Law360: ‘Wright Is Not The Inventor of Bitcoin, Judge Rules’
“A London judge ruled Thursday that Australiancomputer scientist Craig Wright is not the pseudonymous inventor of bitcoin, ruling that the evidence against his claim to be Satoshi Nakamoto was “overwhelming.”
After closing submissions on Thursday, High Court Judge James Mellor said he would write a full judgement in due course but added that he was satisfied that Wright’s claims that he is Satoshi were false.
“I’m prepared to say this: Dr. Wright is not the inventor of bitcoin,” Judge Mellor said. “Dr. Wright is not the author of the bitcoin white paper. He is not the person who adopted the name Satoshi Nakamoto.”
The judge said he was willing to make these preliminary conclusions on the spot because “the evidence is clear.”
The Crypto Open Patent Alliance, a group of cryptographers, brought the claim seeking to stop Wrightfrom claiming he is the inventor of Bitcoin. COPA told the court at the start of the trial that Wright is lying and committing forgery when he claims to be Satoshi.
Judge Mellor surprised the court by giving an immediate bench ruling after a weeks-long trial. But he said he was prepared to make the findings based on all the evidence and material he has seen during the trial.
He also reinforced the certainty of his decision by noting that Wright was neither “the author of the bitcoin system” nor “the author of the initial bitcoin software.”
A spokesperson for COPA said the decision “is a win for developers, for the entire open source community and for the truth. For over eight years, Dr. Wright and his financial backers have lied about his identity as Satoshi Nakamoto and used that lie to bully and intimidate developers in the bitcoin community.
“That ends today with the court’s ruling that Craig Wright is not Satoshi Nakamoto,” the spokesperson added.”