Craig Wright, the Australian computer scientist who has long been claiming to be Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin, has been sentenced to 1 year suspended prison time by the UK High Court.
This is after a ruling that determined he breached a court order not to pursue legal action based on his claims of being the Bitcoin creator.
The trouble started back in 2016, when Wright claimed to be Satoshi Nakamoto, an assertion that the Bitcoin community has long dismissed.
In March 2023 a UK court ruled he wasn’t the creator of Bitcoin, with Judge James Mellor saying Wright had lied “extensively and repeatedly”. But Wright continued to file lawsuits based on his disputed identity and now he’s been found in contempt of court in December.
Related: “Overwhelming Evidence” | Judge Rules Craig Wright Is Not Satoshi
The Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA), a non-profit backed by major digital asset companies, brought Wright to court earlier this year to prove he wasn’t Satoshi Nakamoto. COPA argued Wright’s lawsuits were an attempt to assert intellectual property rights over Bitcoin.
“It is clear that Dr. Wright engaged in the deliberate production of false documents to support false claims and used the courts as a vehicle for fraud,” wrote Judge Mellor in his March judgment.
“I am entirely satisfied that Dr. Wright lied to the Court extensively and repeatedly. All his lies and forged documents were in support of his biggest lie: his claim to be Satoshi Nakamoto.”
Despite the March ruling preventing Wright from filing any further claims related to Bitcoin, Wright filed another lawsuit in October 2023. He was seeking over $1 trillion in damages, claiming Bitcoin developers had deviated from Satoshi Nakamoto’s plan and misled investors.
This blatant breach of the court order got COPA to accuse Wright of contempt on 5 counts.
On December 19 Judge Mellor found Wright guilty of contempt and sentenced him to 1 year in prison, suspended for 2 years. Wright was also fined £145,000 (approximately $180,000). The suspension means Wright won’t go to jail unless he reoffends in the next 2 years.
“It’s rare for someone, having been ordered not to file legal proceedings, to do exactly that in the same court that issued the prohibition,” said COPA’s lawyer Tristan Sherliker.
Wright has a history of not complying with court orders. Despite being ordered to attend the December hearing in person he appeared by video link, citing financial difficulties in getting to the UK from Asia where he claims to be based.
COPA offered to pay for his economy flight but he declined and didn’t disclose his whereabouts.
Judge Mellor acknowledged the difficulties of enforcing the suspended sentence, especially as Wright’s current address in Asia (thought to be either Singapore or Indonesia) may be beyond the reach of the UK authorities.
Legal experts agree that it could be difficult to extradite Wright even if he reoffends.
Wright’s legal problems go far beyond the UK. In Australia he’s being accused of tax fraud. In the US, he’s been ordered to pay over $100 million in a case related to his claims of co-founding Bitcoin with the late David Kleiman.
Failure to comply with the US judgement could mean asset seizures, bankruptcy or jail time if he returns to the country.
The December ruling is the final blow to Wright’s claims. “It should have been the end back in March when his claim was entirely dismissed,” said Sherliker. “The whole world can see after this that he was not Satoshi.”
Wright’s claim to be the creator of Bitcoin has been laughed out of the Bitcoin community and he’s been dubbed “Faketoshi”.
Despite the losses, Wright has vowed to appeal the contempt ruling and continue to claim he’s the creator of Bitcoin. But legal experts and the Bitcoin community are not convinced.
And so the mystery of who Satoshi Nakamoto is remains, but recent events has made it almost certain that Craig Wright is the furthest possible candidate.
