The net worth of Craig Wright is estimated to be around $22 billion. The Australian programmer made a noticeable portion of his wealth due to his early Bitcoin mining effort. Meanwhile, Wright is widely regarded as a controversial figure in the crypto community.
In recent years, Wright’s claim about being Satoshi Nakamoto caused a quarrel between himself and prominent figures in the crypto landscape. Away from his controversies, he is a renowned scholar with various degrees and qualifications. However, his endeavors in academia contribute just a little to the net worth of Craig Wright.
Craig Wright’s Net Worth
| Year | Net Worth |
|---|---|
| 2023 | $22 billion |
Early Life
Craig Steven Wright was born on October 1970 in Brisbane, Australia. He attended Padua College in Brisbane around 1987 and graduated a few years after. Wright is an astute scholar with robust experience and qualifications across academia. He claimed to have about thirty degrees and certificates from renowned institutions across the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia.
Tomorrow, I graduate from Brunel, University of London with an MA (Education).
Next year, if everything goes to plan I should have my 30th degree. Otherwise 2024.
On top of that, I have two trade certificates. My motor Mechanic trade certificate took as much work as a Masters
— Dr Craig S Wright (@Dr_CSWright) December 14, 2022
Wright has a Master’s degree in quantitative finance from the University of London-SOAS. He also studied law at the University of Northumbria, statistics at the University of Newcastle, and information security systems, network, and systems administration at Charles Sturt University. His academic journey extended to IT management, IS engineering, and political science.
In a revelation, Wright claims to have received a doctorate in business administration from Grand Canyon University. He also revealed that he had a Ph.D. from Charles Sturt University and a theology doctorate from United Theological College.
Driven by his broad academic exposure, Wright has authored various books. His glittering career as a scholar and author earned him a place among the trustees of the Uniting Church in New South Wales. He is also a lecturer of computer science at Charles Sturt University.
I have a DTH (Doctor in Theology) from United Theological College.
And, though I have read Augustine and Aquinas cover to cover, I am still a long way from true understanding.
— Dr Craig S Wright (@Dr_CSWright) December 11, 2022
Outside academia, the tech expert worked as an information technology expert for numerous companies. These organizations include OzEmail, K-Mart, and the Australian Securities Exchange. Similarly, Wright trained the Australian government and some corporate departments in SCADA security, cyber warfare, and defense.
It is worth mentioning that he once served as a security consultant for Mahindra & Mahindra. During an interview, the software engineer revealed that he designed the architecture for the world’s first online casino, Lasseter’s Online. According to his revelation, the casino went online in 1999. Then, he was the information systems manager for an accounting firm, BDO Kendalls.
Wright also served as the CEO of Hotwire Preemptive Intelligence Group, a technology firm. Through the organization, the Australian programmer intended to launch Denariuz Bank. His intent at that time was to make the project the world’s first Bitcoin-based bank. However, the project failed to come alive after encountering regulatory difficulties with the Australian Tax Office.
Despite the setback, Wright refused to step down his focus on the crypto industry. Later, he founded a crypto company known as DeMorgan Ltd. According to the tech expert, the company received $35 million in tax incentives via AusIndustry.
Is Craig Wright Satoshi Nakamoto?
A section of the Bitcoin community still holds the reservation that Craig Wright is Satoshi Nakamoto. Pointers about the possibility of Wright being Satoshi surfaced after Wired magazine and tech news site Gizmodo published some articles suggesting that he invented Bitcoin. Wright also fueled this claim by claiming to be Satoshi on his website. However, the Wired magazine rooted its submission on several proofs like cached documents, deleted blog posts on Wright’s site, and emails passed onto the editors from some of his associates. In its report, Wired magazine disclosed how the Australian cryptographer used the same email address as Nakamoto for correspondence.
Similarly, Gizmodo also publicized emails from Wright which he used to lobby for the regulatory approval of Bitcoin by politicians and government agencies. Another piece of evidence pointing to his possibility of being Satoshi is a blog post by Wright on January 9, 2009. In the blog post, the expert announced that the beta version of Bitcoin would go live the following day. Though, the blog post no longer exists.
Besides, during a conversation with his tax lawyers, Wright revealed that he has been running Bitcoin since 2009. There are claims that the renowned scholar, through his company, Tulip Trading, is controlling the 1.1 million BTC belonging to Nakamoto. In its publication, Wired Magazine disclosed that the Bitcoins cannot be transferred until 2020 due to a trust fund PDF signed by the late Dave Kleiman.
