The real identity of Bitcoin founder 'Satoshi Nakamoto' could FINALLY be revealed in court… and could unlock a £36 billion fortune
THE real identity of Bitcoin founder Satoshi Nakamoto could finally be revealed, unlocking the key to his £36 billion fortune.
A British court will now decide whether Craig Wright, 54, is the mysterious, anonymous crypto king which disappeared from the internet more than ten years ago.
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Wright, a Australian computer scientist living in London has claimed since 2016 that he is the real Nakamoto – a claim largely rejected by the cryptocurrency world.
Whoever invented it Bitcoin is sitting on a huge stockpile of cryptocurrency that is now worth £36 billion ($46 billion) – and it would be make them some of the richest people in the world.
Bitcoin was the first decentralized currency to use digital coins created or 'mined' using complex calculations performed by computers.
Wright has been unsuccessfully claiming to be the legendary Nakamoto for years and has taken several naysayers to court in an attempt to be legally recognized as the creator of Bitcoin.
In 2021, an organization called Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA) filed a lawsuit against Wright in the UK, asking the court to rule that Wright now owns Bitcoin's white paper.
The trial starts today in London.
It is expected to last about a month and is supported by Twitter's co-founder Jack Dorsey.
A spokesperson for Wright said the lawsuit was “really a war” over who sets the rules for the Bitcoin blockchain – a digital document that tracks ownership of a cryptocurrency.
He told The guard: “Think of it as a modern technical battle, similar to that between Blu-ray versus HD DVD or, for even older readers, Betamax versus VHS.”
A spokesperson for COPA said they are looking for a “negative explanation” that Wright is not Satoshi Nakamoto.
COPA argued that the trial “will demonstrate conclusively that Dr. Wright is not Satoshi Nakamoto and will not be able to threaten developers.”
The total value of the Bitcoin market is worth approximately £657 billion ($830 billion).
Wright offered to settle the case last month, a move that led observers to suggest he was not confident he could win.
The offer was rejected by COPA, which posted on X/Twitter: “If you push that 'settlement' hard,” as they claimed, “he could sue people again.”
Paul Grewal, Chief Legal Officer of Coinbase, said on behalf of COPA: “If Wright were really Satoshi, it would be easy for him to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt. But he can't.”
He told Coindesk: “Wright's trove of forged documents is at the heart of COPA's trial that begins next week. In fact, two experts hired by Wright himself have already acknowledged that many of Wright's documents are forged.”
Nakamoto's true identity has become crypto's most enduring mystery.
Timeline of Nakamoto's disappearance
THE man, the myth and the legend of Satoshi Nakamoto is sitting on a pile of crypto worth £36 billion.
It is believed that Nakamoto is a pseudonym and the true identity of the inventor remains shrouded in mystery.
2007 – Nakamoto worked on the very first version of the software in 2007 and all communication to and from him was via email.
2008 – The mysterious man first introduced the concept of cryptocurrency and the blockchain verification system to the world in a 2008 paper.
2010 – His involvement with Bitcoin ended in 2010 and his last correspondence was that he had “moved on to other things”.
And since then, a series of characters have claimed or been accused of being Nakamoto.
2014 – Newsweek thought they had found their Satoshi Nakamoto – a computer engineer who lived in Temple City in Los Angeles County.
And although the Japanese-American man named Dorian Satoshi Nakamoto firmly denied being the shadowy force behind the infamous cryptocurrency, the plot continued to thicken.
It soon emerged that computer scientist Hal Finney, who was the recipient of the first Bitcoin transaction, lived a “few blocks” from the apparently oblivious Nakamoto.
However, people later believed that Finney was either a ghostwriter for the Bitcoin creator or simply used his neighbor's name as a nickname.
The other best-known Nakamoto suspect is Australian computer scientist and businessman Craig Wright.
But unlike the other leading contenders, Wright actually started claiming that he was is Nakamoto in 2016.
2016 – Wright said he had provided technical “evidence” to the BBC, The Economist and GQ.
This consisted of a demonstration of the verification process used in the very first Bitcoin transaction.
He then posted an apology on his blog stating that he no longer had the “courage” to continue the process of proving his identity.
Wright subsequently appeared in the Netflix documentary Banking on Bitcoin and once again claimed to be Nakamoto in what he claimed would be his final filmed interview.
However, he has continued to try and fight legally to 'prove' that he is the founder of Bitcoin.
And whether or not he is may ultimately be decided at a trial that begins this week.
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There was a false expose by Newsweek in 2014, which followed when Wright came forward later in 2016 claiming to be its true creator.
In 2016, he provided what he called technical “proof” to the BBC, The Economist and GQ, which consisted of a demonstration of the verification process used in the very first Bitcoin transaction.
But The Economist claimed that “such demonstrations could be staged” and reported that Wright refused to make the evidence public or provide other guarantees.
Wright also failed to provide the private keys – a secure code consisting of a hexadecimal string of numbers and letters – that would ultimately unlock the 1.1 million Bitcoins mined by Nakamoto.
He told a Norwegian court in 2022 that he had destroyed the hard drive of the computer that contained the keys.
The same year, Wright managed to win a legal victory over blogger Peter McCormack, who damaged Wright's reputation by labeling him a fraudster.
He was awarded £1 in damages by the judge, who also ruled that Wright had provided “deliberately false evidence” in support of his defamation claim.
In 2021, the family of Wright's former business partner David Kleiman – who died in 2013 – sued him.
They argued that Kleiman worked on and mined bitcoin with Wright, entitling him to half the fortune.
After an intense legal battle, a Florida jury ultimately awarded nothing to Kleiman's estate.
Five risks of crypto investments
BELOW we round up five risks of investing in cryptocurrencies.
Consumer protection: Some investments that advertise high returns based on crypto assets may not be subject to regulation beyond anti-money laundering requirements.
Price volatility: The significant price volatility of crypto assets, combined with the inherent difficulties in reliably valuing crypto assets, puts consumers at high risk of loss.
Product complexity: The complexity of some products and services related to crypto assets can make it difficult for consumers to understand the risks. There is no guarantee that crypto assets can be converted back into cash. Converting a crypto asset back to cash depends on the supply and demand in the market.
Costs and fees: Consumers should consider the impact of fees and charges on their investment, which may be greater than that of regulated investment products.
Marketing materials: Companies may overestimate the returns of products or underestimate the risks
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