ARTHUR NAKAMOTO: Newsweek Reporter 'Is Destroying My Eldest Brother'

Newsweek is standing by Leah McGrath Goodman's assertion that Dorian Prentice Satoshi Nakamoto invented Bitcoin.

Nakamoto is denying it.

One source for McGrath Goodman's piece was Dorian's brother, Arthur.

In a very brief phone conversation with Business Insider Friday, Arthur Nakamoto indicated he'd been misquoted or misinterpreted in some way, and had harsh words for McGrath Goodman.

"She's destroying my eldest brother," he said, adding, "this is sick," before hanging up.

It was not clear whether he meant McGrath Goodman had gotten her whole story wrong, or that she had drawn unwelcome attention toward Dorian Nakamoto. Attempts to follow up by phone and email were unsuccessful.

In the piece, McGrath Goodman quoted him thusly:

"My brother is an asshole. What you don't know about him is that he's worked on classified stuff. His life was a complete blank for a while. You're not going to be able to get to him. He'll deny everything. He'll never admit to starting Bitcoin."

In his interview with the AP's Ryan Nakashima, Dorian Nakamoto also said he'd been misunderstood by McGrath Goodman. "It sounded like I was involved before with bitcoin and looked like I'm not involved now. That's not what I meant. I want to clarify that," he said.

Dorian has not spoken since that interview.