Satoshi Nakamoto, an L.A. area man identified by Newsweek as the mysterious founder of digital currency Bitcoin, has denied repeatedly that he's the guy.

Not only that, but a “Satoshi Nakamoto” who was one of the first people on the planet to post information about the currency in 2009 rejoined the P2P Foundation Bitcoin discussion forum yesterday to say that he is not the Temple City man known by the nickname Dorian.

All this amid a bizarre flurry of attention on Satoshi “Dorian” Nakamoto, a model train collector who worked in classified roles for a government contractor. We'll call him Dorian:
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After Newsweek reported yesterday that Dorian was the founder, he spent much of the day dodging reporters while giving them terse denials that he had anything to do with the currency.

An AP journalist offered to take him to lunch, leading to a bizarre car chase of sorts in which other reporters followed the pair to the Associated Press' offices downtown.

Newsweek is standing by its story despite a backlash. It says that there was no ambiguity about its questions or Dorian's answers when he told a Newsweek reporter this:

I am no longer involved in that and I cannot discuss it. It's been turned over to other people. They are in charge of it now. I no longer have any connection.

Gawker noted last night that there are some inconsistencies between Dorian and the Nakamoto who was involved with the early development of Bitcoin:

… An email written by a “Dorian Nakamoto” of Temple City to an employee of the Los Angeles Metro Rail indicates a much weaker grasp of English grammar and spelling than emails sent by Satoshi Nakamoto around the same time period.

Dorian, a physicist whom Newsweek says was laid off in the 1990s, appears to live humbly in a two-story Temple City home. The figure known as Nakamoto is believed to have $400 million worth of bitcoin currency.

KCAL television last night reported that Dorian claims he doesn't even have an internet-connected computer.

But the Newsweek story is a compelling and exhaustively researched read. Dorian's brother told the publication:

My brother is an asshole. What you don't know about him is that he's worked on classified stuff. His life was a complete blank for a while. You're not going to be able to get to him. He'll deny everything. He'll never admit to starting Bitcoin.

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