Australian computer scientist, inventor and academic Dr. Craig Steven Wright has confirmed his identity as Satoshi Nakomoto, the inventor of the Bitcoin alternative currency and blockchain technology.

Last December, multiple media outlets identified Wright (pictured) as the human face behind the Satoshi pseudonym who in 2009 gifted the Bitcoin and blockchain technology to the world. Wright neither confirmed nor denied these media reports, leaving others to speculate as to whether Satoshi had actually been run to ground.

On Monday, Wright officially went public as the man behind the Satoshi mask. The BBC reported that Wright recently confirmed his identity to prominent technology figures by digitally signing messages using the private encryption keys linked with Bitcoin blocks 1-9, which were definitively associated with the Satoshi identity.

Technology industry mainstay Jon Matonis, a founding director of the Bitcoin Foundation, was given a private proof session by Wright in late March. Matonis deemed the proof conclusive, and said he has “no doubt that Craig Steven Wright is the person behind the Bitcoin technology, Nakamoto consensus and the Satoshi Nakamoto name.”