In previous blogs, various cases involving Dr Wright, who has claimed for a number of years to be the inventor of Bitcoin under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto, have been discussed. For further details, see here and here. The cases of Crypto Open Patent Alliance v Dr Craig Wright and Dr Craig Wright v Various Parties were considered during a 6-week trial in the Chancery Division of the Royal Courts of Justice before Mr Justice Mellor. The trial concluded mid-March 2024.
The purpose of the trial was to determine one issue: whether Dr Wright is the inventor of Bitcoin under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto. Whilst the judgment in the matter of has been reserved whilst the judge drafts what he describes as a lengthy judgment, unusually following a trial of this length, the judge has given an indication as to what his decision is in advance of formally handing the judgment down.
Mr Justice Mellor stated that the evidence against Dr Wright was overwhelming and accordingly made the following declarations:
- that Dr Wright is not the author of the Bitcoin White Paper;
- Dr Wright is not the person who adopted or operated under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto in the period 2008 to 2011;
- Dr Wright is not the person who created the Bitcoin system; and
- Dr Wright is not the author of the initial versions of the Bitcoin software.
Unless Dr Wright successfully appeals the judgment (which seems unlikely if the evidence is as overwhelming as the judge states), it will have catastrophic consequences for Dr Wright.
The obvious consequence is that Dr Wright will most likely be held responsible for the costs of the litigation, which following a 6-week trial are likely to be in a high 6-figure or a 7-figure sum. This will however have wider implications for Dr Wright. There is now a Court finding that Dr Wright is not the inventor of Bitcoin. Given how litigious Dr Wright has been over this issue, this judgment would put a stop to any future cases proceeding on the basis that Dr Wright is the inventor of Bitcoin.
A spokesperson on behalf of COPA said:
‘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.’
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