Bitcoin Creator May Be Japanese Mathematician

Shinichi Mochizuki hasn't confirmed, so take it for what it's worth

Ted Nelson, the American academic who in 1963 coined the term hypertext, and is therefore viewed as one of the World Wide Web's founding fathers, just released a 12-minute video with a big reveal at the end: The inventor of bitcoin, says Nelson, is probably Japanese mathematician Shinichi Mochizuki.

[Update: Nelson answered our request for comment. He says that he did not receive help from anyone in coming to his conclusions, and that his supposition was inspired by a recent feature on Mochizuki. After reading it, writes Nelson in an email to Quartz, "It was obvious, like a pie in the face." He has not contacted Mochizuki directly. "I did this  as fast as possible, hoping to be first with this realization. I wasn't, as I found out later."]

Nelson offers no direct evidence for his conclusion that Shinichi Mochizuki is behind the pseudonymous creator of bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto. Instead, in his eccentric way, he offers plausible circumstantial evidence about his theory, outlined below. Internet surfers and the press are bound to investigate furiously. (We have reached out to Mochizuki for comment, but haven't heard back.)