After almost ten years of causing havoc in the Bitcoin community with his claims of being Satoshi Nakamoto, Craig Wright has finally been debunked by a British court. The verdict, delivered by Justice James Mellor of England’s High Court of Justice in a civil case led by the Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA), states that Wright “lied to the court extensively and repeatedly” and engaged in “forgery on a grand scale” to prove his identity as Satoshi.
In his scathing judgment, Mellor criticized Wright for the damage he has caused to people, companies, and Bitcoin’s reputation. While hardcore Bitcoin enthusiasts have ignored Wright’s claims since 2015, the mainstream media gave him the platform he needed to bully and tarnish the image of Bitcoin. However, with the court’s ruling, the industry can now maintain the narrative of Bitcoin’s “immaculate conception” without any doubts planted by Wright and supported by publications such as Gizmodo, Wired, BBC, The Economist, The Financial Times, and GQ. Mellor emphasized that the media failed to look at the facts, including the easily verifiable cryptographic data.
Even in 2019, some media outlets had not received the memo about Wright. When Wright filed a U.S. copyright claim for the Bitcoin white paper in April 2019, the Financial Times quoted a spokesperson who stated that it was the first recognition of Wright as Satoshi Nakamoto by a government agency. Moreover, Wright managed to deceive Gavin Andresen, who was entrusted with the Bitcoin source code by Satoshi himself. Wright’s actions led to the revocation of Andresen’s commit access by Bitcoin developers, causing turmoil in the industry.
While Satoshi was known for being patient, disciplined, and reasoned, Wright has always been boastful and sought attention. He implied that he was Satoshi in person, on panels, and through back-dated blog posts. Mellor stated that Wright’s attempt to prove his identity was a serious abuse of the court’s process.
Although Wright plans to appeal the decision, it represents a significant defeat for him. Furthermore, he may face lawsuits from those who have been negatively affected by his actions, including companies like Coinbase and content creators like Peter McCormack.
If Wright were truly Satoshi, he could easily prove it by crafting a message and signing it with the private key to the Genesis Block. However, he has never done so. The fact that one person can engage in baseless lawfare should be a cause for concern. Thankfully, Bitcoin can finally move on from Craig Wright and leave his antics behind.
Kadan Stadelmann, the chief technology officer for the Komodo Platform, contributes this article as a guest columnist for Cointelegraph. He holds degrees in information technology and technical informatics and scientific computing.
Please note that this article is for general information purposes only and should not be considered legal or investment advice. The opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.