Australian entrepreneur Craig Wright has gone back on his promise to prove he is the inventor of Bitcoin.
Craig Wright claimed earlier this week in a blog post that he is the man behind pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto, the mysterious individual who created the virtual currency.
But he has had a change of heart.
“I believed that I could put years of anonymity and hiding behind me,” he wrote in a new blog post.
“But, as the events of this week unfolded and I prepared to publish the proof of access to the earliest keys, I broke.
“I do not have the courage. I cannot.”
He had promised to use that private key to transfer Bitcoins from one of the currency’s early address blocks, ‘block 9’.
Nakamoto used the key in 2009 to transfer Bitcoins to a computer scientist.
Dr Wright earlier published ‘evidence’ that he was Nakamoto by describing how a digital signature linked to the creator was made.
However the signature was linked by security researchers to another Satoshi Bitcoin transaction which was searchable online, leading to scepticism about his claims.
Dr Wright then blogged about “false allegations” and pledged to provide new evidence.
He apologised after backtracking, singling out two senior members of the Bitcoin Foundation who believe he is indeed Nakamoto after Dr Wright showed them other evidence in private.
“When the rumours began, my qualifications and character were attacked. When those allegations were proven false, new allegations have already begun,” he continued.
“I know now that I am not strong enough for this.
“I know that this weakness will cause great damage to those that have supported me, and particularly to Jon Matonis and Gavin Andresen.
“I can only hope that their honour and credibility is not irreparably tainted by my actions. They were not deceived, but I know that the world will never believe that now.
“I can only say I’m sorry. And goodbye.”
Mr Matonis has tweeted that there “won’t be another Satoshi”, which many have taken to mean that he still believes the entrepreneur’s claims.