However, in 2016, the Chief Scientist of the Bitcoin Foundation, Gavin Andresen, met the Australian cryptographer in a hotel in London. The meeting manifested in a bid to confirm whether Wright was truly Satoshi Nakamoto. In the meeting, Wright signed a message, “Gavin’s favorite number is eleven,” with his initials and a private key from one of the first 50 bitcoin blocks. After meeting the Australian, Gavin Andresen declared support for Wright, admitting that he’s the founder of Bitcoin. Later, indications surfaced that Wright misled Andresen. The issue resulted in a feud between Wright and Andresen.
Meanwhile, cryptographers have continued to urge Wright to complete two tasks for them to believe that, indeed, he is truly Satoshi Nakamoto. First, they want him to conduct a Bitcoin transaction using Nakamoto’s private key. Also, the cryptographers asked him to cryptographically “sign” a message using the same set of keys. Wright is yet to complete any of these tasks, thereby leaving the Bitcoin community divided over his acclaimed connection to Nakamoto.
After he desperately met Andresen to support his Satoshi claims, Wright posted a message on Bitcoin’s public blockchain. The message contained texts from French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre. However, the document was incomplete and signed with a private key that was supposed to extract the full version. Later, another cryptographer, Dan Kaminsky, realized that Wright’s key extracted transaction data from 2009. This key contained Satoshi’s publicly-available signature. Despite claiming to have strong evidence to establish that he’s Satoshi Nakamoto, Wright has failed to reveal the proof. Instead, he claimed to lack the courage to prove that he was the real founder of Bitcoin.
In 2019, Wright made a solid claim to the creation of Bitcoin. During an interview, he said that the creation of Bitcoin was a collective effort. He stated that he drove the project alongside Dave Kleiman and Hal Finney. Also, Wright said he registered the U.S. copyright in the Bitcoin whitepaper and the code for Bitcoin 0.1. Then his camp said Wright secured “the first government agency recognition as Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of Bitcoin.” In response, the United States Copyright Office said, “The Copyright Office does not investigate whether there is a provable connection between the claimant and the pseudonymous author.”
Meanwhile, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao is one of the prominent critics of Wright. The Binance boss, on various occasions, debunked claims relating to Wright as the founder of Bitcoin. Vitalik Buterin is also another prominent critic of the Australian cryptographer. Other critics include Roger Ver, Peter McCormack, and Marcuc Granath.
Lastly, anyone who supports BSV from a tech perspective should be attacking the fraudulent Craig Wright, who is poisoning YOUR community, and not attack the rest of the world.
Anyone thinking CW is Satoshi should read about how a private key works, ie, learn about crypto.
— CZ 🔶 BNB (@cz_binance) April 15, 2019
As the crypto community looks divided over Wright’s connection to Satoshi Nakatomo, one thing remains evident. That’s his early adoption of BTC. His connection to the project dates back to 2009, which makes him one of the earliest investors in the project. He managed to acquire about 1.1 million BTC for himself. The voluminous amount of Bitcoin is a contributing factor to the noticeable net worth of Craig Wright.
Controversies and Lawsuits
In 2004, the Supreme Court of New South Wales convicted the Australian cryptographer of contempt of court. Due to that, he was sentenced to 28 days in jail. Wright was said to have breached an injunction that deterred him from approaching customers of DeMorgan Information Security Systems, a company he left in 2003. However, the sentence was relaxed to 250 hours of community service. Later, he appealed the ruling, but it was upheld in 2005. In 2006, he appealed again at the High Court of Australia, and still lost.
Also, Craig Wright became the subject of another controversy in 2018. Then, the family of Dave Kleiman filed a lawsuit against Wright in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida over the right to 1.1 million Bitcoins. According to the lawsuit, Wright stole the Bitcoins that he mined alongside Kleiman between 2009 to 2016.
A ruling by Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart provided some insights into the early Bitcoin holdings of Wright. The judge ruled a motion compelling the programmer to list his early Bitcoins holdings. Reinhart also announced that Kleiman owned half of the listed Bitcoin holdings. Consequently, the Australian cryptographer was ordered to pay the money spent by Kleiman’s family to initiate the lawsuit. However, Reinhart said the court was not in the position to decide if Wright is the Bitcoin founder.
