The Bitcoin Whitepaper has been reinstated on the Bitcoin.org website. This development comes after Craig Wright’s legal efforts to prove he is the pseudonymous creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, fell flat in court. This led Judge James Mellor to dismiss the case.
Wright’s Legal Claim of Bitcoin Whitepaper Struck out
Previously, in 2021, Bitcoin.org was compelled to remove the whitepaper following a successful lawsuit by Wright against Cøbra, the site’s anonymous operators, for copyright infringement. However, Wright’s assertion as the author of the Whitepaper was recently disproven in court, nullifying his previous copyright win.
Hennadii Stepanov, a maintainer for Bitcoin.org, announced the re-upload of the Whitepaper by sharing its PDF link on social media platform, X.
Wright’s first legal victory was due to a “default judgment” because Cøbra declined to attend court proceedings. At the time, the Cøbra members chose not to compromise their anonymity with court appearances.
This resulted in a £35,000 ($40,100) legal fee imposed on Cøbra and restricted access to the Whitepaper for users in the UK. Cøbra had to display a quote from Nakamoto instead: “It takes advantage of the nature of information being easy to spread but hard to stifle.”
The Enigmatic Legacy of Satoshi Nakamoto
Some legal experts consider Craig Wright’s claims do not align with the mysterious persona of Satoshi Nakamoto. They argue that the mysterious developer whose last words before vanishing included: “I have moved on to other things…” will not come out to hug the limelight.
To protest against Wright, many entities, including Jack Dorsey’s Block Inc and several national governments such as the US, Estonia, and Colombia, began hosting the Bitcoin Whitepaper.
In March 2024, however, a UK High Court decided that Wright was not Satoshi Nakamoto. The judge described Wright as having lied “extensively,” using “technobabble,” and being “not nearly as clever as he thinks he is.”
The ruling invalidated Wright’s previous copyright claims, allowing Bitcoin.org to restore the whitepaper.
Although Satoshi Nakamoto desired to fade into oblivion, occasionally, his name pops up in the crypto space reigniting conversation around the enigmatic developer. Recently, Crypto-Vanguard reported the resurfacing of a Satoshi-Era Bitcoin whale that made a transfer of $43 million BTC. This underscores how many people are benefitting from the Satoshi legacy.
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