LOS ANGELES » The man Newsweek claims is the founder of Bitcoin denies he had anything to do with the digital currency.

In an exclusive two-hour interview with The Associated Press Dorian S. Nakamoto, 64, said he had never heard of Bitcoin until his son told him he had been contacted by a reporter three weeks ago.

Reached at his home in Temple City, Calif., Nakamoto acknowledged that many of the details in Newsweek’s report are correct, including that he once worked for a defense contractor. But he strongly disputes the magazine’s assertion that he is "the face behind Bitcoin."

Since Bitcoin’s birth in 2009, the currency’s creator has remained a mystery. The person –or people– behind its founding have been known only as "Satoshi Nakamoto," which many observers believed to be a pseudonym.