In a significant legal decision, a UK judge has definitively ruled that Craig Wright is not the elusive creator of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto.
This ruling brings an end to a six-week-long High Court battle between Wright and the Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA), marking a pivotal moment in the ongoing saga surrounding Bitcoin’s origins.
Wright’s claim to be Satoshi Nakamoto has been a contentious issue for years, fueled by his assertions to the Australian Tax Office in 2013 that he held control over a staggering 1 million bitcoins.
However, COPA, backed by prominent cryptocurrency firms like Kraken, Block, Coinbase, and MicroStrategy, sought to challenge these claims through legal action in the United Kingdom.
I thank all the parties for their written closing and oral arguments, and they’ve been very helpful indeed. They will require me to prepare a fairly lengthy written judgment, which will be handed down in due course. And for all those who have already been hassling my clerk as to when the judgment will be ready, the short answer is as follows: it will be ready when it’s ready and not before.
The conclusion of this trial is expected to pose challenges for Wright’s ongoing legal endeavors globally. Notably, Wright has pursued numerous lawsuits, including one against Coinbase, Block, and Bitcoin developers, where he asserts ownership of ‘database rights’ to the Bitcoin blockchain. Additionally, Wright has initiated legal action against Kraken and Coinbase, demanding that they classify Bitcoin Satoshi Vision (BSV) as ‘Bitcoin.’
Can’t say Satoshi Nakamoto?
Just before Mellor announced what he planned to include in his written judgment, Wright’s counsel opposed COPA’s plans to seek injunctions against Wright that would prevent him from ever declaring he is the Bitcoin creator.
Wright’s Counsel, Lord Anthony Grabiner, argued that such a prohibition is unprecedented in the U.K. and would prevent Wright from even casually going to the park and declaring he’s Satoshi without incurring fines or going to prison.
Grabiner said that injunction could be “sinister” and urged the court to consider a judgment that would not infringe on Wright’s legal right to freedom of expression, adding that Wright should be able to tell his community who he says he is. With the UK judge’s ruling undermining Wright’s credibility as Satoshi Nakamoto, it may become increasingly difficult for him to advance his claims in other legal battles worldwide.
This verdict not only has implications for Wright’s personal reputation but also for the broader cryptocurrency community, as it seeks to clarify the identity and legacy of Bitcoin’s enigmatic creator.