Revealed? The man who (may have) created Bitcoin

'Either Craig Wright invented Bitcoin, or he’s a brilliant hoaxer'

Bitcoin, the online cryptocurrency, was first developed in 2008 (AP)

Until now, the mysterious creator of Bitcoin has been known only by the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto. Now, in the climax of parallel but separate investigations, Wired magazine and the website Gizmodo both claim to have identified the real Nakamoto as a 45-year-old Australian tech entrepreneur called Craig Wright.

“Either Wright invented Bitcoin, or he’s a brilliant hoaxer who very badly wants us to believe he did,” said Wired, which based its conclusions on a series of leaked emails and archived web documents.

Mr Wright’s LinkedIn profile lists him as working for a Sydney company that focuses on “alternative currency” and “next generation banking”.

Hours after the revelations were published, Mr Wright’s home in Sydney was searched by police as part of what was said to be an unrelated tax investigation.

Last year, Newsweek claimed that the Bitcoin creator was 64-year-old Los Angeles-based computer engineer Dorian Nakamoto. He denied any involvement in the online cryptocurrency, which was developed in 2008.