In 2021, a jury found Wright liable for conversion. The jury awarded $100 million in damages against him. The jury referred to the money as the fair share of what Dave mined. Nevertheless, this ruling was a big win for Wright as it gave him the legal backing to retain over 1 million Bitcoins.
Meanwhile, as part of his efforts to establish himself as Satoshi Nakamoto, Wright launched various lawsuits against those who accused him of lying about his identity. He leveraged the English libel law to file lawsuits against his targets. Some of his targets include Vitalik Buterin, Peter McCormack, Marcuc Granath, popularly known as Hodlonaut, and Roger Ver.
In his case against McCormack, the presiding judge awarded £1 to him after ruling that the alleged defamation resulted in nominal damages. Eventually, he dropped the charges against the Ethereum co-founder by letting the lawsuit expire. Nevertheless, all his lawsuits against his targets ended in futility. Then, Changpeng Zhao labeled him as a fraud.
Master piece! You have my full support, Peter.
To be clear, I don't choose sides on technology. We let market do that. I am against fraud, such as lying to be someone. As such, it is my strong opinion that:
Craig Wright is fraud. https://t.co/f9ihSD6Pr3
— CZ 🔶 BNB (@cz_binance) April 15, 2019
In 2021, Wright recorded a landmark victory in his legal tussle for recognition as the founder of Bitcoin. Then, a court ruled that Bitcoin.org indulged in copyright infringement by hosting the white paper of Bitcoin on its site. Wright was awarded $48,600 for his expenses as Bitcoin.og failed to defend itself against the allegation.
Wright obtained permission to serve notice of the lawsuit to the owner of Bitcoin.org, outside of the United Kingdom’s jurisdiction by email. The operator of Bitcoin.org was provided with 22 days to respond. Consequently, Bitcoin.org blocked the download of Bitcoin software in the United Kingdom.
I don't think you could get a better advertisement of *why* Bitcoin is necessary than what happened today.
Rules enforced through cryptography are far more superior than rules based on whoever can spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in court.
— Cøbra (@CobraBitcoin) June 28, 2021
Later, Wright filed a lawsuit against Kraken and Coinbase. In the lawsuit, he argued that he reserved the right to the name “Bitcoin,” accusing Kraken and Coinbase of committing trademark infringements by using the name Bitcoin for assets like BTC and Bitcoin Cash (BCH).
In July 2023, James Mellor, a presiding judge at the England and Wales High Court, ruled that Craig Wright must pay $516,000 in legal costs to pursue claims against the crypto exchanges. However, the judge expressed doubt about the capability of Wright to foot the expenses of the legal tussle. Mellor cited the irregular disclosure of Wright about his finances.
Wright filed an appeal and won. The appeal gave him the right to argue in litigation that the Bitcoin file format qualifies for copyright protection. In a preliminary judgment, the judge also asked Wright to deposit $323,900 and $193,000 for the legal costs of Coinbase and Kraken.
Is Craig Wright Pro Crypto?
Craig Wright’s rise to fame in the crypto industry is not unconnected to his claim to being the anonymous Bitcoin investor. Since he declared himself as the great “Satoshi Nakamoto,” Wright has been opposing the common identification of Bitcoin as crypto. His view is that crypto is anonymous, untraceable, but Bitcoin is not.
Recently, he shared a memo from Nakamoto who he claimed to be him so as to fully explain the “original” purpose of Bitcoin creation and stop the widespread narrative that the project is crypto. According to Wright, Bitcoin unlike crypto is digital cash because it is traceable and pseudonymous.
The bitcoin protocol was set in stone to create a system that is stable. Bitcoin is not a Cryptocurrency. By definition, Cryptocurrencies are anonymous and untraceable. Bitcoin is pseudonymous and traceable, it is digital cash.
Don't believe everything you see at first sight. pic.twitter.com/vPt4a0fEEx
— Dr Craig S Wright (@Dr_CSWright) May 30, 2023
Notably, Wright’s intention has always been to protect the integrity and vision of Bitcoin as the purported inventor. This explains why most of his academic papers, articles, books, and blog posts have been geared towards emphasizing the real use case of Bitcoin and distinguishing it from crypto. He believes the numerous unauthorized modifications to the project undermine its original purpose.
