The long-running legal drama between the Cryptocurrency Open Patent Alliance (COPA) and Dr. Craig Steven Wright ended today with a final settlement. decision of the court. Dr. Wright, who claimed to be Satoshi Nakamoto, the enigmatic creator of Bitcoin, engaged in extensive and deliberate deception to support his claim, effectively ending one of the most sensational identity claims in history of technology with a resounding legal rejection.
The case against Dr. Wright centered on his bold claim that he was the real person behind the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto, who in 2008 introduced Bitcoin to the world via the publication of the white paper followed by the release of the original source code. COPA, representing a consortium of cryptocurrency entities, disputed Wright’s claims, leading to a full judicial review of his purported evidence and testimony.
COPA triumphs over the fake inventor of Bitcoin
The president of the court expressed a scathing opinion on Wright’s testimony, stating that throughout the trial, Wright presented evidence that was “clumsy” in his attempt to deceive. “Dr. Wright is not as smart as he thinks he is,” the judge noted, noting that the defendant engaged in a series of lies, forgeries and blamed others for the discrepancies and lies. revealed during the trial.
“As soon as one lie was exposed, Dr. Wright resorted to more lies and evasions. The final destination often turned out to be either Dr. Wright blaming another (often unidentified) person for his predicament, or what can only be described as inconsistent,” the decision states.
Among the forgeries were documents that Wright presented as proof of his involvement in the creation of Bitcoin, which were later shown to have been altered or fabricated. The judgment highlighted the fact that, despite Wright’s attempts to appear technologically and forensically astute, the attempted infringements were amateurish and easily discernible by experts.
Significantly detrimental to Wright’s case was the testimony of Mr. Stefan Matthews, Chairman of the nChain Group, who initially supported Wright but whose examined statements revealed inconsistencies and deliberate lies. The judge noted that although Matthews was “more careful in his lies,” his testimony ultimately did not stand up to the contrary evidence presented by COPA.
Conversely, Pieter Wuille, a well-known developer in the Bitcoin community, provided a witness statement that was considered by the judge to be “the most important document in this trial.” Wuille’s detailed exposition of the timeline and technical details of Bitcoin’s development was instrumental in debunking Wright’s claims. His testimony, uncontested by Wright’s defense, provided clear and credible information about the technical workings of Bitcoin, contrasting sharply with Wright’s fabricated accounts.
Thanks to @pwuillewhose witness statement was “the most important document in this trial” and “used to devastating effect” pic.twitter.com/Ha2x5IuLFV
– BitMEX Research (@BitMEXResearch) May 20, 2024
The judgment highlighted that Dr Wright’s false allegations and resulting legal maneuvers constituted a “serious abuse” of the legal process, not only in the UK but also in other jurisdictions such as Norway. The court has postponed rulings on the details of the injunction, and further hearings are planned to discuss the implications of the judgment and potential corrections to public records regarding the Bitcoin white paper and other documents.
“I am entirely satisfied that Dr. Wright lied to the Court profusely and repeatedly. Most of his lies were about the document he falsified that purported to support his claims. All of his lies and false documents supported his biggest lie: his claim to be Satoshi Nakamoto,” the judge concluded.
The crypto community has followed the case with keen interest, given its potential implications on the perception of the origin of Bitcoin and the integrity of its founding documents. BitMEX Research, in a statement, highlighted ongoing legal considerations regarding the accessibility of the Bitcoin whitepaper on platforms like Bitcoin.org, noting that future rulings may further clarify these aspects.
In a humorous note, BitMEX Research noted: “The ‘key’ evidence from Danielle DeMorgan, Wright’s youngest sister, was that CSW ‘dressed as a ninja at the local park.’ This gave no credence to Dr. Wright’s claim that he was Satoshi. “Who would have thought it??”
At press time, BTC was trading at $67,047.
Featured image from Shutterstock, chart from TradingView.com
