Cryptocurrency News Round-Up: Satoshi Breaks Five-Year Silence

It has been a frantic 24 hours for bitcoin, as the apparent outing of the virtual currency's creator Satoshi Nakamoto lead to a backlash from the coin's online community and a car chase through Los Angeles.

A 4,000-word feature in Newsweek claimed bitcoin creator was 64-year-old Dorian Satoshi Nakamoto, a Japanese-American who collects model trains and lives in a quiet residential street in Los Angeles. Newsweek is owned by IBT Media, parent company of IBTimes UK.

The news sparked anger among the bitcoin community, who claimed too much personal information - including a photo of his house and car - was published by Newsweek, and lead to a pack of journalists arriving at his doorstep. One, from the Associated Press, was selected by Nakamoto to interview him, providing he paid for lunch; Nakamoto then denied any involvement with bitcoin.

This was followed by the resurrection of an account for website P2P Foundation Ning which was used by the pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto to announce bitcoin back in 2009. The account simply said: "I am not Dorian Nakamoto."

Despite the media storm now surrounding bitcoin and its creator - whoever that may be - the currency's value has fallen just 3.5% in the last 24 hours, to $639.31 (£380) per coin and with a market cap of $7.98 billion.

Although the loss is relatively small compared to bitcoin's volatility over the last 12 months, its fall was mirrored across the cryptocurrency landscape, with litecoin down 3.7% to $16, auroracoin down 16.7% to $21.17 and dogecoin down 4% to $0.00098.

The largest gain was felt by extremecoin, which surged by 869% to $0.14 per coin and a market cap of $472,650, while the biggest loss was suffered by globalcoin, down 31% to $0.0027 and a market cap of just $96,000.

Man Claimed to be Satoshi Nakamoto: I Am Not Involved in Bitcoin

A man claimed to be Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of bitcoin, has said he is not involved with the virtual currency, before selecting one of many journalists waiting on his doorstep and saying he'd like to be taken for a free lunch.

The bizarre scenes took place outside Nakamoto's Los Angeles house just hours after a feature published by Newsweek claimed the 64-year-old Japanese-American is the creator of bitcoin. Newsweek is owned by IBT Media, the parent company of IBTimes UK.

Speaking to the AP, he said he was misunderstood in a key portion of the Newsweek story.

"The main reason I'm here is to clear my name, that I have nothing to do with bitcoin, nothing to do with developing. I was just an engineer doing something else. " he told the news agency.

I'm Not Dorian Nakamoto: 'Real' Nakamoto Speaks For First Time in Five Years

An online chat account last used by bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto has spoken for the first time in five years, stating he is not Dorian Satoshi Nakamoto, the 64-year-old man thought to have made the virtual currency.

An account for P2P Foundation's Ning communication network - in the name of Satoshi Nakamoto and using the same email address published by Nakamoto in the 2009 white paper outlining what bitcoin is - denied he was the man featured by Newsweek.

Having laid dormant since first posting on Ning more than five years ago, Nakamoto broke his silence to say "I am not Dorian Nakamoto" in the early hours of 7 March.

Bitcoin Not a Currency but Transactions are Taxable, States Japan Government

The Japanese government has said it has no plans to regulate bitcoin as a financial product, but it will be taxable when used to make purchases or when bought on an exchange.

Japan's cabinet reiterated that bitcoin will be treated as a commodity rather than a currency, and that it will not come under the purview of the country's Financial Services Agency.

"Bitcoins are neither Japanese nor foreign currencies and its trading is different from deals stated by Japan's bank act as well as financial instruments and exchange act," it said.