Noted security expert and bitcoin developer Andreas Antonopoulos announced a fundraising campaign on 7th March for Dorian Satoshi Nakamoto, the 64-year-old California engineer who Newsweek has suggested is the inventor of bitcoin.
The funds, according to Antonopoulos, will serve as a small "thanks" from the community should Nakamoto turn out to be the founder of bitcoin. If not, Antonopoulos said the money could still be used by Nakamoto and his family to cover any legal or medical bills they are facing.
At press time, more than 12 BTC (nearly $7,500) had been sent to the wallet by more than 400 bitcoin supporters.
Standby, I’m setting up a donation address for Dorian and some parameters for how I will handle the funds.— AndreasMAntonopoulos (@aantonop) March 7, 2014
The news comes roughly a day after Nakamoto was singled out by a two-month investigation by the magazine, which is convinced it has found the reclusive inventor.
Late yesterday, however, in an interview with The Associated Press, Nakamoto denied any connection with bitcoin and marveled at the findings by the report author Leah McGrath Goodman.
More details
Antonopoulos suggested that donations will be open until the end of March, at which point they will be converted into USD and sent to Nakamoto. Should the funds be rejected, Nakamoto can elect to send the money to a charity of his choosing.
If no response is given, the funds will go to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a non-profit that protects technology rights and which is notably defending the MIT students behind Tidbit.
Antonopoulos indicated that he would personally see the project to the end, taking steps to verify to donors that moneys are handled appropriately along the way:
Community reaction
Comments from the community were overwhelmingly positive, with many suggesting that this would be the right response regardless of the veracity of Nakamoto's alleged connection to bitcoin.
The project is not the only one that is aiming to raise awareness of Dorian Nakamoto.
Other projects include former BitInstant CEO Charlie Shrem's parody of the now-defunct mobile game "Flappy Birds", "Satoshi Flight!", and Bitcoin Financial Association member Bruce Fenton's offer to donate complementary plane service should it be needed by Nakamoto and his family.
Image: Time to give clock via Shutterstock