A transcript of a meeting between Wright and his lawyers, regarding the same dispute. Known to be a libertarian, he complained that “I did my best to hide the fact that I’ve been running Bitcoin since 2009”. His blog was taken offline shortly after Wired published its report, while Dr Wright’s Twitter account went from being protected to being deleted altogether.
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If you’re at all interested in the history of Bitcoin, both articles are certainly worth reading.
Documents published by Gizmodo appear to show records of an interview with the Australian Tax Office (ATO) about Wright’s affairs during which his Bitcoin holdings are discussed at length.
Those offices house a supercomputer built for finance named after his bitcoin trust fund, Tulip Trading C01N, and is actually ranked 17th in the supercomputing world’s Top 500 list. Gizmodo also received emails from an anonymous tipster who claimed to know Satoshi Nakamoto, and have worked for him. Wright allegedly worked closely on the project with an American named Dave Kleiman who died in 2013.
CRAIG WRIGHT: Um, I’ve been involved with all this for a long time, I mean I try and stay – I keep my head down but… But I believe in what we are trying to do.
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.
Gizmodo has even confirmed that, on at least two occasions, Wright claimed that both he and Keiman were involved in the creation of Bitcoin.
On Wednesday, police raided a home in Sydney where Wright reportedly lived with his family.
DeMorgan also says on its website that Mr. Wright had once been a digital forensic expert and trainer with the Australian Federal Police.
“The AFP can confirm it has conducted search warrants to assist the Australian Taxation Office at a residence in Gordon and a business premises in Ryde, Sydney”.
One of Dr Wright’s most recent public appearances was at the Bitcoin Investor Conference in October, where he Skyped in to a so-called all star panel on the digital currency.
This isn’t the first time someone’s tried to solve the puzzle of Nakamoto’s true identity. Newsweek later issued a statement after denials and threats of legal action from Nakamoto. “I am not found and I do not want to be”, he says in another message following the Newsweek story. While the virtual currency has become popular, it remains mysterious and volatile.
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It is believed Mr Wright first released bitcoin’s code on January 9 2009, creating one of the world’s most innovative new payment technologies.
