According to an AP report, Dorian Prentice Satoshi Nakamoto, the 64-year-old man Newsweek claims is the founder of Bitcoin, has now said that he had nothing to do with the cryptocurrency, adding that he came to know about Bitcoin only three weeks ago when a Newsweek reporter contacted his son.
Just hours after Newsweek published the report yesterday, Nakamoto's home, in Temple City, Los Angeles, California, was flocked by reporters. After a long wait, he finally came out saying that he wanted to speak to only one of them, and demanded a free lunch too.
In a two-hour-long exclusive interview with AP, he acknowledged that most of the details in Newsweek's report are correct, including that he once worked for a defense contractor, and that Satoshi is his birth name. But on the claim that he is the face behind Bitcoin, he said he was misunderstood by the Newsweek reporter.
According to Nakamoto, when he said "I am no longer involved in that and I cannot discuss it", he meant that he is no longer in engineering. "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," he added.
On the other hand, Newsweek, which spent a considerable amount of time researching, stands by its story. According to Leah McGrath Goodman, the reporter who covered the story, there was no confusion about the context of conversation between him and Nakamoto, who clearly acknowledged his involvement in Bitcoin.
Besides the report, Nakamoto also talked about his his life, career, and family in the interview.
