- Two early contributors of Bitcoin (BTC), namely Adam Back and Martti ‘Sirius’ Malmi, took the witness stand on Wednesday in a case against Dr. Craig Wright.
- Wright claims to be the pseudonymous Bitcoin inventor, Satoshi Nakamoto.
- Cryptocurrency Open Patent Alliance (COPA) disputed Wright’s claim in a UK court due to inconsistencies in his statement and lack of convincing evidence.
Early Bitcoin Contributors Were Acquainted With Satoshi, Not Wright
On February 21, two prominent personalities in the cryptocurrency community stepped up to further put a nail in the case filed by the COPA against Wright for the latter’s incessant claim that he’s Satoshi Nakamoto, the enigmatic cryptographer responsible for Bitcoin.
Back and Malmi stated under oath that they had interactions with the mysterious BTC inventor back in the 2000s and denied it was the defendant in the case. Other details of their testimonies and court transcripts are yet to surface but some legal experts believe the recent developments could add to the pile of facts that could demolish Wright’s defense.
The Lawsuit Against Wright
The ongoing hearing is a part of the legal procedure related to the lawsuit filed by COPA in 2021 to have a “negative declaration” of Wright’s over-the-top proclamations that he’s Satoshi. The organization is composed of prominent names in crypto and FinTech, including Twitter (now known as X) founder Jack Dorsey’s Block payment portal, Brian Armstrong’s Coinbase crypto exchange, and Michael Saylor’s MicroStrategy, to name a few. The case aims to “conclusively show that Dr. Wright is not Satoshi Nakamoto and will not be able to continue to threaten developers.”
COPA questioned the documents Wright produced in the past to back his claim as the creator of now the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market cap. The complainant said the respondent’s supposed shreds of evidence were nothing but forgeries. Likewise, Wright has time and again failed to conclusively demonstrate that he’s Satoshi.
One instance refuting Wright was the Bitcoin whitepaper he produced, which didn’t match the formatting and the software used by the original. The document’s metadata also revealed that the file was only made in November 2023.
However, the most damning evidence that Wright has been a farce so far is his inability to access the initial 1.1 million BTC mined by Satoshi. At the latest top of Bitcoin at nearly $53,000, that haul is already approximately $58.3 billion. With that kind of money, there’s no longer a reason for him to chase after other developers for just a couple of billions in lawsuits.
To his defense, Wright told people that he already destroyed the hard drive containing the keys to the over a million BTC haul. A pretty convenient excuse but a super counterintuitive move on his part.
Final Thoughts
The author of this article hopes the case will finally be decided in favor of COPA as it does not take rocket science to decipher that there are a lot of plot holes in Wright’s script. Acts like these only serve to diminish the greatest gift and sacrifice Satoshi ever gave to the world: that is making Bitcoin and walking away from it to fully reflect the vision of decentralization for his creation.
What truly elevates Bitcoin among other cryptocurrencies is the fact that it has no leader, central government, or claim of ownership. It’s just pure mathematical magic.
On the other hand, the testimonies of Back and Malmi are in danger of opening a can of worms that could ultimately compromise the anonymity of Satoshi if they were to be grilled during cross-examination and they would be compelled to reveal the true identity of the mysterious Bitcoin creator.
Let’s hope everyone’s prepared for that.