According to the purported Bitcoin creator; “Bitcoin is a peer-to-peer system for cash payments without needing a third party. Quite the contrary, it will not replace the banks, as many quickly assume.” He added that “Bitcoin was designed to make these types of “casual” transactions feasible and cost-effective by eliminating the need for a trusted third party (like a bank or payment processor), thus lowering transaction costs.”
Bitcoin was designed to make these types of "casual" transactions feasible and cost-effective by eliminating the need for a trusted third party (like a bank or payment processor), thus lowering transaction costs.
— Dr Craig S Wright (@Dr_CSWright) July 19, 2023
In 2019, Wright published an article titled “The Wheel of Time is Not on an Axis” where he broadly analyzed the major focus of the Bitcoin protocol. According to him, the “original” Bitcoin project was not developed in a way that prevents law enforcement from tracking and freezing the proceeds of crime. He insisted that the asset is a tool for fighting financial crime because its design brings honesty to systems.
“It was never the goal of Bitcoin. Bitcoin does help organizations and companies maintain their records. It helps them maintain compliance with the law. You see, Bitcoin helps corporations. Bitcoin had been developed and designed before Occupy and the associated idiocy started protesting against banks and companies, and was never intended to attack banks or corporations. Bitcoin does bring honesty to such systems,” Wright submitted.
Recently, he responded to a post on Twitter that described Bitcoin as a currency. In the post, the user, “Lord Patriarch” acknowledged how the asset’s volatility questions its status as a currency.
Interesting Dr. With Bitcoin's volatility, aren't we all inadvertent speculators? Seems our 'casual' buys today could be 'treasure' tomorrow. Doesn't this challenge Bitcoin as a currency?"
— Lord_Patriarch_phantome (@Lord_Patriarch) July 19, 2023
In his response, Wright said there was no place where Bitcoin was identified as a currency in its white paper. He claims the asset is rather a system for small casual payments.
Nowhere in the white paper is Bitcoin called currency.
It is a system for small casual payments. Try reading.
Cash is not currency. Stop bs'ing.
— Dr Craig S Wright (@Dr_CSWright) July 20, 2023
As part of his efforts to reorientate and change people’s purported misrepresentation of the functionality of Bitcoin, Wright started a series of master classes. In a 2023 interview with Charles Miller, he reflected on his goal with the initiative. Wright decried that many people have, in recent years, misrepresented how Bitcoin and its underlying tech, blockchain work.
Meanwhile, some of those he has targeted for the classes are entrepreneurs, developers, investors, and others who have one thing or the other to do with Bitcoin. Through the classes, the acclaimed “Satoshi Nakamoto” aims to cover several topics on Bitcoin to enable subscribers to have a deep understanding of the functionality of the tech.
It is worth establishing that Wright is nurturing a new Bitcoin technology (BSV Blockchain) that will reflect its original design. His claim is that BTC is different from the original Bitcoin and that the former deviated from the latter in 2017.
“At the end of the day, what matters is what I do next—not what I have done before. When Don Quixote was written, it was written pseudonymously. There was a fake version of it; a sequel came out. Cervantes (the author) came out and wrote a sequel himself, saying: well, it is me! The way he proved it was writing another one, so people went: this is even better than your first one! Then they accepted that he was the author of both,” Wright said.
In a recent podcast show, the controversial programmer slammed Michael Saylor and other well-known Bitcoin investors whom he claimed loaded their wallets with fake BTCs. He also called out Binance for promoting money laundering.
Recall that the leading exchange is currently battling numerous lawsuits from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission and Securities and Exchange Commission over this allegation. Wright said he did an experiment by registering tens of thousands of accounts with the exchange and discovered that each has a withdrawal limit of 2 BTC, even with the absence of full KYC (Know Your Customer).
Crypto and NFT Holdings of Craig Wright
According to our findings, the net worth of Craig Wright is dominated by his crypto holdings. He reportedly owns over one million BTCs, worth about $29 billion as of July 2023. Recall that in 2021, the acclaimed Bitcoin inventor was cleared of all allegations brought by the family of Mr Kleiman. During the trial, crypto experts testified that Wright owns the said Bitcoins. Eventually, the verdict issued by the jury gave him the legal right to retain the asset. Wright believes the ruling affirms his claim of being the creator of Bitcoin.
Meanwhile, we cannot confirm if Wright owns NFTs. But, in recent years, he has written several academic papers and articles on the potential of NFT tech and how it can be fully harnessed.
