http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/companies/bitcoin-mystery-sydney-founder-sold-85m-in-currency-for-gold/news-story/c7b3b40de5b297e7c80f309f1f3c6df7The site is paywalled, you might be able to access the article through the result of this google search:
http://google.com/search?q=Bitcoin mystery: Sydney ‘founder’ sold $85m in currency for goldThe Sydney businessman outed as the possible creator of Bitcoin paid almost $85 million worth of the digital currency to a controversial business figure to buy gold in an attempt to build his business, according to a Federal Court claim.
Craig Wright was last week named by prominent IT magazines Wired and Gizmodo as being the possible creator of the online currency Bitcoin — and therefore potentially worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
In the latest twist to the global cyptocurrency mystery, The Australian can reveal Mr Wright allegedly made a deal with controversial business figure Mark Ferrier in 2013 to buy gold and software with tens of millions of dollars worth of Bitcoin.
At that time, in May 2013, Mr Wright claimed he could draw on one “Bitcoin wallet” worth at least $100m, demonstrating huge holdings in the e-currency.
After the alleged deal between the two went sour, Mr Wright attempted to sue Mr Ferrier for $84.25m in the Federal Court in Sydney.
The court claim came soon after Mr Ferrier was arrested in Perth and extradited to Queensland for breaching parole on dishonesty charges in September 2013. Mr Wright discontinued the court action against Mr Ferrier in March last year. Mr Ferrier told The Australian yesterday he had “not received one cent from Wright” and had “never met the bloke” prior to the action being filed.
Mr Wright’s claims on huge holdings of Bitcoin have been seen by some as evidence that he is the creator of the currency as the inventor is believed to hold up to one million Bitcoins worth more than $500m.
The latest revelations come after The Weekend Australian reported that Mr Wright was threatened with bankruptcy between 2006 and 2013 over a debt of just $425,000, following a legal dispute with another business partner that saw Mr Wright have a restraining order issued against him and convicted of contempt of court.
Interest in the Australian IT entrepreneur and security expert has heightened after the IT magazines last week outed him as the possible Bitcoin creator, a man previously known only by the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto.
There has been a worldwide hunt for the elusive Nakamoto since the launch of Bitcoin in January 2009. The currency has grown in value to be worth $US5 billion.
The outing came as Australian Taxation Office officials accompanied by Australian Federal Police last week executed a warrant at Mr Wright’s Sydney home as part of a tax dispute associated with his companies.
The acrimonious dispute with Mr Ferrier allegedly started in 2013 when Mr Wright and Mr Ferrier met at a mining conference.
The pair allegedly agreed that Mr Ferrier would procure software on his behalf from global telecommunications giant Siemens and banking software from Saudi Arabian financial institution Dallah Al-Baraka Group.
Mr Ferrier allegedly claimed he would be able to buy software on behalf of his mining company, MJF Mining, and share it with Mr Wright for his own development.
Mr Wright alleged he was then encouraged to invest in gold by Mr Ferrier, who had recently embarked with ASX-listed goldminer Paynes Find Gold. As part of the deal, the miner would provide Mr Ferrier’s MJF with 50 per cent of the gold finds in return for providing machinery to the company. Mr Ferrier is alleged to have told Mr Wright gold was good security in the event the “funny money” of Bitcoin failed.
Mr Wright has alleged payments were made in August 2013 of $38.8m — then the equivalent of 245,103 Bitcoin — for Siemens software and gold from Paynes. He then claimed payments were made to Mr Ferrier of $20.3m — or 135,100 Bitcoin — in September 2013 for the “core software” from Al-Baraka. In September that year Mr Ferrier was arrested in Perth and the gold partnership with Paynes was discontinued.
In December 2013 Mr Wright filed actions in the Federal Court and NSW Supreme Court suing for his share of the gold, claiming the sum of $84.42m based on the market value of the alleged Bitcoin payments for the gold.
The dispute with Mr Ferrier is referenced in what is claimed to be a leaked interview transcript to Gizmodo between ATO officials and Mr Wright.
In that interview he claimed that “I did my best to try and hide the fact that I’ve been running Bitcoin since 2009”.
Mr Wright was interviewed about his companies — which claim to have paid up shareholdings of around $300m — as well his alleged dealings with Mr Ferrier. “My understanding was Mr Ferrier didn’t actually want any Bitcoin. He wanted the monetary value that he was going to get from these other guys for doing all the stuff,” he is claimed to have said.
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