Australian Craig Wright says he is bitcoin creator - BBC

By Byron Kaye

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian tech entrepreneur Craig Wright has told the BBC he was the creator of controversial digital currency bitcoin after years of speculation about a person who until now has gone by the name of Satoshi Nakamoto.

The BBC reported on Monday that Wright gave some technical proof demonstrating that he had access to blocks of bitcoins known to have been created by bitcoin's creator.

But he declined requests from The Economist to provide further proof that he was Nakamoto.

"Our conclusion is that Mr Wright could well be Mr Nakamoto, but that important questions remain," The Economist said. "Indeed, it may never be possible to establish beyond reasonable doubt who really created bitcoin."

The BBC said prominent members of the bitcoin community had confirmed Wright's claim. "I was the main part of it, but other people helped me," the BBC quoted Wright as saying.

In December, police raided Wright's Sydney home and office after Wired magazine named him as the probable creator of bitcoin and holder of hundreds of millions of dollars worth of the cryptocurrency, which has attracted the interest of banks, speculators, criminals and regulators.

The treatment of bitcoins for tax purposes in Australia has been the subject of considerable debate. The Australian Tax Office (ATO) ruled in December 2014 that cryptocurrency should be considered an asset, rather than a currency, for capital gains tax purposes.

On Monday, the ATO said it had no comment while police were not immediately available for comment.

"PASSION AND INTELLECT"

In a blog post dated Monday, Wright appeared to out himself as bitcoin founder by posting a technical explanation, including examples of code, of the process by which he created the currency. He thanks all those who had supported the project from its inception.

"This incredible community's passion and intellect and perseverance have taken my small contribution and nurtured it, enhanced it, breathed life into it," he wrote. "You have given the world a great gift. Thank you."

However Wright did not make a clear admission that he was Nakamoto. "Satoshi is dead," he said. "But this is only the beginning."

Unlike traditional currency, bitcoins are not distributed by a central bank or backed by physical assets like gold, but are "mined" by users who use computers to calculate increasingly complex algorithmic formulas.

Bitcoin experts say that unmasking Satoshi Nakamoto would be significant for the industry. Not only would the proven founder likely hold some sway over the future of the bitcoin protocol, but Nakamoto may also hold enough bitcoin to influence its price.

As an early miner of bitcoins, Nakamoto is sitting on about 1 million bitcoins, according to bitcoin expert Sergio Demian Lerner. That is equivalent to about $450 million at current exchange rates.

(Additional reporting by Matt Siegel; Editing by Nick Macfie and Raju Gopalakrishnan)