Just a few days ago, the Winklevoss twins, the pseudo-creators of Facebook who've profited mightily from Bitcoin (an estimated $11 million), wrote a blog post comparing their impending trip to space onboard Virgin Galactic's commercial rocket ship to a contribution, in some small way, to the ideal of the modern entrepreneur whose real life examples they list as Elon Musk, Richard Branson, and Satoshi Nakamoto.

Until Newsweek's investigative article published on Friday, the last name of that list had been little more than a name -- associated with the creation of Bitcoin, but with few biographical details.

The Newsweek reporter only managed to have a short conversation with Nakamoto at his humble Los Angeles home before a police officer and the 64 year-old Japanese-American shooed her away.

"I am no longer involved in that and I cannot discuss it," Nakamoto said. "It's been turned over to other people. They are in charge of it now. I no longer have any connection."

Despite previous reports surmising otherwise, Nakamato is his real name and not a pseudonym for a twenty-something year-old Japanese tech whiz. Before Newsweek author Leah McGrath Goodman could definitively link the Los Angeles man to the creation of Bitcoin, her story took some strange turns concerning both Nakamato and the lengths she went to research her article.

After conducting a nationwide search for the name Satoshi Nakamato (not a common name in the U.S., where he was suspected to have been living), Goodman finally found what she thought was a match in California. Assuming her subject's secretive nature, Goodman obtained Nakamato's email through a model train company from which he frequently ordered and restricted her questions to his favorite hobby. (It's unclear from the article if at that point she divulged her ultimate intent or position as a Newsweek reporter.) Eventually, however, she would ask Nakamato about Bitcoin. He stopped replying to her emails and subsequent phone calls.

Goodman did, however, make contact with Nakamato's brother.

"My brother is an asshole," Aurthur Nakamato said. "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."

Next, Goodman spoke with Bitcoin's chief scientist, Gavin Andresen, who'd once corresponded with Nakamato for a year (by email or private message only) during the early stages of the electronic currency's creation. He knew about as much as Goodman before Nakamato cut off all communications a few years ago.

"He was the kind of person who, if you made an honest mistake, he might call you an idiot and never speak to you again," Andresen said. "Back then, it was not clear that creating Bitcoin might be a legal thing to do. He went to great lengths to protect his anonymity."

Eventually, Goodman would confirm Nakamato's identity; his career in classified government projects; his "weird hobbies; his six children; his highly private nature; and a host of other facts about the man's extraordinary life.

Definitely read the full article, but thanks for reading the abridged one.