Satoshi Nakamoto, Craig Wright and a bitcoin mystery in America

In Budapest, there is a bust by the Danube River. The face is bronze, and blank, so people can see their own faces reflected back at them. It is wearing a hoodie, with the bitcoin logo on the chest.

It is a statue of the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto. Nakamoto is the person or persons who developed bitcoin. They are anonymous and pseudonymous.

You may have heard about Australian Craig Wright, who has been in the news recently thanks to a court case in the US.

Wright is an influential entrepreneur. He might be Nakamoto. But he also might not. It is a mystery he could, in theory, solve in seconds (more of that later).

This week Wright was fighting claims from the family of his deceased business partner, David Kleiman, that the pair co-created bitcoin. Therefore, they argued, half of more than $50bn of the original bitcoin belonged to them.

Wright says he is Nakamoto, and Nakamoto is accepted as the creator of bitcoin. And to prove he is Nakamoto, Wright needs to show he controls some of those original bitcoin.

Bitcoin expert Dr David Glance, a University of Western Australia computer scientist, says such a feat would be akin to King Arthur pulling Excalibur from stone. A proof of rightful ownership.