Court documents concerning the “pseudo-Satoshi” Craig Wright have been submitted to the UK prosecution for consideration of charges of perjury and forgery.
“I have no doubt that I should submit the relevant documents in this case to the Crown Prosecution Service to consider whether to initiate prosecution against Dr. Wright for his extensive perjury and document forgery. Whether a warrant should be issued for his arrest and extradition sought from where he is currently located,” the judge stated.
The Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA) initiated proceedings against Wright in 2021. The organisation filed a lawsuit against the Australian businessman to prevent him from litigating against developers and other members of the crypto community, as well as claiming intellectual property rights over Bitcoin technology.
In March 2024, Judge James Mellor ruled that Wright, contrary to his claims, is not Satoshi Nakamoto, the author of the Bitcoin white paper or the creator of the first cryptocurrency.
Two other cases involving the “pseudo-Satoshi”—against Coinbase and Jack Dorsey’s Block—were also suspended.
Subsequently, the court froze Wright’s assets amounting to £6 million (approximately $7.58 million) to cover costs. The decision was made following the businessman’s transfer of funds out of the UK after an unfavourable verdict.
In May, Judge Mellor issued a written ruling accusing Wright of perjury, document forgery, and “using the courts as a means of fraud.”
At that time, the judge did not rule out referring the matter to the prosecution.
In April 2020, Wright himself 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.
Wright’s appeal in the defamation case against podcaster Peter McCormack was later dismissed by the court.