So I finally read the London Review of Books’ magnum opus on Craig Wright, apparent pretender to the Bitcoin throne. I had never bought that Wright invented Bitcoin and the article — all 35,000 words of it — did nothing to convince me otherwise.

Wright had always struck me as a self promoter not a self effacing type prepared to forego the praise and attention lavished on brilliant inventors. He also seemed very concerned about his image as projected by his clothes and the photos he used to represent himself. Modest types don’t tend to call themselves “Dr.” and show themselves off in evening wear on social media.

The whole Canadian investor thing didn’t sit right either. Robert MacGregor and his company nTrust say they are in the “cloud money” business, but when I looked at their website, MacGregor was no longer listed as CEO. Nor could I figure out what exactly nTrust did and why it would be beneficial to use it. It certainly didn’t strike me as a company making so much money that its CEO would have $15 million to invest in bailing out the broke supposed inventor of Bitcoin. (nTrust apparently set up nCrypt, a new subsidiary to handle at lease some of the Bitcoin business.)

I also found it strange that while the LRB strongly hints at the involvement of Calvin Ayre in this whole Wright/Bitcoin affair, it didn’t mention that MacGregor too has ties to Bodog and Ayre going back years.

MacGregor worked at the Bodog affiliate, Riptown Media, in Vancouver for years. When he set up nTrust, it was with a group of former Riptown employees. nTrust also appears to have ties to Ayre. When police raided Ayre-linked companies in the Philippines in 2013, Robert MacGregor’s name was listed on the search warrants.

The Manila Times reported that nTrust, also known as Fenris Ventures, was suspected by Filipino police of being a front for Ayre’s illegal gambling operations. Ayre flatly denied all accusations of wrongdoing and took prosecutors and police to court, claiming there was no basis for the warrants. The Philippines appeals court recently ruled in his favour that it was an illegal search and seizure operation.

That’s about the extent of what I know for now but if you have further information I would love to hear from you. The Bitcoin inventor saga fascinates me and I would like to know more about the relationships between Robert MacGregor, Craig Wright, Stefan Matthews and Calvin Ayre.

The big question in my mind and for now is whose idea was it that Craig Wright should claim he invented Bitcoin?

ann.brocklehurst@gmail.com