Yesterday, we told you Newsweek claimed to have found Satoshi Nakamoto, the man who started Bitcoin. We were unsure, but the pieces seemed to line up. Of course, that was before the guy in question said Newsweek screwed up the story.
Dorian Nakamoto, the subject of the interview piece, is claiming he’s got nothing to do with Bitcoin. And he did a two-hour interview with the AP that really makes you feel kind of bad for the guy:
During a car ride and then later over sushi lunch at the AP bureau in downtown Los Angeles, Nakamoto spoke at length about his life, career and family, addressing many of the assertions in Newsweek’s piece.
He also said a key portion of the piece – where he is quoted telling the reporter on his doorstep before two police officers, “I am no longer involved in that and I cannot discuss it” – was misunderstood.
“I’m saying I’m no longer in engineering. That’s it,” he said of the exchange. “And even if I was, when we get hired, you have to sign this document, contract saying you will not reveal anything we divulge during and after employment. So that’s what I implied.”
Much of the piece, it should be noted, is accurate, much to Nakamoto’s dismay. About the only thing Newsweek got wrong is, apparently, the fact that he invented Bitcoin.
Of course, Nakamoto could be lying. Newsweek, of course, stands by its story, although the AP notes that Nakamoto seems very confused about what Bitcoin is and that he thinks it’s a private company. And we’ve also gotten the closest thing we’ll get to a denial from the shadowy man himself.
As we noted, the pieces do line up and you can make a credible argument that Nakamoto in person is the Nakamoto online. But if he is, he’s sure doing a good job of confusing the issue.
Via The AP