Australian Man Arrested After Exposé Reveals He May Be the Real Bitcoin Inventor

The real inventors of notorious cryptocurrency Bitcoin could be an Australian entrepreneur and his dead friend, separate investigations by Gizmodo and Wired have revealed. Both Gizmodo and Wired have obtained evidence that point towards Sydney businessman Craig Steven Wright and his friend, computer forensics expert Dave Kleiman, who died in 2013, as the developers of Bitcoin, previously attributed to the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto since the currency’s inception in 2009.

The investigation began in November this year, when Gizmodo received an anonymous tip that read, “I hacked Satoshi Naklamoto [sic]. These files are all from his business account. The person is Dr Craig Wright.” Attached were a series of incriminating e-mails from Wright’s Hotmail account. Gizmodo’s subsequent month-long investigation into the true identity of Satoshi Nakamoto culminated in the website getting on-the-record confirmation from a number of sources that Wright has, on at least two occasions, claimed that he and Kleiman created Bitcoin.

At the same time, Wired obtained a cache of e-mails, transcripts, and accounting forms, dating as far back as 2008, leaked by a source close to Wright via dark web analyst Gwern Branwen. One such document shows Wright planning the creation of “a P2P distributed ledger”, which is an accurate summary of what was to become Bitcoin.

Since these revelations, The Guardian is reporting that Wright has been arrested, and his Sydney home has been raided by police. 10 police officers entered Wright’s residence at around 13:30GMT today, arrested Wright, and preceded to search the property. However, Australian authorities deny that Wright’s arrest is due to any potential association with Bitcoin.

“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,” a statement from the Australian Federal police reads. “This matter is unrelated to recent media reporting regarding the digital currency bitcoin.”