Did Newsweek make the mother of all cock ups when it fingered Dorian Satoshi Nakamoto as the creator of Bitcoin? It certainly looks that way, as the beleaguered 64-year old Californian has once again reached out to the media to vigorously deny any knowledge of the cryptocurrency.

In a statement sent to Reuters journalist Felix Salmon, Nakamoto insists that “I did not create, invent or otherwise work on Bitcoin”. He went on to deny that he’d even heard of the digital currency until one month ago when his son called him after being contacted by Newsweek’s Leah McGrath Goodman.

Nakamoto’s statement comes in response to Goodman’s claims that he is in fact the individual who dreamed up what has become the world’s most popular cryptocurrency. The story alleges that he decided to hide in plain sight as it were, and that the name “Satoshi Nakamoto” is not a pseudonym for a group of people who created it. In the Newsweek article, Goodman quotes Nakamoto as saying, “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,” when quizzed about Bitcoin.

Shortly after the story was published, Nakamoto spoke to the Associated Press to deny this story. However, Nakamoto’s denial today, via an attorney, is his first official response to the allegations.

“I am writing this statement to clear my name,” says Nakamoto, who goes on to point out several good reasons why he’s not the Bitcoin creator, including saying that “I discontinued my internet service in 2013 due to severe financial distress.”

Nakamoto further states that while he’s not new to computer programming, he’s unfamiliar with Bitcoin’s technology, and he hasn’t had a steady job in the field for over a decade.

“My prospects for gainful employment has been harmed because of Newsweek’s article,” he adds.

Here’s Nakamoto’s statement in full, via a tweet from his attorney Ethan Kirschner:

Dorian Nakamoto official statement/denial. Very interested to see how @newsweek @truth_eater @jimpoco respond. pic.twitter.com/wfCyK1dQ48

— felix salmon (@felixsalmon) March 17, 2014

Mr. Kirschner later spoke to Quartz to confirm that he’s officially representing Nakamoto, though he refused to answer any further questions so it’s not clear if he plans to sue Newsweek – although it does certainly seem to be prospect.

Will the real Satoshi Nakamoto please stand up?

We know little about the ‘real’ Satoshi Nakamoto, as whoever he was went to great lengths to ensure his identity remained a secret – not surprising really, given the anonymous nature of the cryptocurrency he created. Coindesk notes that first anyone heard of him was when he published the Bitcoin protocol in a whitepaper on the Cryptography Mailing List back in November 2008, followed by the release of the first version of the Bitcoin software client in 2009. Satoshi Nakamoto later helped Bitcoin to grow from its humble origins, working with others in the burgeoning community until 2010. With Bitcoin then apparently well established, Satoshi Nakamoto gradually faded from the scene, until in Spring 2011 when he said that he’d “moved on to other things”.

Following the Newsweek article, a post has appeared on the P2P Foundation’s Ning page from an account that’s rumored to be linked to the ‘real’ Satoshi Nakamoto, which simply states that “I am not Dorian Nakamoto”.

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