COPA vs Craig Wright Written Judgement Published

• "Dr Wright presents himself as an extremely clever person. However, in my judgment, he is not nearly as clever as he thinks he is. Wright lied to the Court extensively and repeatedly. Most of his lies related to the documents he had forged which purported to support his claim," the judgement reads.
• Across 1736 paragraphs, Justice Mellor also finds that:
  • Evidence provided by Wright was at best questionable or of very dubious relevance or entirely circumstantial and at worst, fabricated and/or based on documents been forged on a grand scale.
  • Wright was personally responsible for the creation of forgeries.
  • Wright failed to understand basics of Bitcoin technology.

"Dr Wright’s attempts to prove he was/is Satoshi Nakamoto represent a most serious abuse of this Court’s process… It is clear that Dr Wright engaged in the deliberate production of false documents to support false claims and use the Courts as a vehicle for fraud. Despite acknowledging in this Trial that a few documents were inauthentic (generally blamed on others), he steadfastly refused to acknowledge any of the forged documents. Instead, he lied repeatedly and extensively in his attempts to deflect the allegations of forgery," concludes Justice Mellor.

• The judgment declaring that Wright is not Satoshi will prevent him from filing further lawsuits in the UK. According to the judge, this decision aims to ensure that Wright cannot threaten developers with claims of copyrights or database rights related to Satoshi Nakamoto's work.
• The judge will determine at a later hearing whether to impose any specific injunctions on Wright. In March, Mellor issued a freezing order on $7.6 million of Wright's assets to prevent him from evading the financial consequences of losing the trial. The judge noted that COPA has a strong claim to be awarded significant costs.

"Today’s ruling is the result of a concerted and united effort across the entire open source community - from developers, to those who selflessly contributed to funding this important case, to all members of the COPA alliance - and we want to thank them all for their time, dedication and support. Justice has been served today for the entire community," a COPA spokesperson said.

• The ruling also makes a special mention of Bitcoin developer Dr. Pieter Wuille, whose witness statement "turned out to be the most significant document in this Trial" and was "used to devastating effect in cross-examination of Dr Wright."

Full PDF
COPA Blog Post / Archive
Wired Article / Archive
Atlas21 Article / Archive