AUK High Court judge ruled against Craig Wright, an Australian computer scientist who had repeatedly claimed to be Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous inventor of Bitcoin, on May 19.
UK Court Rules Against Craig Wright’s Claims
In a 231-page ruling, Judge James Mellor unequivocally stated that Wright “lied to the court repeatedly” and that his claim to be Nakamoto is “his biggest lie.”
The judgment stems from a lawsuit filed by the Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA), representing major cryptocurrency and blockchain firms.
Judge Mellor has just delivered his written judgment that Craig Wright is not Satoshi, which carefully dissects Wright’s tangled web of forgeries and lies. Thanks to community support, COPA proudly stands for truth and justice. We look forward to developers continuing their…
— COPA (@opencryptoorg) May 20, 2024
COPA sought declaratory relief to prevent Wright from pursuing copyright claims over the Bitcoin codebase and white paper based on his alleged status as Satoshi Nakamoto.
Judge Mellor methodically dismantled Wright’s case, describing it as “riddled with inconsistencies and absurd explanations.”
Mellor accused Wright of forging documents and submitting fake evidence “on a grand scale” in his failed effort to prove he authored the Satoshi white paper and mined the first Bitcoins in 2009.
“Dr. Wright has not proved that he is Satoshi Nakamoto,” Mellor bluntly concluded. “He has deliberately attempted to deceive the court on this specific issue.”
The judge’s assessment represents a major credibility blow to Wright, who has brought numerous copyright infringement lawsuits premised on being Bitcoin’s creator.
Questions Over Craig Wright’s Litigation Funding And Hodlonaut’s Reaction to the Verdict
Following the judge’s ruling, the question about who Wright’s financier was in his years of legal tussle still lingers. There is an unconfirmed rumor that online gambling tycoon Calvin Ayre is his major financier, even though the billionaire voiced skepticism about the authenticity of Wright’s claim.
Meanwhile, Hodlonaut, a well-known Bitcoin maximalist previously sued by Wright for libel over calling him a “fraud,” took to social media to reiterate his stance.
Resurrecting a hashtag he hadn’t used since 2019, Hodlonaut took to X to share excerpts from the court’s written judgment, highlighting how the judge deemed Wright’s claims to be an “intricate web of lies.”
The judge’s scathing remarks included assertions that Wright is “not nearly as clever as he thinks he is” and that he “lied to the court repeatedly,” with most of his lies and forged documents supporting “his biggest lie” of being Satoshi Nakamoto.
Hodlonaut also quoted the judge’s observation that Wright engaged in “the deliberate production of false documents to support false claims and use the Courts as a vehicle for fraud” across multiple jurisdictions.
I haven’t used this hashtag since 2019, but since Judge Mellor so explicitly agrees in his judgment, it’s time to bring it back.#CraigWrightIsAFraud
PS: Welcome to law 😘 pic.twitter.com/bTpUjNji6K
— hodlonaut 80 IQ 10%er 🌮⚡🔑 🐝 (@hodlonaut) May 20, 2024
The conclusive rejection of Wright’s claims comes after a legal battle that lasted almost five years.
During this time, Wright sued Hodlonaut for libel over social media posts that called him a “scammer” and a “fraud” for falsely claiming to be Bitcoin’s inventor.
Recall that Wright dropped his defamation appeal against Hodlonaut in April 2024 after initially losing the defamation lawsuit in October 2023.