Australian Federal Police have raided the Sydney home of a man named by Wired magazine as the probable creator of cryptocurrency bitcoin.
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The Guardian Australia said police forced open the property with staff wearing white gloves seen from the street searching the cupboards and surfaces of the garage.
Many described the man as quiet and somewhat standoffish, and said they had noticed the family kept an unusual amount of electronics running in the sunroom at the front of their two-story brick house.
Just hours after publication of the claims, police raided Wright’s home, although the authorities said in a statement that the searches were “unrelated” to the articles.
“The body of evidence presented is certainly compelling, and fills in numerous holes not covered by other supposed outings of the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto, who is fast becoming something of a Lord Lucan for the digital world”. Gizmodo received confirmation from some of Wright’s former associates that the meeting did indeed take place.
The treatment of bitcoin for tax purposes in Australia has been the subject of considerable debate.
‘Due to confidentiality provision in the tax administration act, the ATO can not comment on any individuals or entity’s tax affairs, ‘ the ATO spokesperson said. One of the journalists responsible for the Gizmodo investigation also told us that he has been staking out to try and chat to Dr Wright but he seems to have completely vanished.
Gizmodo reported that Mr Wright and Mr Dave Kleiman, a USA computer forensics expert who died in 2013, were both involved in the development of the digital currency.
An email to a Clayton Utz lawyer identified as Wright’s lawyer in the ATO transcripts was sent from an address linked to Nakamoto and is signed off as “Craig (possibly)”.
Bitcoins are not distributed by a central bank or backed by physical assets such as gold, but circulate in a decentralized system, enabling users to make electronic purchases and sales.
The Internal Revenue Service ruled previous year to treat virtual currencies as property, meaning profits get taxed at the capital-gains rate.
The emails published by Gizmodo can not be verified, while comment has been sought from further sources to clarify the ongoing case. The email discussed the possibility to lobby Australian Senator Arthur Sinodinos over bitcoin laws. “Bit cash, bit coin …” The Australian Federal Police (AFP) says, however, that the websites did not have anything to do with its plans.
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In another post from 10 January 2009, Wright announced the launch of bitcoin “tomorrow” – which would have been published in Australian time before the 3pm launch on 9 January in American time.
