Following a Newsweek report naming the creator of the cryptocurrency, the Southern California man tells the AP he hadn't heard of Bitcoin until three weeks ago. March 6, 2014 4:29 PM PST (Credit: AFP / Getty Images) Dorian Satoshi Nakamoto, the 64-year-old Temple City, Calif., resident Newsweek claimed is the likely creator of Bitcoin in a prominent cover story published Thursday, denied ever having been involved with the cryptocurrency, but has given an exclusive interview with The Associated Press that may shed more light on an increasingly strange series of events. Related stories: Bitcoin founder Satoshi Nakamoto discovered in California? Police probe death of Bitcoin exchange's young CEO Congressman: If we ban Bitcoin, let's ban dollar bills too Bitcoin bank Flexcoin shuts down after hack Japan's response to Mt. Gox Bitcoin mess: Taxes, report says Reporters, having staked out the man's house after Newsweek reporter Leah McGrath Goodman included a photo of his home, followed Nakamoto through Los Angeles this afternoon, first to a sushi restaurant and then to the offices of the AP. Nakamoto had selected, seemingly at random, a reporter from the wire service outside his home to take him out for a free lunch, but not before a brief exchange with Los Angeles Times reporter Andrea Chang in which Nakamoto denied his connection to Bitcoin. What followed Nakamoto's desire for lunch devolved into a near-parody, with the barrage of reporters following by car being monitored in real time by Los Angeles-based journalists using the Twitter hashtag #bitcoinchase. "I am no longer involved in [Bitcoin] and I cannot discuss it," Nakamoto reportedly told Goodman. "It's been turned over to other people. They are in charge of it now. I no longer have any connection." That terse but revealing admission, given to Goodman in the presence of police officers that Nakamoto called after cutting off communication with the reporter, formed the basis of Newsweek's bombshell report. It's currently unclear what in fact is the truth regarding the story. Update at 4:56 p.m. PT: In a startling turn of events, the AP is reporting that Nakamoto firmly denies any involvement with Bitcoin, saying he hadn't heard of the currency until three weeks ago when his son notified him that he had been contacted by Newsweek's Goodman.
Following a Newsweek report naming the creator of the cryptocurrency, the Southern California man tells the AP he hadn't heard of Bitcoin until three weeks ago.
Dorian Satoshi Nakamoto, the 64-year-old Temple City, Calif., resident Newsweek claimed is the likely creator of Bitcoin in a prominent cover story published Thursday, denied ever having been involved with the cryptocurrency, but has given an exclusive interview with The Associated Press that may shed more light on an increasingly strange series of events.
Related stories:
- Bitcoin founder Satoshi Nakamoto discovered in California?
- Police probe death of Bitcoin exchange's young CEO
- Congressman: If we ban Bitcoin, let's ban dollar bills too
- Bitcoin bank Flexcoin shuts down after hack
- Japan's response to Mt. Gox Bitcoin mess: Taxes, report says
Reporters, having staked out the man's house after Newsweek reporter Leah McGrath Goodman included a photo of his home, followed Nakamoto through Los Angeles this afternoon, first to a sushi restaurant and then to the offices of the AP. Nakamoto had selected, seemingly at random, a reporter from the wire service outside his home to take him out for a free lunch, but not before a brief exchange with Los Angeles Times reporter Andrea Chang in which Nakamoto denied his connection to Bitcoin.
What followed Nakamoto's desire for lunch devolved into a near-parody, with the barrage of reporters following by car being monitored in real time by Los Angeles-based journalists using the Twitter hashtag #bitcoinchase.
"I am no longer involved in [Bitcoin] and I cannot discuss it," Nakamoto reportedly told Goodman. "It's been turned over to other people. They are in charge of it now. I no longer have any connection." That terse but revealing admission, given to Goodman in the presence of police officers that Nakamoto called after cutting off communication with the reporter, formed the basis of Newsweek's bombshell report. It's currently unclear what in fact is the truth regarding the story.
Update at 4:56 p.m. PT: In a startling turn of events, the AP is reporting that Nakamoto firmly denies any involvement with Bitcoin, saying he hadn't heard of the currency until three weeks ago when his son notified him that he had been contacted by Newsweek's Goodman.
