The supposed creator of bitcoin was this week uncovered in aNewsweek article which was met by mixed feelings from fans and followers of the digital currency.
Newsweek believe the creator to be Satoshi Nakamoto, 64, a Japanese engineer currently residing in suburban Los Angeles. The name Satoshi Nakamoto often appeared in online discussions about bitcoin and was believed to be a pseudonym for the group of programmers who created the currency.
In a recent interview with The Associated Press, Nakamoto strongly denied any involvement with the digital currency and claimed that he had not heard of it until he was contacted by a reporter about it three weeks ago. Despite this, Newsweek are standing by their claims that they have revealed the founder.
Bitcoin was created in 2009 and is now worth billions of dollars and is used by an estimated 60,000 clients. At Friday, 7 March 3pm, the digital currency was valued at approximately $770NZD per unit on theCoin Desk exchange. The currency is popular for its ability to make one-to-one transactions across borders without using banks or credit card issuers and is becoming accepted by numerous online retailers.
Enthusiasts of the currency have expressed concern about the revealing of Nakamoto. There is worry that his safety has been compromised after pictures of his house, and licence plate and address details, have all become available online.
Many Bitcoin followers are angry about the way Nakamoto’s privacy has been violated and are questioning the truth behind the Newsweekarticle. “Unless he can do a signed transaction from an address known to be that of the originator of Bitcoin, then I don’t believe, sorry,” said one commenter on Bitcoin talk, the main online forum for the currency. Another commenter described the reporting of the founder as “irresponsible” and “really immature journalism at best. A mistake that might cost someone their life at worst”.
There is no information to suggestion that there is any link to the Bitcoin founder's supposed unmasking, but on Thursday the CEO of virtual currency exchange First Meta was found dead in Singapore. There was no suspicion of foul play in the death of Autumn Radtke, 28,the Associated Press reports.
A colleague told Reuters Radtke was wrestling with professional and personal pressures.
"She had a phenomenal network of highly successful people around her, and here she is running this little exchange and it just isn't taking off in the way anybody had hoped," Steve Beauregard, CEO and founder of GoCoin, a start-up that provided bitcoin-related services to First Meta, told Reuters.
Learn more about what bitcoin is and how it works: