British judge James Mellor has ruled that Craig Wright is neither Satoshi Nakamoto nor the author of the Bitcoin white paper, according to CoinDesk.
The Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA) initiated proceedings against Wright in 2021. The organization filed a lawsuit against the businessman to prevent him from litigating against developers and other members of the crypto community, as well as from claiming intellectual property rights over Bitcoin technology.
“Firstly, Dr. Wright is not the author of the Bitcoin white paper. Secondly, Wright is not the person who operated under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto from 2008 to 2011. Thirdly, he is not the person who created the Bitcoin system. And fourthly, Wright is not the author of the initial versions of the first cryptocurrency’s software,” stated the judge.
Additionally, Mellor has paused two other cases involving the “pseudo-Satoshi,” including proceedings against Coinbase and Jack Dorsey’s Block.
“This decision is a victory 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 him being Satoshi Nakamoto and used this lie to intimidate Bitcoin community developers,” COPA representatives noted.
The judge also plans to issue a restraining order prohibiting Wright from ever claiming to be Satoshi Nakamoto. Lawyers have opposed the “ominous” decision, so the final order has yet to be issued.
In May 2022, Wright accused several crypto exchanges of trading “fake” Bitcoin. According to him, the only digital asset “that remains true to the original protocol” is Bitcoin SV.
In April 2020, he withdrew a defamation lawsuit against Blockstream CEO Adam Back and covered his costs. The self-proclaimed Satoshi Nakamoto made a similar decision in the case against Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin.
In July 2023, the court dismissed Craig Wright’s appeal in a defamation case against podcaster Peter McCormack.