Is BTC Real Bitcoin? Self-Proclaimed Satoshi Craig Wright Breaks Down Key Difference

Known for his years of legal battles, Australian computer scientist Craig Wright – whose claim to being Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto was officially rejected by London’s High Court – is once again attempting to regain media influence. This time, the trigger was criticism of the leading cryptocurrency from billionaire Ray Dalio, who recently stated that central banks around the world are unlikely to ever hold $BTC on their balance sheets.

For those who missed it, Dalio’s main concern is the absolute transparency and traceability of the blockchain. In his view, the public ledger makes transactions vulnerable to total surveillance and external monitoring, which runs against the interests of state regulators.

Bitcoin or $BTC?

Craig Wright used this argument to promote his long-standing concept, proposing a strict separation between “$BTC” and “Bitcoin”. According to him, the modern $BTC network has drifted away from the original vision, turning into a system overloaded with intermediaries such as Coinbase, Block, and the Lightning Network.

Wright argues that this is precisely what makes the network vulnerable to the type of criticism voiced by Dalio.

On the contrary, the “true” Bitcoin – by which Wright traditionally refers to the Bitcoin Satoshi Vision ($BSV) fork – should function as a pure IP-to-IP peer-to-peer network. In this model, users send funds directly to one another, while nodes merely record settlements, eliminating the need for third-party services.

Despite Wright’s attempts to frame the issue as a fundamental debate, the market capitalization of the $BSV project he promotes remains near historic lows, while classic Bitcoin has gained recognition from global institutions, maintaining its position as the leading digital asset with support from spot ETFs.

By leveraging Ray Dalio’s authority and pointing to real technological compromises within $BTC – such as scaling through the Lightning Network – Wright is attempting to sell the market an old idea in a new wrapper. However, with his legal status as Satoshi officially dismantled, the dispute now remains relevant only to a narrow circle of blockchain history researchers.