Craig Wright, who claims to be the true creator of Bitcoin and the successor to Satoshi Nakamoto, has concluded his testimony at the UK High Court. The lawsuit revolves around Wright’s assertion that he is hiding his identity behind the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto and holds the copyright to the development of Bitcoin technology.
The dispute over the ownership of the technology behind the leading cryptocurrency, known as “Bitcoin: a peer-to-peer electronic cash system,” is at the core of the legal battle. It was first published in 2008 and signed by Satoshi Nakamoto. In 2016, Wright publicly claimed to be the real Nakamoto. However, his statement was met with skepticism by the cryptocurrency community because he couldn’t gain access to 1.1 million BTC held in a wallet associated with the true Nakamoto.
During his court appearance, Wright argued that he destroyed the hard drives containing the private keys due to severe mental illness and the influence of sedatives. However, he couldn’t recall the exact details of how and where he destroyed them. Wright maintained that he was unfairly targeted and accused the media of misleading the public into thinking that he deliberately refused to sign a transaction using Satoshi’s known private key.
The Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA), supported by Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, is seeking a UK High Court ruling that Wright is not Nakamoto and has no right to claim copyright on Bitcoin. The prosecution argued that over the course of eight hearings, Wright attempted to baselessly convince the court that he was defamed and framed.
“Wright argues that numerous suspicious events in his life can be explained by his enemies planting evidence, sabotaging his security, accessing his computer systems, failing to keep their promises, and even sending emails on his behalf,” said COPA representative Alex Gunning.
Wright specifically blamed “unscrupulous partners,” including Robert McGregor, founder of The Workshop Technologies and The Workshop Ventures, for allegedly depriving him of his livelihood, causing a mental breakdown, and threatening harm to his family, according to the COPA lawyer. Jonathan Hough, also representing the Crypto Patent Alliance, labeled Wright’s courtroom testimony as “a blatant lie and a farce of an elaborate script, supported by document forgery on an industrial scale.”
The UK High Court is expected to conclude the case Crypto Patent Alliance v Craig Wright within the next two months.
Last October, nChain Global CEO Christen Ager-Hanssen resigned due to Craig Wright’s false claims surrounding the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto.