For years, Craig Wright claimed to be Satoshi Nakamoto, to the point of taking legal action and patenting technologies based on Bitcoin to prove that he was indeed the creator. Earlier this year, British courts recognized that he was not Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of Bitcoin. She finally went further, sentencing him to a prison sentence.
Faketoshi, the one who pretended to be Satoshi Nakamoto
Craig Wright, the Australian computer scientist who falsely claimed to be Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of Bitcoin, has been recognized guilty of contempt of court and sentenced to 3 years of imprisonment: 2 years suspended and 1 year closed.
For years, Craig Wright proclaimed loud and clear that he was Satoshi Nakamoto. For a time, the crypto community tried to believe him, giving him the benefit of the doubt. However, she quickly realized during her public interventions, that many of his statements were pure lies.
🔎 Who is Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of Bitcoin (BTC)?
Trying at all costs to obtain the intellectual property rights to the Bitcoin white paper, the Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA) had no other choice than to take legal action against the one nicknamed “Faketoshi », in February 2024. COPA demanded an official statement from him admitting that he is not Satoshi Nakamoto.
In the end, British judge James Mellor confirmed that Craig Wright was not the creator of Bitcoin, particularly convinced by the arguments of COPA, but also by the testimony of Adam Black, one of the pioneers of proof of work.
Thus, James Mellor banned Craig Wright from taking legal action related to Bitcoin. While it seemed that the computer scientist had learned his lesson, Faketoshi failed to comply with the judge's order.
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Craig Wright does not respect a judge's order, the latter sends him to prison
Indeed, in October, Craig Wright filed a complaint with the courtseeking compensation of more than $1.1 billion for the alleged loss of intellectual property rights to the Bitcoin white paper.
Faketoshi was therefore arrested and as part of his retrial, James Mellor stated that Craig Wright “ had committed a clear violation » of his order. For the judge, contempt of court is “ blatant, beyond all reasonable doubt “. This is why he sentenced him to prison.
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“ I still don't believe the points you made are correct, » Craig Wright replied to the judge, assuring that he would appeal his decision. He also attacked COPA, saying that the organization “ has only one objective: sue me “.
More than 16 years after the publication of the Bitcoin white paper, Satoshi Nakamoto's identity has still not been revealed. It has now been more than 14 years since the creator of BTC gave any concrete sign of life. It is estimated that he could be the head of nearly 1.1 million Bitcoinsworth over $100 million based on the current BTC price.
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Source: The Independent
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Surprised by the rise of crypto-assets at the end of the 2010s, I began to closely follow this sector which fascinates me to the greatest extent. When I'm not in football stadiums, rugby stadiums or handball halls, I work on writing relevant articles around cryptocurrencies and more broadly, Web3.
Zacharie Tazrout
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