Craig Wright revealed as Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto

His admission ends years of speculation about who came up with the original ideas underlying the digital cash system.

Mr Wright has provided technical proof to back up his claim using coins known to be owned by Bitcoin's creator.

Prominent members of the Bitcoin community and its core development team have also confirmed Mr Wright's claim.

Signed blocks

Mr Wright has revealed his identity to three media organisations - the BBC, the Economist and GQ.

At the meeting with the BBC, Mr Wright digitally signed messages using cryptographic keys created during the early days of Bitcoin's development. The keys are inextricably linked to blocks of bitcoins known to have been created or "mined" by Satoshi Nakamoto.

"These are the blocks used to send 10 bitcoins to Hal Finney in January [2009] as the first bitcoin transaction," said Mr Wright during his demonstration.

Renowned cryptographer Hal Finney was one of the engineers who helped turn Mr Wright's ideas into the Bitcoin protocol, he said.

"I was the main part of it, but other people helped me," he said.

Mr Wright said he planned to release information that would allow others to cryptographically verify that he is Satoshi Nakamoto.

Soon after Mr Wright went public, Gavin Andresen, chief scientist at the Bitcoin Foundation, published a blog backing his claim.

"I believe Craig Steven Wright is the person who invented Bitcoin," he wrote.

Jon Matonis, an economist and one of the founding directors of the Bitcoin Foundation, said he was convinced that Mr Wright was who he claimed to be.

"During the London proof sessions, I had the opportunity to review the relevant data along three distinct lines: cryptographic, social, and technical," he said.

"It is my firm belief that Craig Wright satisfies all three categories."

Not everyone has been convinced by Mr Wright's claims and technical proofs. In its article about Mr Wright, The Economist said "important questions remain" about whether he was Satoshi Nakamoto.

In addition, many people involved in bitcoin have taken to social media to express their doubts and have called for further proof.

Source: bbc.com