Dr. Craig Wright’s claim to be Satoshi Nakamoto, the elusive creator of bitcoin and author of the bitcoin white paper, has been unequivocally dismissed by Mr. Justice Mellor of the English High Court. The judgment, issued on 20 May 2024 in the case of Crypto Open Patent Alliance v Craig Steven Wright [2024] EWHC 1198 (Ch), meticulously details why Dr. Wright’s assertions were found to be false.
Parties facing claims from Dr.Wright (whether in England or other jurisdictions) will be assisted by Mr.Justice Mellor’s determination that:
“Dr Wright’s attempts to prove he was/is Satoshi Nakamoto represent a most serious abuse of this Court’s process. The same point applies to other jurisdictions as well: Norway in particular. . . . It is clear that Dr Wright engaged in the deliberate production of false documents to support false claims and use the Courts as a vehicle for fraud. Despite acknowledging in this Trial that a few documents were inauthentic (generally blamed on others), he steadfastly refused to acknowledge any of the forged documents. Instead, he lied repeatedly and extensively in his attempts to deflect the allegations of forgery.”
Mr.Justice Mellor emphasised that the real Satoshi Nakamoto would not have needed to resort to such deceit and speculated that Satoshi is likely a group of people rather than an individual.
INJUNCTIVE RELIEF
The judgment also touched on the issue of injunctive relief, which will be addressed in a forthcoming Form of Order hearing. This legal remedy aims to prevent Dr. Wright from continuing to assert his false claims and initiating further lawsuits against bitcoin developers. COPA, a nonprofit representing bitcoin developers supported by prominent figures such as Twitter founder Jack Dorsey and crypto exchange Coinbase, plans to seek several injunctions to safeguard the crypto community.
WORLDWIDE FREEZING ORDER
Prior to handing down his judgment, Mr. Justice Mellor had already granted a worldwide freezing order against Dr.Wright in the sum of £6 million ($7.6 million).This followed his opponents’ identification that, in the days following Mr.Justice Mellor’s initial finding, Dr.Wright had filed to transfer his shares in a holding company to one registered in Singapore, giving rise to serious concerns that Dr.Wright was seeking to evade the cost consequences of his loss at trial.
This decision provides a useful analysis as to the availability of prospective costs orders.However, the finding is very fact-specific and relied on the fact that “[t]his is not a merely prospective costs order which they might secure dependent on success in the action. COPA (and the Developers) have succeeded. Accordingly, the relevant merits for the costs order are very strong indeed. . . . They are far stronger than a more normal case where the claimant merely establishes that it has a good arguable case on the merits of the underlying claim.”
IMPLICATIONS OF CASE
These judgments mark an important step in ending a protracted campaign of litigation and threats by Dr.Wright, who had sought to take command of the cryptocurrency ecosystem by suing journalists and bloggers who questioned his purported identity for defamation and claiming intellectual property rights against developers and other parties.
Following the judgment, COPA celebrated the ruling as a victory for the open-source community, highlighting the collective efforts that led to this outcome. Meanwhile, Dr.Wright announced his intention to appeal and thanked his supporters on social media.
This decisive ruling not only clears the air regarding bitcoin’s mysterious origins but also sets a significant precedent for future intellectual property disputes in the cryptocurrency realm.
For more information, see the judgment and the freezing order judgment.
FAQs
A judge in the UK High Court has ruled that computer scientist Craig Wright lied “extensively and repeatedly” and committed forgery “on a grand scale” in aid of a years-long quest to prove he is Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of Bitcoin.
What was the court decision on Craig Wright? ›
What did the Court decide? The High Court concluded that the evidence in support of COPA's case was overwhelming and declared that Dr Wright is not Satoshi.
Who is the creator of the Bitcoin? ›
Satoshi Nakamoto is the pseudonym of the enigmatic person or group of people that created Bitcoin BTC -1.0033% , the revolutionary digital currency that popularized the concept of decentralized, peer-to-peer transactions without the need for intermediaries like banks.
