A book about the self-avowed inventor of Bitcoin, Craig Wright, has been shelved by publishers after alleged threats of litigation. Behind The Mask: Craig Wright and the Battle for Bitcoin will no longer be published at the end of this month.
According to Goodreads, the book—which Wright originally signed off on—would have been a "stranger than fiction" plunge into “blackmail, police raids, hidden fortunes, death threats and a billion dollar offshore trust.” Unfortunately, none of these exploits will find their way to a bookshop, because someone scared off the publisher. Stranger still—Wright affirms it wasn't him. So the only question left to ask is, whodunnit?
Ed Pownall, author at CoinGeek, told Decrypt it was likely an attack from someone outside of the Bitcoin SV community—the coin favored by Wright and CoinGeek.
"The real question to ask is: Who would have cause to stop this UNLESS it was positive about [Wright]?" he said.
A lot of people believe that Wright isn’t the inventor of Bitcoin. His cryptographic proof was widely discredited, and Casa CTO Jameson Lopp brought together all the evidence against him in one article. Wright has even sued multiple people for calling him a fraud, although he has had two of those lawsuits dismissed.
Pownall said it was unlikely that Wright’s current lawsuits would have caused the book to be dropped. "That could explain a delay but this seems to be more permanent," he added.
But if there’s one person who definitely didn’t scrap the book, it’s Wright.
It was “not me,” he told CoinGeek, adding, “I purchased a copy to be delivered on the 28th.”
Affirm Press did not provide many details about why the book was dropped. It told Micky News, “Unfortunately, that book has been cancelled from our publication list. The threat of litigation was too high.” But it didn’t state whether it had actually received any threats. Affirm Press declined to speak to Decrypt.
Meanwhile, those who were waiting expectantly for the book will have to join those waiting for Wright to prove he’s Satoshi. And it might be some time.