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LONDON — Craig Wright, the Australian man who claimed to be the inventor of bitcoin, has been referred to British prosecutors for alleged perjury. British High Court Judge James Mellor made the decision on Tuesday, referring Wright’s case to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which handles criminal prosecutions in England and Wales.
The CPS will determine whether Wright should face prosecution for “wholescale perjury and forgery of documents.” They will also decide if a warrant for his arrest and potential extradition is necessary.
This development follows a High Court ruling that Wright had lied “extensively and repeatedly” in his attempts to prove he was Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of bitcoin. Judge Mellor ruled that Wright had forged documents “on a grand scale” to support his claims.
Wright’s attempts to establish himself as the inventor of bitcoin included asserting intellectual property rights over the bitcoin white paper and initial versions of the bitcoin software. However, Mellor noted that the bitcoin protocol is a decentralized, open-source network, and no single entity can control it.
The judge condemned Wright’s legal actions in the UK, as well as in Norway and the US, as “a most serious abuse” of the judicial process.
Following the ruling, Wright’s official website was wiped of content. A legal notice posted on the site on Tuesday stated: “DR CRAIG STEVEN WRIGHT IS NOT SATOSHI NAKAMOTO.” The notice confirmed that Wright has been ordered not to initiate any legal proceedings based on his false claims and must not threaten such proceedings.
This case marks a significant moment in the ongoing saga of bitcoin’s mysterious origins and the identity of its creator. The outcome of the CPS’s decision will be closely watched by the cryptocurrency community and legal experts alike.