Screenshot Via BBC

The Australian IT executive who late last year was engulfed by rumours that he invented Bitcoin has claimed he really is behind the digital currency.

Craig Steven Wright came to prominence as a strong contender for being the true identity of Satoshi Nakamoto, the mysterious figure behind the creation of Bitcoin, in December 2015.

He disappeared from public view at the time but has now re-surfaced, claiming he wants to “set the record straight”.

Wright gave access to the BBC, The Economist, and GQ ahead of going public with his claim that he is Nakamoto. Here’s part of how he proved his identity, as reported by the BBC:

… Mr Wright digitally signed messages using cryptographic keys created during the early days of Bitcoin’s development. The keys are inextricably linked to blocks of bitcoins known to have been created or “mined” by Satoshi Nakamoto. “These are the blocks used to send 10 bitcoins to Hal Finney in January [2009] as the first bitcoin transaction,” said Mr Wright during his demonstration.

Wright said he planned to release information that would allow others to cryptographically verify that he is Nakamoto, the pseudonym attached to the Bitcoin inventor ever since the crypto-currency came into being in 2008.

Since then the hunt for the person behind the pseudonym has garnered global attention.

Bitcoin uses cryptography to move money and records it in a ledger without the need of a bank.

In December as a number of reports claimed Wright could be Nakamoto, Australian federal authorities raided his home, sifting through his garbage. The tax office said at the time the raids had nothing to do with his reported association with Bitcoin, although they were carried out within hours of the publication of the investigative stories.

Business Insider discovered that a company linked to Wright was in a significant dispute with authorities over its use of tax credits.