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Dorian Nakamoto gets $23,000 payout over Bitcoin invention saga

Maintains he didn't create cryptocurrency, but will join community

The California man who says he was mistakenly identified as the inventor of Bitcoin is accepting a $23,000 gift from backers of the cryptocurrency.

Dorian Satoshi Nakamoto said that he will be joining the ranks of Bitcoin users after receiving a wallet of 47.925 bitcoins (valued at roughly $23,300) from members of the community by way of a fundraising effort.

The 64-year-old former programmer found himself thrust into the public light earlier this year when Newsweek claimed him to be the "Satoshi Nakamoto" who first developed and introduced the Bitcoin cryptocurrency, which at its peak was valued at over $1,100 and still trades at over $400 through online exchanges.

The real-life identity of the person(s) behind the name "Satoshi Nakamoto" has been a closely-guarded secret, and with good reason: it is believed that the Bitcoin wallets associated with the persona are now worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

Since the report was first released, Dorian Nakamoto has denied the claims, stating that while he has a background in mathematics and coding, he had never heard of Bitcoin and did not even have a working internet connection in his home. Shortly after the release of the report, Dorian hired a lawyer to help defend his name in the matter.

In response, Bitcoin backers led by Blockchain chief security officer Andreas Antonopoulos began a fundraising effort on Dorian's behalf. That campaign brought 1,969 total donations to top off at a final balance of 47.92501973 BTC.

Even if he's not the creator of the cryptocurrency, it appears that Nakamoto will be getting a nice chunk of cash from Bitcoin. In a video posted by Antonopoulos, Nakamoto thanked the fundraisers, reaffirmed his denial of the Newsweek story and vowed to use the fund to become an active member of the Bitcoin community.

Dorian Nakamoto

Nakamoto and Antonopoulos address fundraisers.

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