In a landmark ruling, the UK High Court has categorically rejected Craig Wright’s claims of being the mysterious creator of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto.
The judgment, delivered by Judge Edward James Mellor, dismantled Wright’s assertions and accused him of extensive forgery and deceit.
Craig Wright, an Australian computer scientist and entrepreneur, has long claimed to be Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous author of the Bitcoin white paper and the inventor of the first and largest digital asset.
His claims have been met with skepticism and controversy within the Bitcoin community. The Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA), a group formed to protect the open development of Bitcoin, took Wright to court, seeking to debunk his claims and prevent further legal harassment of developers.
In a detailed 231-page judgment issued on May 20, Judge Mellor concluded that Wright is not Satoshi Nakamoto.
The judgment highlighted numerous instances where Wright had forged documents and lied to the court to support his claims. Judge Mellor stated:
“He is not nearly as clever as he thinks he is, I am entirely satisfied that Dr Wright lied to the Court extensively and repeatedly. Most of his lies related to the documents he had forged which purported to support his claim.”
The judge also added that all his lies and forged documents were in support of “his biggest lie: his claim to be Satoshi Nakamoto.”
The judgment meticulously outlined the technical evidence and inconsistencies in Wright’s narrative. It noted that if Wright’s claims were true, he would have been an extraordinarily unfortunate individual beset by a series of implausible coincidences and conspiracies.
Instead, the court found a simpler explanation: Wright had been dishonest for years, fabricating evidence to bolster his assertions.
Judge Mellor also pointed out:
“These fabrications and forgeries were exposed in the evidence which I received during the Trial. For that reason, this Judgment contains considerable technical and other detail which is required to expose the true scale of his mendacious campaign to prove he was/is Satoshi Nakamoto.”
Judge Mellor’s ruling firmly stated that Dr. Craig Wright is not the individual who used the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto from 2008 to 2011, did not create the Bitcoin system, and is not the author of the initial Bitcoin software.
The judge declared that Wright’s attempts to prove he was Satoshi Nakamoto represented a serious abuse of the court’s process and were fraudulent. Similar concerns were noted about Wright’s legal actions in other jurisdictions, particularly Norway.
The court found that Wright engaged in the deliberate production of false documents to support his false claims, using the courts as a vehicle for fraud.
The evidence submitted by Wright was deemed highly questionable, dubious in relevance, entirely circumstantial, or outright fabricated. The judge noted that some of these documents were forged on a grand scale by Wright.
Despite Wright’s partial acknowledgment during the trial that some documents were inauthentic, typically blaming others for these issues, he consistently refused to admit to any of the forged documents.
Judge Mellor concluded that the evidence overwhelmingly indicated that Dr. Wright was not the author of the Bitcoin White Paper. He specifically pointed out that Wright’s explanations were absurd and that Wright had plainly forged certain emails.
The judge also dismissed Wright’s hacking allegations, determining that the BDO Drive, containing new reliance documents, was manipulated by Wright himself in September 2023.
The judge was convinced that Wright was responsible for all the identified document manipulations.
The judgment concluded that Wright failed to demonstrate a basic understanding of Bitcoin technology and exhibited an arrogance that was inconsistent with the writings and persona of Satoshi Nakamoto.
“The picture painted by Dr.Wright in his evidence was, in essence, that he was solely responsible for creating Bitcoin, that he was much cleverer than anyone else”, wrote Judge Mellor.
“In my judgment, the arrogance he displayed was at odds with what comes through from Satoshi’s writing. In short, in his writing and attitude Dr Wright just doesn’t sound or act like Satoshi.”
COPA, whose backers include Twitter founder Jack Dorsey and the digital asset exchange Coinbase, initiated the legal action in 2021. The trial began on February 5 and included extensive evidence presented by both sides.
The alliance accused Wright of chilling the development of new technology through his penchant for pursuing legal cases against developers. A COPA spokesperson stated, “This decision is a watershed moment for the open-source community and even more importantly, a definitive win for the truth.”
They added that developers can now continue their important work maintaining, iterating on, and improving the Bitcoin network without risking their personal livelihoods or fearing costly and time-consuming litigation from Craig Wright.
The judgment was celebrated by the broader Bitcoin community, which has long criticized Wright’s claims. Hodlonaut, a Bitcoin maximalist who had previously been sued by Wright for libel, expressed his relief and vindication.
While the judgment did not specify particular punishments or remunerations for Wright, it indicated that further relief, including potential injunctive measures, would be addressed in a subsequent hearing.
The court also imposed a worldwide freezing order on £6 million worth of Wright’s assets to prevent him from moving them offshore or evading costs from the COPA trial. According to the order, COPA’s costs for the case amounted to £6.7 million.
COPA has indicated that it may seek several injunctions to prevent Wright from claiming to be Satoshi and from taking Bitcoin developers to court again. They have also suggested that UK prosecutors consider perjury charges against Wright for statements made during the trial.