Crypto and NFT Projects Featuring Craig Wright
Despite the controversies that have continued to trail the activities of Craig Wright in the industry, he has been featured in several NFT collections. One of the collections, “Vision” was unveiled in 2022 by a seasoned artist, Mayson Heald. The NFT features the portrait drawing of Wright. It is currently live on FabriikX, a new NFT marketplace on the BSV blockchain.
According to Heald, she got the inspiration for the collection from Mayson after observing Wright’s appearance at the 2020 London CoinGeek Conference.
“I wanted to capture the drawing of Dr. Wright, an important historical figure with a relaxed, informal presence as he was listening to fellow Conference attendees discuss topics of the day. This NFT collection brings a classical background into the digital world. I have taken my drawing of Dr. Wright and extended it into an experimental series, using basic digital tools, to combine traditional and abstract expression together,” she said.
Also, there is another NFT collection featuring Wright on SolSea. This collection features a cartoonish drawing of the Bitcoin developer and sells for 33 SOL.
If Craig Wright is Satoshi Nakamoto as claimed by him, then it is safe to assert that he has been featured on Wall Street Memes. This is because the social media project has, in recent years, featured the anonymous Bitcoin inventor due to controversies surrounding his real identity. It is worth establishing that Wall Street Memes prides itself as the project to beat, courtesy of its mind-boggling memes.
Through these memes, its team has been able to provide crypto investors with a light-hearted and enjoyable experience, drive innovations, and as well sustain a vast social media army. Some of its daily memes on Instagram and Twitter usually feature revered personalities like Jeff Bezos, Jim Cramer, Changpeng Zhao, and more.
Notably, the recent successes attained by Wall Street Memes have demonstrated the huge capacity of its community. On numerous occasions, popular billionaire, Elon Musk interacted with the project on Twitter, thereby igniting its comparison with Dogecoin. Recall that Musk is a major supporter of Doge. His support for this meme coin has been instrumental to its market success. So, it is not surprising that he is beginning to pick up interest in Wall Street Memes too.
🤣
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 22, 2023
Also, the outstanding expertise and experience of the project’s team have also been instrumental to its growing popularity. The team has a proven record of success after its historic outing in the NFT market around 2021. Then, it netted $2.4 million from the sale of its attractive Wall Street Bulls collection on OpenSea. One of the strengths of this team dwells in its ability to be in tune with trends in the market. This explains why it has been able to sustain great community engagement on social media.
Meanwhile, the presale of its $WSM coin is still ongoing and has already secured over $18 million in investment. Remarkably, Musk’s support for the project has continued to open the eyes of investors to its potential. Also, the activities of crypto influencers and members of its community have also contributed to this feat. Recently, Satoshi Stacker and Micheal Wrubel, with over 600,000 subscribers combined, promoted the ongoing presale on their YouTube channels.
In a recent video to his subscribers, Wrubel analyzed how $WSM might be the next cryptocurrency to bring tremendous returns to its early investors. He confirmed his participation in the presale and encouraged them to do the same.
Also, Satoshi Stacker said he finds potential in the meme coin.
All these efforts have helped solidify investors’ belief and interest in the meme coin despite the downturn in the market. Therefore, the presale is currently witnessing a massive rise in participation, thereby making it on our list of influential crypto presales in the industry. Driven by this momentum, it is believed that the presale will soon attain $40 million in investment. You should be considering joining the list of early investors in the meme coin now before it rises in price. To join, visit wallstmemes.com.
Craig Wright’s Net Worth – Our Verdict
Craig Wright earned his eleven figures net worth due to his Bitcoin holdings. He was able to retain about 1.1 million Bitcoins after winning a lawsuit filed by Kleiman’s family. If the case had gone the other way, Wright would have lost a huge portion of his net worth. So, we can affirm that the self-acclaimed Bitcoin inventor is a billionaire today because the outcome of the lawsuit went in his favor.
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FAQs
Why did Craig Wright meet Gavin Andresen in 2016?
Craig Wright met Gavin Andresen in 2016 to prove his identity as Satoshi Nakamoto.
What's the 2023 net worth of Craig Wright?
The 2023 net worth of Craig Wright is estimated to be around $22 billion.
Is Craig Wright an academic scholar?
Craig Wright is an astute scholar with robust experience and qualifications. He claimed to have about thirty degrees and certificates from renowned institutions across the globe.
