The UK High Court has ruled against Craig Wright's claim of being Bitcoin's creator Satoshi Nakamoto, with the judgment highlighting extensive forgery and opening the door to potential perjury charges.
Craig Wright has been ordered to halt his assertions of being Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin. This order comes as part of a UK High Court ruling, which has also led to Wright facing the prospect of criminal charges.
Justice James Mellor of the UK High Court issued a judgment on Tuesday, as reported by Wired, stating that Wright had lied "extensively and repeatedly" and committed forgery "on a grand scale" in his attempts to establish himself as Satoshi Nakamoto. The judgment followed a six-week trial earlier in the year, which was conducted to resolve a civil lawsuit brought by the Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA) against Wright.
The court has placed multiple injunctions on Wright, including a ban on making public claims that he is Satoshi Nakamoto and on initiating or threatening legal action on such a basis. Additionally, Wright is mandated to post a notice on the front page of his personal website and X feed, detailing the court's findings against him.
Craig Wright's website: "DR CRAIG STEVEN WRIGHT IS NOT SATOSHI NAKAMOTO"https://t.co/ByWDQHGBtI pic.twitter.com/mdnIh48OsQ
— TFTC (@TFTC21) July 16, 2024
Justice Mellor has referred the matter to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) for them to consider whether to initiate criminal proceedings against Wright for what he described as "wholescale perjury and forgery of documents." The CPS will decide if the evidence warrants charges and if an arrest warrant should be issued.
During the trial, Wright was confronted with documents that allegedly contained hundreds of indications of forgery. Although Wright offered a plethora of justifications, he was unable to convince the judge of their validity. On the final day of the trial, March 14, Justice Mellor gave a decisive verdict, stating, "The evidence is overwhelming. Dr Wright is not the person who adopted or operated under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto."
In a detailed written judgment on May 20, Justice Mellor elaborated on the reasoning behind his verdict, affirming Wright's dishonesty about creating Bitcoin and his use of forged documents to support his claims. The latest judgment emphasizes the need to prevent Wright from pursuing further litigation to assert his claim.
