig Wright Tells Court He ‘Stomped on the Hard Drive’ Containing Satoshi Wallet Keys]() \[*Coindesk*\] **More Satoshi claims:** *[Elon Musk Shares Galaxy-Brain Theory About Bitcoin Creator]()* ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()