British judge rules that Craig Wright is not the creator of bitcoin

After several weeks of trial, the verdict is in: Craig Wright is not considered the creator of bitcoin by British justice.

A British judge ruled Thursday that Australian Craig Wright, who claims the authorship of bitcoin, was not its creator, following the trial opposing him to an association in the sector which accuses him of having manipulated elements to prove his statement.

“I have come to the conclusion that the evidence is overwhelming” to declare that “Dr Wright is not the person who created the bitcoin system”, nor “the author of the initial versions of the bitcoin software”, declared the Judge James Mellor, explaining that he would detail his reasoning in his upcoming judgment.

The 53-year-old computer scientist and entrepreneur “is not the author of the bitcoin + white paper”, a text which details the founding principles of this cryptocurrency, nor the one who “operated under the pseudonym of Satoshi Nakamoto (the enigmatic developer known as the father of bitcoin, Editor’s note) during the period from 2008 to 2011”, also affirmed the judge.

For nearly a month and a half, the British High Court of Justice examined the claims of the man his detractors nickname “Faketoshi” (for “false Satoshi”), who claimed copyright on this founding “white paper”. , as well as the code of this cryptocurrency.

Accusations of “perjury”

“Doctor Wright failed to provide even a single verifiable and reliable document to support” his claims, argued Tuesday during the trial Jonathan Hough, the lawyer for the Crypto Open Patent Alliance (Copa ), an association which aims to eliminate patents on technologies linked to cryptocurrencies.

The Copa brings together heavyweights like the Coinbase exchange platform and the company Block, specializing in digital payments. Computer experts from both parties concluded in particular that the original file of the founding text of bitcoin would in fact have been produced in the OpenOffice software, and not via the LaTex document composition system as Mr. Wright suggests.

Defense lawyer Anthony Grabiner, for his part, argued that his client had the skills related to law, monetary transactions and IT consistent with those necessary to invent bitcoin. During her testimony, Mr. Wright’s sister praised her attraction to Japanese culture.

Copa “will ask after judgment” British prosecutors to consider criminal proceedings for “perjury and obstruction of the course of justice”, explained the association in its final arguments, consulted by AFP. Justice Mellor did not say when he would make his written judgment public.

The outcome of this case will determine that of another, pitting Mr. Wright against 26 developers, individuals as well as companies like the Coinbase platform, which he accuses of having infringed on his intellectual property rights.

“This decision is a victory” because it puts an end to the “lie” used by Mr. Wright “to harass and intimidate developers in the bitcoin community” for eight years, a spokesperson told AFP. of the Copa.

“Satoshi understood the value of decentralization and built bitcoin in such a way that it could not be controlled by a single person or entity,” a spokesperson for the company reacted to AFP. Kraken platform, member of Copa and which was the subject of legal proceedings by Mr. Wright.