Self-Proclaimed Bitcoin Inventor Craig Wright Awarded Prison Sentence For Defying Court Order

Australian computer scientist Craig Wright, who has consistently claimed to be Bitcoin BTC/USD creator Satoshi Nakamoto, was held in contempt of court on Thursday and handed out a one-year suspended prison sentence for continuing to sue developers.

What Happened: The case was brought by the Crypto Open Patent Alliance, a non-profit that has waged a legal battle against Wright’s claims of being the inventor of the world’s largest cryptocurrency, according to a report by The Guardian.

Earlier in May, Judge James Mellor ruled that Wright had lied “extensively and repeatedly” and forged documents to support his false claim and asked him to publicly deny being Satoshi and his copyright ownership of the Bitcoin whitepaper.

The Crypto Open Patent Alliance stated that Wright ignored this injunction and sued developers by bringing cases against cryptocurrency developers totaling more than £900 billion ($1.12 trillion) in October.

See Also: Senator Lummis Introduces Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Proposal

Judge James Mellor ruled on Thursday that Wright was in contempt of court, sentencing him to 12 months in jail suspended for two years.

Why It Matters: Wright has been a contentious figure in the Bitcoin community since he posted a blog in 2016 claiming, with questionable evidence, to be the apex cryptocurrency’s inventor.

Since then, he has gone to court in defense of his claim, filing lawsuits that allege libel for calling him a fraud or copyright infringement. In February, Wright's assertion was deemed a ‘brazen lie' in a U.K. High Court, and he was directed to issue a legal disclaimer on his website homepage, X feed, and all Slack channels that he isn’t Satoshi.

The real identity of Satoshi Nakamoto remains a subject of controversy and intrigue, with a recent HBO documentary identifying Bitcoin core engineer Peter Todd as the pseudonymous founder.

Photo Courtesy: Dan Henson On Shutterstock.com

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