如果你打算畫一份關于經濟和技術的維恩圖解，比特幣是這兩個領域交集的最佳代表。在一些人看來，這種“加密貨幣”可能是貨幣的未來；而在另一些人眼里，它是欺詐師、陰謀論者和瘋子的滋生地。不幸的是，本文認為后者的描述似乎更加精確。

比特幣的創造者是一個名為中本聰的神秘男子。自2008年這種貨幣誕生以來，他的身份一直是個謎團。2014年，《新聞周刊》（Newsweek）發表了一篇引人注目的封面故事，聲稱揭開了這位比特幣創造者的真實身份。但是這篇文章的主角對此矢口否認，比特幣專家也對文章表示了懷疑。

一位名叫克雷格?賴特的澳大利亞人在上周稱，自己就是比特幣的創造者，并表示他能夠提供證據。盡管許多重要的比特幣專家都拆穿了懷特在去年曾名中本聰的說法，不過英國廣播公司（BBC）、《經濟學人》（The Economist）和其他媒體還是對這一新聞進行了廣泛報道。

這一次，懷特列舉了許多比特幣領域的著名人士來證明他的身份。例如比特幣基金會（Bitcoin Foundation）的首席科學家嘉文?安德森，他在中本聰消失后接過了比特幣的開發工作。但是比特幣領域的許多專家又一次指出了懷特的漏洞，安德森也承認自己的結論可能有些草率。

然而懷特不為所動，他表示會提供自己是中本聰的真憑實據，取出由比特幣創造者建立的區塊中的比特幣。這一區塊中比特幣目前預計價值約為4.5億美元。然而，上周四，懷特收回了他的承諾，表示他目前不能提供證據。

比特幣的創造者究竟是誰為什么這么重要？實際上并不總要。就算我們不知道他是誰，這種數字貨幣的功能也依舊完備——畢竟，這是一種分散化的貨幣系統。然而，這種以支付可信度著稱的系統，是由一個動機不明的未知人物創建的，這一點多少有些諷刺。所以，這個謎團還會繼續下去。（財富中文網）

譯者：嚴匡正

If you were drawing a Venn diagram of finance and technology, nothing would represent the overlap between those two things quite as well as bitcoin. Depending on whom you choose to believe, the “crypto-currency” is either the future of money, or a breeding ground for scam artists, conspiracy theorists, and wackos. As of this writing, unfortunately, the latter seems like a more apt description.

The identity of bitcoin’s mysterious creator, a man known only as Satoshi Nakamoto, has been a closely guarded secret since the currency was created in 2008. Newsweek magazine claimed to have revealed Nakamoto’s true identity in a splashy 2014 cover story, but the subject of the story denied being the currency’s creator, and experts on bitcoin were also unconvinced.

Last week, an Australian man named Craig Wright claimed to be the inventor, and said he could prove it. His claims were widely reported by the BBC, The Economist and others, despite the fact that Wright was previously named as Nakamoto last year—claims that were more or less debunked by a number of leading bitcoin experts.

This time around, Wright lined up prominent members of the bitcoin community to attest to his identity, including Gavin Andresen, chief scientist at the Bitcoin Foundation, who took over development of the currency after Nakamoto disappeared. But a number of experts in the crypto-currency again blew holes in his claims, and Andresen admitted that he might have been too hasty.

Not to be dissuaded, Wright said he would provide conclusive proof that he is Nakamoto by withdrawing bitcoins from a cache that was originally set up by the currency’s creator. The current value of that cache is estimated to be about $450 million. On Thursday, however, Wright backed away from his promise and said he couldn’t go through with providing proof.

Why does it matter so much that we know who the creator of bitcoin is? It doesn’t really. The digital currency functions just fine without that knowledge—after all, the whole point is that it’s a decentralized monetary system. But it does seem more than a little ironic that a payment method renowned for its trustworthiness was created by a shadowy figure with unknown motives. And so, the mystery continues.