'I'm Satoshi Nakamoto,' claims Australian entrepreneur Craig Wright

Not everyone's convinced, however...

An Australian entrepreneur and cryptographer has claimed that he is "Satoshi Nakamoto", the elusive creator of bitcoin.

It isn't the first time someone has claimed to be Nakamoto, however. Some two years ago, US news magazine Newsweek claimed to have unmasked the real Nakamoto, despite the subject's repeated and vehement denials.

This time, an Australian cryptographer and entrepreneur called Craig Wright is claiming to be Nakamoto. Wright has insisted to the BBC, the Economist and other publications that he really is Nakamoto. The BBC reporter who spoke to Wright claims that he "digitally signed messages using cryptographic keys created during the early days of bitcoin's development" to prove his claim.

The keys are "inextricably linked to blocks of bitcoins" created by the shady creator Nakamoto, according to the BBC. It added that prominent people around bitcoin have accepted Wright as Nakamoto, including Gavin Andresen, chief scientist at the Bitcoin Foundation, who blogged his support.

"I believe Craig Steven Wright is the person who invented bitcoin," he wrote. "I was flown to London to meet Dr Wright a couple of weeks ago, after an initial email conversation convinced me that there was a very good chance he was the same person I'd communicated with in 2010 and early 2011. After spending time with him I am convinced beyond a reasonable doubt: Craig Wright is Satoshi."

However, not everyone is convinced.

The Economist urged Wright to supply more proof by doing another signing, but he declined, telling the paper that he wasn't "going to keep jumping through hoops".

That paper can't make its mind up, noting that Nakamoto is supposed to be a private person, something that Wright is not. But it admitted that "he clearly seemed to know what he was talking about".

Last year, Wright's Australian home was raided by the police after a report on Wired magazine suggested he may be Nakamoto. However, the Australian police claim that their presence was "not associated with the media reporting overnight about bitcoins".