Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of Bitcoin, is the most wanted man in the world. That is, he would be if he is a man, or even if he is still in this world.

Nobody knows, and in the style of all good mysteries, nobody is talking. Satoshi Nakamoto is almost certainly a pseudonym, which could be used by anyone. Yet another mad chase for Nakamoto through the Internet this week ended the same way all the searches for him end: (spoiler alert) in dead ends and blind alleys.

The latest effort — a burst of excitement around two stories in Wired and Gizmodo that identified Satoshi Nakamoto as Australian businessman Craig Steven Wright — collapsed quickly in a Spartacus-like smackdown from Nakamoto's only known email account: According to Coindesk, the email sent on Dec. 10 from the address satoshi@vistomail.com, reads: "I am not Craig Wright. We are all Satoshi."

Is that the answer to one of the biggest mysteries on the Internet? What is anyone supposed to do with that?

The living and the dead

Let's step back. Since the Gizmodo and Wired reports were released, within hours of each other, the Internet has lost its mind.

On Wednesday, Gizmodo and Wired released two separate articles - with screenshots and documents — claiming that the creator of Bitcoin Craig Steven Wright, with involvement from his deceased friend David Kleiman, who died in 2013 remembered as"one of the best computer forensic experts there is."

Both reports cite documents and emailed obtained from an anonymous source — Wired referring to a "leak" while Gizmodo referred to a "hack" — which are used as evidence to prove Wright is Nakamoto and Kleiman was his sidekick.

After a spate of overwhelming excitement, both websites openly admit they may have been fooled by an elaborate hoax, and Wired admits the documents may have been fabricated, while Gizmodo states calls to Wright substantiate the information with his real life dealings.

"Either Wright invented Bitcoin, or he's a brilliant hoaxer who very badly wants us to believe he did," Wired wrote, hedging its bets. The publication also makes it clear the documents could be in part or entirely fake — and notes that multiple online entries were edited after 2013 to include Bitcoin references.

It was all too tempting to believe, and believe it people did. What went forgotten: People have embarrassed themselves before in this search. In 2014, Newsweek published an article that claimed Nakamoto was in fact 64-year-old Japanese-American man Dorian Nakamoto.

See also: The mysterious creator of Bitcoin could be an Australian businessman

It is a claim that has been repeatedly denied by Dorian, culminating in him saying he was suing the publication.

That didn't end it. Bitcoin obsessives began searching for answers — and a creator — again.

To discover the founder of Bitcoin would be to expose one of the great mysteries of the technology world. Which brings us back to December 2015, when the Internet lost its mind.

Kleiman and Wright.

A very interesting resume

Wright, who vacated his Sydney home before the press pack and the Australia Tax Office turned up, appears a strange character from his intriguing online profile.

His list of qualifications is lengthy, with his LinkedIn profile mentioning a relationship National Security Agency and NASA, books he has authored, huge projects he has worked on and his work as CEO for multiple companies within the cryptocurrency space. The profile is an encyclopedia of achievement.

In real life, he comes across as less impressive and somewhat shady in his responses. "[I do] a whole lot of things that people don’t realise is possible yet," Wright said, when asked to explain who he was at a panel discussion on Bitcoin in October.

When asked by the moderator for clarification, Wright said: "I'm a bit of everything. I have a masters of law, I have a masters in statistics, a couple doctorates, I forget actually what I’ve got these days."

He claims he has studied at the University of London and completed multiple degrees at Charles Sturt University in Australia, including a thesis on the quantifications of information systems risk. The University of London and Charles Sturt University in Australia have been contacted for academic records.

On Friday afternoon, Charles Sturt University released a statement via email to Mashable confirming Wright completed three qualifications from the university: Master of Networking and Systems Administration, Master of Management (Information Technology) and Master of Information Systems Security.

He was not awarded a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) by the university, a Masters in Systems Development or a degree in Psychology as he claimed on his LinkedIn page and in his resume.

Despite Wright stating he was a lecturer and researcher for the university, the spokesperson also said: "Between May 2011 and May 2014 Mr Wright was an adjunct academic at CSU. Adjunct academics undertake unpaid academic work and are not formally employed by the University."

Australian Taxation Office investigation

There are two things we know about Wright's companies: they have received subsidies from the Australian government, and they are heavily intertwined with bitcoin in their financing.

On Wednesday, hours after the stories were published by Gizmodo and Wired and media began to gather outside Wright's suburban property, officers from the Australian Taxation Office and the Australian Federal Police raided the home.

According to the Guardian, two officers wearing white gloves searched the garage next to the house. It is unclear what they were searching for, but the Australian Tax Office told the publication it was not connected to the media reports about Wright's connection to bitcoin.

“The AFP can confirm it has conducted search warrants to assist the Australian Taxation Office at a residence in Gordon and a business premises in Ryde, Sydney. This matter is unrelated to recent media reporting regarding the digital currency bitcoin,” a spokesperson said.

The house Wright was renting in Sydney, it was raided by the ATO. Image: Getty Images

It isn't the first time Wright has been embroiled in problems with the ATO. Gizmodopublished the minutes of a meeting in 2014 between Craig, his lawyer and the ATO in which he attempts to convince the department that Bitcoin is currency, in an attempt to lower the tax threshold.

