Six weeks of legal hearings in a High Court case which has gripped the global cryptocurrency sector abruptly ended today when Mr Justice Mellor ruled that computer scientist and entrepreneur Dr Craig Wright did not invent the bitcoin digital currency.

Finding that the evidence brought by a consortium of US software developers to be 'overwhelming', the judge said he plans to write a 'fairly lengthy' ruling. In the meantime, however 'I will make certain declarations which I am satisfied are useful and are necessary to do justice between the parties. First, that Dr Wright is not the author of the Bitcoin White Paper. Second, Dr Wright is not the person who adopted or operated under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto in the period 2008 to 2011. Third, Dr Wright is not the person who created the bitcoin system. And, fourth, he is not the author of the initial versions of the bitcoin software.

'Any further relief will be dealt with in my written judgment.' 

The declaration had been sought by the Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA) in what it said was an attempt to bring a halt to Wright’s campaign of intimidatory lawsuits against anyone challenging his claim. 

In closing statements in the trial this week, Jonathan Hough KC, for COPA, had accused Wright of backing his claim with forgery ‘on an industrial scale’ and of using the courts 'as a vehicle for fraud'.  

Welcoming the ruling, a COPA spokesperson said: 'This decision is a win 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 his identity as Satoshi Nakamoto and used that lie to bully and intimidate developers in the bitcoin community. That ends today with the court’s ruling that Craig Wright is not Satoshi Nakamoto.'

Phil Sherrell, head of London and copyright litigator at international firm Bird & Bird, which acted for COPA, said: 'We are absolutely delighted to have achieved this resounding win for COPA, establishing once and for all that Craig Wright’s claim to be Satoshi Nakamoto is false. The declarations that Mr Justice Mellor has granted will provide enormous comfort to the open source and digital currency communities.'

Keith Oliver, head of international at City firm Peters & Peters, described the verdict as 'a watershed moment for the crypto-sphere'. 

James Evison, managing associate at Surrey firm Stevens & Bolton, said the judge's closing comments had been unusual. 'Judges will often reserve judgment until after the trial to carefully weigh the evidence and craft their decision. That Mr Justice Mellor felt able to express such a clear view in closing submissions – that Dr Wright is emphatically not Satoshi Nakamoto – speaks to the weight of evidence against Dr Wright. This was always going to be high stakes litigation. The various Bitcoin cases Dr Wright is involved in could, on the one hand, see him walk away a billionaire exercising control over the future direction of Bitcoin development. On the other hand, if the court finds he tried to rely on forged documents, then Dr Wright’s prospects look significantly less rosy.'

Wright will have 21 days from the hand-down of the written judgment to file any notice of appeal. 

 

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