Man denies inventing Bitcoin amid media frenzy

The man outed by Newsweek as the mysterious founder of Bitcoin denies he has anything to do with the digital currency.

Satoshi Nakamoto.

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The man US magazine Newsweek claims is the founder of Bitcoin denies he had anything to do with the digital currency.

In an exclusive two-hour interview with The Associated Press, Dorian S. Nakamoto, 64, said he never heard of Bitcoin until his son told him he had been contacted by a reporter three weeks ago.

Reached at his home in Temple City, California, Nakamoto acknowledged that many of the details in Newsweek's report are correct, including that he once worked for a defence contractor.

But he strongly disputes the magazine's assertion that he is "the face behind Bitcoin".

Since Bitcoin's birth in 2009, the currency's creator has remained a mystery. The person - or people - behind its founding have been known only as "Satoshi Nakamoto", which many observers believed to be a pseudonym.