An Australian computer scientist who claimed to be the mysterious Bitcoin inventor “Satoshi Nakamoto” lied “extensively and repeatedly” about his identity, a British judge has said in a scathing ruling.
London High Court judge James Mellor said Craig Wright, who has long claimed to have written the 2008 white paper that created Bitcoin, also committed a “massive” forgery to convince the world he was Satoshi. It was determined that the
A judge had already ruled in March that there was “overwhelming” evidence against Mr Wright’s claims to be Satoshi.
“Dr. Wright describes himself as a very intelligent person. But in my judgment, he is not as intelligent as he thinks he is,” Mellor said Monday, explaining his reasons for his conclusion. I wrote this while
“All of his lies and forged documents supported his biggest lie: his claim to be Satoshi Nakamoto.”
Wright was facing trial in connection with a lawsuit brought by the Crypto Open Patent Alliance, which sought to halt his efforts to sue Bitcoin developers for allegedly violating intellectual property rights.
COPA, whose members include Twitter founder Jack Dorsey’s payments company Block, described Monday’s ruling as “a turning point for the open source community.”
“Developers can continue the important work of maintaining, improving, and improving the Bitcoin network without risking their personal lives or fearing costly and time-consuming litigation from Craig Wright.” A COPA spokesperson said in a statement.
Wright was asked specifically about the forgery charges during the trial and denied any wrongdoing.
“If I could have forged that document, it would have been perfect,” Wright said when confronted with the forgery allegations.
COPA said it may ask British prosecutors to bring perjury charges against Wright.
“Dr. Wright’s attempt to prove that he is Satoshi Nakamoto is the most serious abuse of this court’s process,” Mellor said in his ruling.
Despite the harsh rebuke, Wright said in a post on X on Monday that he intended to challenge the court’s decision.
“I intend to fully appeal the court’s decision on the identity issue,” the post said. “I would like to thank all of our supporters for their unwavering encouragement and support.”
The person behind the Satoshi Nakamoto pseudonym is known to be in possession of a stash. Up to 1.1 million Bitcoins – Current value of over $78 billion.
As of Tuesday, one Bitcoin was worth more than $71,000, and prices have soared more than 60% since the beginning of the year.
Bitcoin’s market capitalization is over $1.4 trillion, much higher than any other digital currency on the market.
with post wire
