Craig Wright is not Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto, UK judge says
The ruling comes after a month-long trial between COPA and Wright
Istvan Csak/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks
Craig Wright is not Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto, a judge ruled on Thursday.
The Crypto Open Patent Alliance notched the victory against Wright in a UK court.
According to a COPA spokesperson, Justice James Mellor — who oversaw the case — declared that Wright isn’t the author of the Bitcoin white paper, never operated under Nakamoto’s pseudonym, didn’t create Bitcoin, and didn’t author the original versions of the network.
“Any further relief will be dealt with in my written judgment. I will extend time for filing any appellant’s notice until 21 days after the form of order hearing, which will be appointed following the hand down of my written judgment,” Mellor told the court.
Read more: 13 years ago, Bitcoin’s pseudonymous creator signed off
The findings wrap up a month-long trial, which commenced initially back in February and put to rest a legal fight that COPA began in 2021.
The organization hoped to prevent Wright from taking further legal actions against members of both the crypto and developer communities.
“This decision is a win for developers, for the entire open source community and for the truth. For over eight years, Dr. Wright and his financial backers have lied about his identity as Satoshi Nakamoto and used that lie to bully and intimidate developers in the Bitcoin community. That ends today with the court’s ruling that Craig Wright is not Satoshi Nakamoto,” a COPA spokesperson told Blockworks in an email.
Read more: Craig Wright not defamed by being called ‘a fraud,’ Judge rules
Mellor, according to a news alert from COPA, found the evidence against Wright “overwhelming.”
Across crypto, industry participants and commentators weighed in on the decision.
“Satoshi understood the value of decentralization and built Bitcoin so that it could not be controlled by a single person or entity,” a Kraken spokesperson told Blockworks. “We’re pleased the court recognized the overwhelming evidence that categorically settles that Wright is not Satoshi.”
Block and Twitter founder Jack Dorsey simply posted “W” on X to show his support.
Coinbase’s chief legal officer Paul Grewal said that the court ruled “definitively and without qualification.”
Grewal also called on Wright to apologize to “every developer, builder and BTC community member whom you harassed and bullied with your lies and false demands.”
COPA’s members include Block, Coinbase, MicroStrategy and Kraken. Wright previously filed suits against Block, Kraken and Coinbase.
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