Craig Wright, the Australian individual who has long asserted that he is the founder of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto, has been referred to the Crown Prosecution Services (CPS) British High Court Judge James Mellor for a potential perjury charge in response to a lawsuit filed by the Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA), according to recent court documents.
Satoshi was Referred to the Crown Prosecution Services for Alleged Perjury
Mellor, the primary prosecutorial agency of England and Wales, ordered the referral to the CPS on Tuesday after determining that Wright was not the pseudonymous crypto founder reported in May.
“Dr. Wright committed ‘a most serious abuse’ of the process of the courts of the U.K., Norway, and the U.S.A. by advancing his false claim to be Satoshi Nakamoto,” Mellor stated. “It is challenging to conceive of a case that would warrant referral if the events in this case do not.”
The legal saga commenced in 2021 when the Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA), a group of crypto organizations, filed a lawsuit against Wright for his long-standing assertion that he was the founder of Bitcoin. This assertion directly opposes the decentralized classification of the innovative cryptocurrency.
Mellor describes Wright’s allegations as “brazen and elaborate,” saying that his ruling will legally suppress any assertions of authorship that the industrialists have made in the past.
“The Court determined that Dr. Wright “lied to the Court extensively and repeatedly” in his testimony and attempted to fabricate a false narrative by forging documents “on a grand scale” and submitting them as evidence,” the disclaimer states. “All of his fabrications and forgeries supported his most significant fabrication: his assertion that he was Satoshi Nakamoto.”
COPA Calls Craig Wright Ruling A Win For Developers
Wright is additionally obligated to incorporate a disclaimer on his website that informs the public that he is not the enigmatic individual responsible for the Bitcoin White Paper, whose identity has never been determined as a result of Mellor’s ruling.
A COPA spokesperson stated shortly after the ruling, “This decision is a victory for the truth, the entire open source community, and developers.” “For more than eight years, Dr. Wright and his financial supporters have perpetuated a fabrication regarding his identity as Satoshi Nakamoto, which they have employed to intimidate and harass developers within the Bitcoin community.”
That concludes today with the court’s determination that Craig Wright is not Satoshi Nakamoto.
Wright has also been directed to post the mandatory disclaimer to his X account; however, it appears that he still needs to do so at the time of publication.