MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – Craig Wright, an Australian entrepreneur, has publicly identified himself as Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of the bitcoin digital cryptocurrency.

According to the BBC, Wright has technical proof to back up his claim, including coins known to be owned by the creator of the bitcoin system. At the same time, prominent bitcoin community members have also confirmed the claim.

Back in 2014, Newsweek linked the creation of bitcoin to a Japanese-American physicist and model train enthusiast named Satoshi Nakamoto, who eventually said he was not involved in bitcoin.

The Bitcoin Foundation also said they saw “zero conclusive evidence” pointing to the physicist as Satoshi Nakamoto of bitcoin fame.

Revealing his identity

Wright has revealed his identity to the BBC, the Economist, and GQ.

However, in a defiant interview with the BBC, he insisted that he would have preferred his identity to remain secret and was not seeking cash or honors.

“I don’t want money, I don’t want fame, I don’t want adoration, I just want to be left alone,” Wright told the broadcaster.

“If anyone puts me up for awards or anything like that, I will never, ever accept a cent. Ever.”

He added that he had not taken the decision to identify himself, adding: “I had people decide this matter for me.”

In his BBC meeting, Wright digitally signed messages using cryptographic keys linked to blocks of bitcoins made by Nakamoto.

Wright added during a demonstration, “These are the blocks used to send 10 bitcoins to Hal Finney in January [2009] as the first bitcoin transaction.”

Finney is known as one of the engineers that helped build bitcoin.

Wright also said he planned to release additional information that would further cement his claims by allowing more people to verify that he is Nakamoto.

The Economist said that there were still a number of steps to go through to evaluate whether Wright was the creator of Bitcoin.

“Imagine that the paternity of a particularly brilliant child is in doubt, and someone steps forward to claim he is the father,” its article said.

“In the real world a DNA test would sort the matter out quickly. In the confusing world of Bitcoin… things are not that simple.”

Jon Matonis, an economist and one of the founding directors of the Bitcoin Foundation, told the BBC he was convinced that Wright was Nakamoto.

Matonis explained, “During the London proof sessions, I had the opportunity to review the relevant data along 3 distinct lines: cryptographic, social, and technical.”

“It is my firm belief that Craig Wright satisfies all 3 categories.”

Mysterious

Little is known about Wright, who according to information from Australia’s business register obtained last December by Fairfax Media, was born in Brisbane, lives in Sydney and was then 45 years old.

He has three masters degrees from Australia’s Charles Sturt University and was an adjunct academic there between 2011 and 2014.

Tech entrepreneur Zhenya Tsvetnenko, who exchanged emails and met Wright in Sydney about a possible business venture, told Agence France-Presse last year that Wright was smart enough to be Bitcoin’s mastermind.

“He was a very mysterious type of guy, he didn’t say a whole lot,” Tsvetnenko said.

“The reason why I say it’s not out of the question is he was in Bitcoin from the very beginning. I’m not sure he would like me saying that.”

Bitcoin is a technically sophisticated and untraceable currency based on the same underlying mathematics used to encrypt codes used by governments and the military.

Unlike traditional currencies such as the dollar or the euro, which require the sponsorship of a central bank, Bitcoin is decentralized.

Digital coins are created by supercomputers, and then traded online or exchanged for goods and services by a peer-to-peer network of computers connected to the Internet.

Despite some early notoriety over its use by drug dealers and others on the dark web, the system has grown beyond its radical libertarian roots and is being taken increasingly seriously by the financial establishment.

Billions of dollars worth of Bitcoins are now in circulation. – with reports from Katherine Haddon, Agence France-Presse/Rappler.com