Australian Businessman Reveals Himself as Bitcoin Creator

An Australian businessman and computer scientist came out as the creator of Bitcoin on Monday after years of speculation and false revelations.

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Craig Wright revealed his cryptographic key to the first bitcoin transaction to the BBC, the Economist and GQ to prove that he was the inventor of the underground payment system.

Bitcoin is a form of digital currency, it works without a central repository or single administrator, users can transact directly without an intermediary, which has led the U.S. Treasury to categorize bitcoin as a decentralized virtual currency.

It has become popular among speculators.

Several publications have investigated Bitcoin to find the true identity of Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator’s pseudonym, but only Wired and Gizmodo linked him to Wright five months ago.

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Tax authorities raided Wright’s house soon after, and Wright is reportedly working with them to calculate what he owes.

"I was the main part of it, but other people helped me," he said Monday.

The BBC reported that others verified that he matched Nakamoto along cryptographic, social and technical lines, all reported that more tests are necessary.

Wright said that he only came out to set the record straight.

After launching the project in 2008, Nakamoto backed off two years later. The name, said Wright, was inspired by the 17th-century Japanese iconoclast merchant Tominaga Nakamoto, reported the Economist.