Nakamoto Denies He Invented Bitcoin… Because He Doesn’t Even Have Internet

This morning, Felix Salmon of Reuters tweeted an email from Ethan Kirschner, the lawyer of Dorian Satoshi Nakamoto, a 64-year-old electrical engineer Newsweek claims is the inventor of Bitcoin. Problem is, Nakamoto insists that he didn’t create the controversial cryptocurrency, which lost quite a bit of public trust with the collapse of Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox.

While it’s not surprising that Nakamoto denied any involvement in Bitcoin, he goes to great lengths to prove that it would have been impossible for him to create bitcoin. For one, the former aviation engineer says that he has no knowledge whatsoever of “cryptography, peer to peer systems, or alternative currencies.” He also says that he’s been sporadically employed for the past ten years, working at times as a substitute teacher, and apparently doesn’t have enough money to pay for internet service. (Internet service is an obvious necessity when one wants to create a currency that exists online.)

As of now, Newsweek continues to stand by their story and has not responded to the email, which may indicate that a lawsuit’s a-comin’.

Here’s the entire email in full, courtesy of Salmon:

Dorian Nakamoto official statement/denial. Very interested to see how @newsweek @truth_eater @jimpoco respond. pic.twitter.com/wfCyK1dQ48

— felix salmon (@felixsalmon) March 17, 2014

[h/t Gawker]

>> Follow Tina Nguyen (@Tina_Nguyen) on Twitter

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!