Craig Wright Yet to Prove He’s Satoshi as Trial Progresses

The Crypto Open Patent Alliance’s (COPA) court case against Australian computer scientist and self-proclaimed inventor of Bitcoin, Craig Wright, continues this week. COPA brought the case against Wright in an attempt to show once and for all that he is not the pseudonymous inventor of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto, and to force him to stop claiming he is.

Wright has now had six days in the witness box during the trial, giving what has been at times confusing and contradictory evidence. 

As reported by Protos, the Australian computer scientist now insists his knowledge of the network and the work he has produced as a Bitcoin developer should be enough to prove he is Satoshi. He has insisted that proof should not hinge on whether or not he has ownership of the cryptographic private key associated with Satoshi Nakamoto—which is convenient for Wright since he doesn’t seem to have the private key.

Bizarrely, Wright also requested to introduce into evidence a box of papers he claims his wife found over the weekend—a request very likely to be denied since the discovery phase of the case ended months ago.

Wright: I Am Mysterious Genius (Trust me Bro)

On Monday and Tuesday of this week, Wright’s testimony focussed on emails and documents shared between himself and other early Bitcoin developers, which Wright believes demonstrate he is Satoshi. 

Wright also claimed he handed over the private key for the Bitcoin code repository to another developer because he was being hassled by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), and was in the middle of a divorce and wanted to spend more time on his other business ventures.

One pivotal line of questioning focussed on Wright’s claim that he cryptographically signed a public blog post in 2016 to prove he was Satoshi. This alleged proof has since been thoroughly debunked by cryptography experts. 

Wright also claims he has since intentionally destroyed the hard drive which contained the private key, supposedly as a way to avoid giving his critics “an easy way out.” Won’t somebody please make it make sense?! 

Wright said an individual can’t prove their identity through the ownership of private keys anyway, despite previously having relied on this as key evidence to prove he is Satoshi.

The Proof Is All In The Box My Wife Found (Trust Me Bro)

In a typically silly turn of events, Wright insisted Monday that important evidence is contained in a box his wife found over the weekend. He has requested that the contents of the box be allowed into evidence. 

Perhaps the strategy over this supposed new evidence is as follows:

1. Judge won't allow it in court because it's too late

2. CSW loses the case

3. CSW's narrative is that he lost because the new evidence was not allowed in court and the new evidence proves he is Satoshi

— BitMEX Research (@BitMEXResearch) February 12, 2024

Most expert observers agree it’s highly unlikely the box will be allowed into evidence, as discovery ended months ago. Some have suggested Wright may use the denial of his request to claim that important evidence was ignored—to further fuel speculation that he is indeed Satoshi. 

Unfortunately, we’ll probably be hearing about Craig Wright and his Box Of Mysteries for a while yet. 

It’s expected Wednesday will be Wright’s final day in the evidence box before the focus turns to expert witness testimony.