Australian computer scientist and self-proclaimed Bitcoin inventor Craig Wright has been sentenced to one year in prison, suspended for two years, after being found in contempt of court.
Judge James Mellor said in a judgement that Wright had committed "a clear breach" of a court order made in March 2024 that barred him from launching or threatening further legal action related to Bitcoin.
Wright is most known for his unwavering and controversial claim of having invented leading cryptocurrency Bitcoin under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto.
The true identity of Nakamoto has been up for debate since their last online appearance on a public forum in 2010.
The contempt ruling stemmed from Wright filing a $1.9 trillion (£911 billion) lawsuit against Bitcoin Core developers and Square Up Europe Limited (which is owned by payments company Block).
The lawsuit was in direct violation of the terms of a March 2024 court injunction.
Wright failed to show up to the 19 December 2024 London-based hearing over his decision to launch the lawsuit against Block, according to Reuters.
Block is owned by Twitter founder Jack Dorsey.
“Clear breach” of court orders
The Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA) initiated the contempt proceedings against Wright.
The action was backed by industry leaders Coinbase, Kraken and MicroStrategy.
COPA aims to protect open-source technologies and prevent restrictive patent practices.
In addition to the suspended sentence, Wright must pay the COPA $290,800 (£145,000) in legal costs within 14 days.
He must also strike out his latest lawsuits against several other Bitcoin companies.
Wright replied to the ruling saying he plans to appeal.
He also argued he was the victim of judicial bias and the British aristocracy.
The fraud of identity
Wright first publicly asserted that he was Satoshi Nakamoto in 2016, though his claim has been met with widespread skepticism and criticism from the broader cryptocurrency community.
In 2021, Wright’s claims were met with a UK civil lawsuit by a collection of cryptocurrency companies under COPA.
The case saw Judge Mellor effectively debunk the notion that Wright invented Bitcoin.
He labelled him an “accomplished liar” who engaged in forgery on a “grand scale”.
In a March 2024 ruling by the UK High Court, Judge Mellor found "overwhelming evidence" that Wright was not Satoshi Nakamoto.
The court concluded that Wright had lied extensively and forged documents to support his claims.
An injunction was issued which prevented him from pursuing further legal claims tied to his alleged identity as Satoshi Nakamoto.
As reported by Forbes, the current case involving Block, which resulted in the suspended sentencing, originates from allegations that Wright violated the court injunction prohibiting him from asserting legal claims based on his claimed identity as Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin.
Wright has been involved in numerous legal battles, some of which are related to his claims about being Satoshi.
One notable case was his lawsuit against the estate of Dave Kleiman, a deceased computer scientist whom Wright claims was his partner in the creation of Bitcoin.
In this case, Wright has faced accusations of attempting to steal a portion of the valuable Bitcoin holdings that were mined in the early days of the cryptocurrency.
At the time of writing, one Bitcoin is worth $163,051.80 ($US101,802.10).
