UK high court rules Australian computer scientist is not mysterious bitcoin founder as he claims

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Britain’s high court has ruled that an Australian computer scientist is not, as he claimed, the mysterious creator of the bitcoin cryptocurrency

LONDON — Britain's high court ruled Thursday that an Australian computer scientist is not, as he claimed, the mysterious creator of the bitcoin cryptocurrency.

Craig Wright has for eight years claimed that he was the man behind “Satoshi Nakamoto,” the pseudonym that masked the identity of the creator of bitcoin.

His claim was rejected by the Crypto Open Patent Alliance, or Copa, a non-profit group of technology and cryptocurrency firms, who brought the case to court.

In his ruling, Justice James Mellor said Wright did not invent bitcoin, was not the man behind Satoshi, or the author of the initial versions of the bitcoin software. Further explanation will emerge when Mellor's written statement is published at a later date.

“Having considered all the evidence and submissions presented to me in this trial, I’ve reached the conclusion that the evidence is overwhelming," he said, according to a court transcript.

During the trial, Copa claimed Wright had created an “elaborate false narrative” and forged documents to suggest he was Satoshi and had “terrorized” those who questioned him.

A spokesperson for Copa said Thursday's decision is a “win for developers, for the entire open source community, and for the truth."

“For over eight years, Dr. Wright 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,” the spokesperson added.

Wright, who attended the start of the five-week trial, denied the allegations.

At stake was not just bragging rights to the creation of bitcoin, the world’s