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A judge at London’s High Court ruled on Thursday that Craig Wright, an Australian computer scientist who asserts he created bitcoin, is not “Satoshi Nakamoto,” the pseudonymous inventor of the cryptocurrency.
Wright has long maintained authorship of a 2008 white paper, the foundational text of bitcoin, published under a pseudonym.
The Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA) brought Wright to court to prevent him from suing bitcoin developers, asking for a ruling that Wright was not Satoshi.
Judge James Mellor concluded that the evidence disproving Wright’s claim to being Satoshi was substantial. “Dr Wright is not the author of the Bitcoin white paper... Dr Wright did not operate under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto during the period of 2008 to 2011,” he stated.
COPA, whose members include Twitter founder Jack Dorsey’s payments firm Block, hailed the ruling as a victory for developers, the open-source community, and truth.
A COPA spokesperson emphasised that Wright and his supporters had propagated falsehoods about his identity for over eight years to intimidate bitcoin developers, and this ruling exposed the truth.
Wright’s spokesperson declined to comment at this time. Allegations of perjury were levelled against Wright by COPA, who claimed he repeatedly forged documents, including during the trial itself, an accusation Wright denied during his testimony.
COPA’s lawyer accused Wright of fabricating evidence on a large scale, even employing ChatGPT forgeries.
Wright’s legal team argued that he provided substantial evidence proving his authorship of the white paper and creation of bitcoin.
COPA’s lawyers requested Judge Mellor to refer the case to Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service for potential prosecution on charges of perjury and obstructing justice, though Mellor did not indicate whether he would do so.
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