London, Thursday, March 14, 2024- A British judge ruled on Thursday that Australian computer scientist Craig Wright is not Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin. 1
The verdict came after a five-week trial at the High Court in London. A detailed ruling will be given later.
Justice Mellor delivered a swift decision, citing “overwhelming evidence” against Wright’s claim. The lawsuit, brought by the Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA) in 2021, aimed to definitively disprove Wright’s claims to the Satoshi Nakamoto identity.
COPA, a non-profit group comprised of technology and cryptocurrency firms, argued that Wright’s aggressive legal actions over alleged ownership of Bitcoin’s intellectual property were hindering the cryptocurrency’s development.
Wright has long asserted that he is Satoshi Nakamoto but has failed to convince the court or the cryptocurrency community.
COPA’s lawyers accused Wright of “a massive campaign of dishonesty and forgery,” even alleging the creation of fake documents during the trial itself.
This is not the first time someone has falsely claimed to be Bitcoin’s inventor.
Australian computer scientist and businessman Craig Wright has long maintained that he is Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin. However, these claims have faced widespread skepticism from the media and cryptocurrency community.
In 2014, Dorian Satoshi Nakamoto, a Japanese-American man with no connection to cryptocurrency, was mistakenly identified as Satoshi Nakamoto by Newsweek magazine.
The incident caused significant disruption for Dorian Nakamoto.
Satoshi Nakamoto is the pseudonym used by the person or group of people credited with creating Bitcoin, the world’s first and most popular cryptocurrency.
Nakamoto authored the Bitcoin white paper titled Bitcoin P2P e-cash in October 2008, outlining the technical specifications for the decentralized digital currency.
They also played a key role in launching the Bitcoin network and implementing its initial reference software.
Since Bitcoin’s inception, the true identity of Satoshi Nakamoto has remained a closely guarded secret.
Nakamoto interacted with other developers through online forums and email during the early stages of Bitcoin, but their communication ceased around 2010. Despite extensive efforts by the cryptocurrency community and media organizations, Nakamoto’s real identity has never been conclusively revealed.
The anonymity surrounding Satoshi Nakamoto has fueled considerable speculation.
To date Three individuals have come forward claiming to be the creator, but none have provided credible evidence to substantiate their claims.
Background can be seen here.