Craig Wright, the Australian computer scientist infamous for falsely claiming to be Bitcoin’s creator Satoshi Nakamoto, has been handed a one-year suspended prison sentence by a London high court.
The court ruled Wright in contempt of court for defying an order to halt lawsuits against Bitcoin developers, according to a report from The Guardian.
The ruling came after Justice Mellor found that Wright, 54, had repeatedly lied about his identity as Nakamoto. Furthermore, he engaged in what was described as “forgery on a grand scale” to support his claims.
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Wright Continues To File Lawsuits Against Bitcoin Devs
Despite the court’s prior instructions to cease legal action against Bitcoin developers, Wright filed fresh lawsuits in October 2024. He demanded over £900 billion in damages. The cases targeted developers in connection with Wright’s claim to possess intellectual property rights related to Bitcoin.
Jonathan Hough KC, representing the Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA), said Wright’s actions were part of a campaign to “terrorize” developers and bloggers, causing “years of personal hell.”
On Thursday, Wright was convicted on five counts of contempt of court. Mellor sentenced him to 12 months in jail. Furthermore, he was suspended for two years, and fined £145,000 in legal costs within two weeks. The judge also dismissed Wright’s £900 billion claim as groundless.
The court heard that Wright continued to assert his identity as Nakamoto, even alleging that he was a victim of judicial bias and the British aristocracy.
He claimed that the appearance of the term “Lord” in court judgments against him was evidence of this bias. The court rejected these arguments, with Justice Mellor finding Wright’s contempt proven “beyond reasonable doubt.”
Craig Wright can't code. He did not create #Bitcoin
He does not appear to know what signed/unsigned integers are.#BSV pic.twitter.com/wzaP4NNLz0
— ᗪIGIᑎᗩᑌT (@digitalnaut) July 20, 2023
Wright appeared via video link from an undisclosed location in Asia, refusing to reveal his whereabouts. He had earlier refused to attend the hearing in person, stating he would only do so if paid £240,000 to cover his costs and lost earnings.
The courtroom was packed with observers, including one individual wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the phrase, “This is just an elaborate fiction” — a reference to Wright’s contentious claims of being Bitcoin’s creator.
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Wright Is Not Satoshi, Court Rules
In a prior ruling from May, the judge concluded that Wright had lied “extensively and repeatedly” under oath. Most of the falsehoods centered on forged documents Wright submitted as supposed proof of his connection to Satoshi Nakamoto.
“All his lies and forged documents were in support of his biggest lie: his claim to be Satoshi Nakamoto,” Justice Mellor said. Following the sentencing, Wright announced plans to appeal the decision.
As reported, a recent HBO documentary identified Canadian cryptographer and computer scientist Peter Todd as the inventor of Bitcoin. However, Todd has consistently denied the claims.
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