Craig Wright's Suspended Sentence Marks a Legal Blow to His Bitcoin Crusade

The sentence is suspended for two years, allowing Wright to avoid immediate imprisonment, but it marks a significant legal blow to his ongoing crusade

A U.K. court has found Craig Wright guilty of five counts of contempt of court and sentenced him to 16 months in prison, suspended for two years. The sentence comes in a case brought by the Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA) against Wright over his intellectual property claims related to Bitcoin.

The court heard that Wright had breached a July court order, which barred him from pursuing any further legal claims related to his assertion that he is Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin. Despite the order, Wright filed a lawsuit in October claiming intellectual property rights over Bitcoin-related technology, valued at £900 billion ($1.1 trillion).

Judge James Mellor, who has presided over multiple cases involving Wright, made it clear that Wright had knowingly defied the court’s previous ruling. “When it comes to the grounds of contempt, I have found each of them proved beyond reasonable doubt,” Mellor stated during Thursday’s virtual hearing, which Wright attended remotely from an undisclosed location in Asia.

This isn’t the first time Mellor has ruled against Wright’s claims of being Nakamoto. In March, the judge definitively concluded that Wright could not prove his claim to be the creator of Bitcoin, describing him as someone capable of “ramping up his public pronouncements again” despite legal setbacks. Mellor’s earlier ruling also included an injunction preventing Wright from pursuing related legal proceedings in both the U.K. and other jurisdictions.

The contempt case is part of a larger legal battle between COPA and Wright, whose aggressive lawsuits have targeted various members of the Bitcoin community. Wright has previously filed libel suits, intellectual property claims related to the Bitcoin whitepaper, and legal actions against developers. COPA’s victory underscores the organization’s commitment to safeguarding open innovation within the cryptocurrency space.

While Wright’s suspended sentence spares him from jail time for now, the court’s decision sends a clear warning: further defiance of legal orders could lead to more severe consequences. Wright, who declined to specify his whereabouts during the hearing, has already announced plans to appeal the verdict.

The court’s decision and Wright’s ongoing legal challenges have significant implications for the Bitcoin community. Despite numerous legal defeats, Wright has continued to insist he is Satoshi Nakamoto, a claim that is widely dismissed by the broader Bitcoin and blockchain communities.

COPA’s successful challenge is seen as a milestone in pushing back against what many in the crypto space view as a baseless and harmful assertion of intellectual property rights. It also highlights the ongoing tension between proponents of open-source blockchain technology and individuals seeking to monetize or control aspects of its foundational infrastructure.

As the suspended sentence looms over Wright, the case serves as a reminder of the high stakes in the legal battles that shape the future of Bitcoin and the broader cryptocurrency ecosystem. Wright’s next significant court date is scheduled for March, when he faces another COPA-related trial that could further determine his standing—or lack thereof—in the Bitcoin community.