An Australian-born computer scientist who claims to be the mysterious Bitcoin inventor known as Satoshi Nakamoto was grilled Tuesday by lawyers for a group of crypto developers backed by Jack Dorsey over allegations of an elaborate hoax. pursued.
In a London courtroom, Craig Wright was pressured by lawyers from the Crypto Open Patent Alliance to release a 2008 white paper published under Nakamoto’s pseudonym, purportedly the foundational text for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. claimed to be the author of.
The group, a nonprofit consortium of crypto and tech companies whose members include Twitter founder Dorsey’s payments firm Block, said Wright had not provided any real evidence that he wrote the white paper. , has accused him of repeatedly forging documents to support his claims.
COPA attorney Jonathan Huff asked as Wright took the stand. “Have you ever forged or falsified any documents to support your claim to be Satoshi Nakamoto?”
Wright answered, “No.”
Mr. Hough continued: “Have you ever presented any intentionally forged or altered documents to support your claim that you are Satoshi Nakamoto?”
Wright replied, “Not at all.”
Mr. Hough then submitted a number of allegations of fabrication to Mr. Wright, including academic papers containing handwritten notes, which Mr. Wright claims inspired his decision to use the name Satoshi Nakamoto.
Mr. Wright retorted: “It would have been perfect to forge that document.”
The five-week hearing, which began Monday, is the culmination of years of speculation about Satoshi’s true identity.
Wright has sued dozens of cryptocurrency creators over the years for refusing to help him recover billions of dollars worth of Bitcoin that he claims is rightfully his. has been caused.
COPA filed the complaint against Wright in an effort to prevent him from continuing to sue Bitcoin developers and preserve the open source nature of the world’s most popular cryptocurrency.
COPA is asking the High Court in London to rule that Wright is not Satoshi.
He said he repeatedly forged documents to support his claims, before changing his story when the allegations of fabrication were discovered.
But Mr. Wright denies relying on false records and blames others, including his former lawyers and colleagues, for the inauthentic documents.
He claims to be the owner of 1.1 million Bitcoins, which would put his net worth at about $47.4 billion.
In 2022, a Florida federal court ruled that Mr. Wright’s former business partner, the late David A judgment was awarded to Mr. Klayman’s estate in the amount of $143 million.
Mr. Wright has long maintained that Mr. Klayman was involved in the invention of Bitcoin. Mr. Kleiman passed away in April 2013.
Mr. Klayman’s estate sued Mr. Wright for the rights to between 550,000 and 1.1 million bitcoins, but lost, claiming they had been defrauded.
The foundation sought billions of dollars worth of Bitcoin, but the jury awarded $100 million in damages.
with post wire
