Australian tech entrepreneur Craig Wright told the BBC that he was the creator of controversial digital currency bitcoin, after years of speculation about a person who until now has gone by the name of Satoshi Nakamoto.
The BBC reported on Monday that Mr Wright gave some technical proof demonstrating that he had access to blocks of bitcoins known to have been created by bitcoin’s creator.
But he declined requests from the Economist to provide further proof that he was Nakamoto.
“Our conclusion is that Mr Wright could well be Mr Nakamoto, but that important questions remain,” the Economist said. “Indeed, it may never be possible to establish beyond reasonable doubt who really created bitcoin.”
The BBC said prominent members of the bitcoin community had confirmed Mr Wright’s claim. “I was the main part of it, but other people helped me,” the BBC quoted Mr Wright as saying.
Bitcoin experts say that unmasking Nakamoto would be significant for the industry. Not only would the proven founder likely hold some sway over the future of the bitcoin protocol, but Nakamoto may also hold enough bitcoin to influence its price.
Researchers believe Nakamoto may be holding up to one million bitcoins, which if sold today would fetch about $440 million.
“If Mr Wright is in possession of Satoshi’s original nearly-one-million bitcoins, he will be for sure closely watched by investors trying to guess his future moves,” Tomas Forgac, who runs bitcoin startup Coin of Sale, said.
Mr Wright told the Economist that he would exchange bitcoin slowly to avoid pushing down its price. Bitcoin fell more than three per cent after news of Mr Wright’s claims, from $454.89 to below $440, before recovering slightly.
In December, the police raided Mr Wright’s Sydney home and office after Wired magazine named him as the probable creator of bitcoin and holder of hundreds of millions of dollars worth of the cryptocurrency, which has attracted the interest of banks, speculators, criminals and regulators.
The treatment of bitcoins for tax purposes in Australia has been the subject of considerable debate.
The Australian Tax Office (ATO) ruled in December 2014 that cryptocurrency should be considered an asset, rather than a currency, for capital gains tax purposes.
In a blog post dated Monday, Mr Wright appeared to out himself as bitcoin founder by posting a technical explanation, including examples of code, of the process by which he created the currency.
He thanked all those who had supported the project from its inception.
