Craig Wright has claimed since 2016 to be bitcoin's purported creator "Satoshi Nakamoto"
Craig Wright has claimed since 2016 to be bitcoin's purported creator "Satoshi Nakamoto" AFP

KEY POINTS

  • Judge Mellor ruled that Wright did not write the Bitcoin whitepaper, nor is he the Bitcoin system's creator
  • Prominent Bitcoiners, including Jack Dorsey and Michael Saylor reacted to the ruling
  • Some crypto users brought up Hal Finney, the first person who received Bitcoin back in 2009

A British court has ruled that Aussie computer scientist Craig Wright is not Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin, the world's first decentralized cryptocurrency. Crypto users on X have since reacted to the ruling, with most not surprised, and several bringing up American software developer Hal Finney, the first person to ever receive BTC.

Nonprofit the Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA) sued Wright, saying he forged documents to support his claim. The trial led to Thursday's ruling, wherein Judge James Mellor ruled at London's High Court that "Dr. Wright is not the author of the bitcoin whitepaper," nor is he the "person who adopted or operated under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto in the period 2008 to 2011, and neither is he "the person who created the bitcoin system." He is also "not the author of the initial versions of the bitcoin software.

"For over eight years, Dr. Write 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," COPA said in a statement.

Paul Grewal, chief legal officer at cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, hailed the court's decision. "We are grateful that the rule of law has again prevailed," he said.

Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey had nothing much to say, but he reposted the judge's decision. MicroStrategy founder and executive chairman Michael Saylor, a widely known Bitcoin maximalist, repeated the judge's ruling.

Other crypto users, advocates and users joined the race to reiterate that Craig was done claiming he is Bitcoin's creator.

Within thousands of posts regarding the ruling, Finney's name has emerged. One user said Nakamoto was a "fictional decentralized character created by Hal Finney," who is recognized as a legend in the cypherpunk realm.

Finney was the first person to receive Bitcoin back in January 2009. His tweet "running bitcoin" is believed to be the world's first introduction to the cryptocurrency. Exactly 15 years after Finney tweeted about Bitcoin, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved 11 spot BTC exchange-traded funds (ETFs), marking a historical shift in the cryptocurrency's journey to mainstream financial infrastructure.

Finney, like MicroStrategy's Saylor, was a known Bitcoin maximalist. He believed in the product's potential and was the first person to put a price on the token. He passed away in 2014.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin, whose real creator remains a mystery, continues to ride high and break its own pricing records as it passed the $72,000-mark Tuesday – a significant jump from its November 2021 high of $68,991.

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