Who is really behind the creation of Bitcoin? ›
Bitcoin was created by an anonymous person or group using the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto. Nakamoto published a whitepaper titled "Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System," outlining the concept of a decentralized digital currency. 1 The true identity of Satoshi Nakamoto remains unknown to this day.
Who is the man who really built Bitcoin? ›
| Satoshi Nakamoto |
|---|
| A statue in Budapest dedicated to Satoshi Nakamoto |
| Known for | Inventing bitcoin, implementing the first blockchain |
| Scientific career |
| Fields | Digital currencies, computer science, cryptography |
1 more rowFor the third year running, Changpeng Zhao, founder and former CEO of crypto exchange Binance, is crypto's wealthiest person. Despite pleading guilty to U.S. money laundering charges in November, CZ, as he's known, is now worth an estimated $33 billion, up from $10.5 billion last year.
Why is bitcoin going up? ›
BTC price bounces from moving average support
Daily price chart technicals show BTC's price jumped after testing its 50-day exponential moving average (50-day EMA; the red wave) as support. This wave support has capped BTC's downside attempts multiple times in recent history.
What is the simple definition of bitcoin? ›
Bitcoin (BTC) is a cryptocurrency (a virtual currency) designed to act as money and a form of payment outside the control of any one person, group, or entity. This removes the need for trusted third-party involvement (e.g., a mint or bank) in financial transactions.
What was the Supreme Court decision in Craig v Boren? ›
In a 7-to-2 decision, the Court held that the statute made unconstitutional gender classifications. The Court held that the statistics relied on by the state of Oklahoma were insufficient to show a substantial relationship between the law and the maintenance of traffic safety.
Who owns most Bitcoin? ›
So, who are the top holders of BTC? According to the Bitcoin research and analysis firm River Intelligence, Satoshi Nakamoto, the anonymous creator behind Bitcoin, is listed as the top BTC holder as of 2024. The company notes that Satoshi Nakamoto holds about 1.1m BTC tokens in about 22,000 different addresses.
Bitcoin is not controlled by any single group or person. Instead, it is governed by multiple stakeholders — including developers, miners, and users. Developers write the code that makes Bitcoin run; miners validate transactions; and users put the software to work by trading, transacting, holding, and more.
Who is the real starter of Bitcoin? ›
The legend of Satoshi Nakamoto, the anonymous bitcoin founder, is a mystery built for the digital age. His true identity has become mythologized, and while no one knows who he is, he's become a symbol of a new era of freedom in finance and technology.
Can Bitcoin go to zero? ›
A reasonable assumption that Bitcoin could hypothetically reach the null state of it's value is worth the thought. Even-though such an event is very less likely to take place, there are some factors that could theoretically lead to Bitcoin price crashing to zero.
How many people own 1 Bitcoin? ›
Summary: As of 2024, there are about 420 million cryptocurrency users globally. Of these, approximately 1.5 million individuals possess more than 1 Bitcoin, which is just 0.36% of all cryptocurrency users.
Did the creator of Bitcoin get rich? ›
But there are some compelling theories for who Satoshi really is — and who might control the 1.1 million bitcoin in known Satoshi wallets. If Satoshi is alive and in control of his keys, then he has access to holdings worth around $70 billion at today's prices.
Who is Bitcoin God father? ›
Who created the Bitcoin logo? ›
Original symbol #
Satoshi Nakamoto created this lettered golden coin for the original Bitcoin client, released on January 9, 2009. The original logo in an early version of the Bitcoin client.
Who owns most of the Bitcoins? ›
So, who are the top holders of BTC? According to the Bitcoin research and analysis firm River Intelligence, Satoshi Nakamoto, the anonymous creator behind Bitcoin, is listed as the top BTC holder as of 2024. The company notes that Satoshi Nakamoto holds about 1.1m BTC tokens in about 22,000 different addresses.
Is a London judge ruled that Craig Wright is not the pseudonymous inventor of Bitcoin? ›
A UK judge ruled that Craig Wright is not the inventor of bitcoin. London — An Australian computer scientist who claims he invented bitcoin is not “Satoshi Nakamoto,” the pseudonymous inventor of the cryptocurrency, a judge at London's High Court ruled on Thursday.