Wright's companies form a complex web, with many of the companies claiming some form of Research and Development funding from the Australian government. Multiple companies within the network ultimately became the target of ATO investigations, while Wright's team continued to claim it was due to confusion around the use and taxation of Bitcoin, rather than anything below board.

One company that's being scrutinized by Australian tax authorities is Hotwire Pre-emptive Intelligence. The dispute started when Hotwire claimed $3.4 million in GST tax credits, and the ATO disputed the claim — instead fining the company $1.7 million, according to documents by McGrath Nicol.

Hotwire also connected its business to Bitcoin in federal filings.

"Hotwire was established on 2 June 2013 to undertake research and development on e-learning systems and e-payment systems and software. Hotwire acquired its software through a range of complex bitcoin related transactions," administrator McGrath Nicol wrote in the Deed of Company Arrangement.

In 2014, the company failed, and 44 staff members were made redundant, after the problems with the ATO started.

In May this year, Wright's umbrella company, DeMorgan, secured $54 million in research and development grants from the government in the 2014-15 financial year. The company announced the funding was to tune Supercomputers so as to have the fastest computer in the southern hemisphere.

Wright praised the news in a statement released via PR Wire: "This rebate will strengthen the group’s cash position and is an important source of funds for our development activities. We acknowledge the Government’s support of important R&D activities, and we look forward to the successful commercialisation of our Blockchain and smart contract systems research."

"We understand that Panopticrypt’s refund claim relates to similar complex bitcoin related events and transactions that apply to Hotwire’s refund claim," according to McGrath Nicol in a November 2015 report.

A transcript of a meeting between Wright's business associates and the ATO. Image: Gizmodo

A transcript of a 2014 meeting between the ATO and Wright's accountant, in relation to the set up of the numerous companies, forms part of Gizmodo's compelling research.

The information backs the claims made by Wright in unverified documents obtained by the publications, with a company representative stating: "Craig Wright started all this in 2009 when he started mining Bitcoins."

According to the transcript, Wright also became caught up with a man named Mark Ferrier, who was involved in fraudulent activities in Australia. According to the transcript, Ferrier made a deal to help Wright bring the first Bitcoin ATM to Australia in exchange for Bitcoins. The matter ended up in court.

In earlier years, Wright was also in trouble with the criminal system. According to New South Wales Supreme Court documents, in 2004, Wright was found guilty of contempt of court for approaching businesses he had dealt with at DeMorgan Ltd., a business he resigned from in 2003.

The organisations he was prevented from approaching were News Limited, the Australian Stock Exchange and the Rail Infrastructure Corporation. Wright was sentenced to 28 days jail suspended on condition he perform 250 hours of community service. He appealed the decision and lost.

Wright doesn't act like Nakamoto

Another reporter who was leaked the documents regarding Nakamoto is Nathaniel Popper at the New York Times. He tweeted that he looked into the claims, but believed it didn't add up. On Wednesday U.S. time, Popper said he was somewhat more convinced after reading the Gizmodo story, but said he took particular issue with the writing style of Wright.

Documents and emails archived online and various comments in response to his work from as early as 2007, do show a lot of doubt cast over his various theories and commentary, such as people in the Bitcoin community mocking Wright's obsession with security flaws in appliances.

1.Got a very curious email attempting to dox Craig Wright — Wired's Satoshi — back in Oct. Didn't find it convincing at the time. — Nathaniel Popper (@nathanielpopper) December 8, 2015

. @a_greenberg @samfbiddle The details of the Wright-Satoshi link are very convincing but where I get stuck is the personality — Nathaniel Popper (@nathanielpopper) December 8, 2015

. @samfbiddle @a_greenberg Satoshi was understated + opted for economy in his writing (+ spelled well) That's where Wright doesn't match — Nathaniel Popper (@nathanielpopper) December 8, 2015

The Conversation also raised doubts in relation to Wright's writing style and knowledge of Bitcoins, stating he couldn't even spell the name of the currency in articles he wrote for the website in 2011. The publication notes he didn't even list Bitcoin as the first alternative to PayPal.

"Nakamoto would have known how to spell Bitcoin (he rarely made spelling mistakes in his writing unlike Wright’s writing that was plagued with them), would have suggested Bitcoin as the first alternative to PayPal and was not a supporter of financial third parties mediating financial transactions," it reads.

So little adds up

It is the small details that have led to the most questions, although it should be those details that close the case.

Vox notes the email address referenced in the Wired story, satoshin@vistomail.com, is a slightly different variation to satoshi@vistomail.com, which was used by Nakamoto in the early days. Gizmodo has screenshots showing the satoshi@vistomail.com email, although they are impossible to confirm. It is unclear why there is a discrepancy.

As mentioned earlier, many online details — such as the PGP key that matches Nakamoto's email address — were edited after 2013, according to Wired. Ira Steven, Kleiman's brother, holds a secure USB with the answers possibly inside but he is the man that no one has been able to speak to.

What we do know is that Kleiman and Wright were associates since at least 2008, Kleiman died in 2013, online documents were edited after this time to illustrate Wright's links to Bitcoin and Wright's companies are tied up in a disastrous situation with the ATO that has been ongoing for years.

We don't know the documents have not been fabricated, we don't know where Wright is and we still cannot be sure where in the world is Satoshi Nakamoto.

UPDATE: Friday, Dec. 11, 4:24 p.m.: Charles Sturt University denies some of Craig Wright's claims regarding his education at the university, including that he completed a thesis.