Craig Wright sentenced to 1 year for contempt in Satoshi claims

Craig Wright, who for years claimed to be Bitcoin’s creator, was found guilty of contempt and sentenced to 12 months in prison.

Australian computer scientist Craig Wright was sentenced to 12 months in jail, with the sentence suspended for 24 months, after a U.K. judge found him guilty of contempt of court.

In March, a court ruled that Wright was not Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin (BTC). The ruling came after Wright’s £900 billion intellectual property claim, in which he demanded copyright ownership of the Bitcoin whitepaper and key code databases.

The Crypto Open Patent Alliance fought back, suing Wright in the United Kingdom to end his claims of being Satoshi. Prominent figures in the Bitcoin community, including Adam Back, the designer of the proof-of-work consensus model, testified against Wright during the court case.

COPA won the case, and Wright was declared “Not Satoshi” in court, ultimately committing contempt of court during his legal bid to assume Nakamoto’s identity.

According to the Guardian, Wright refused to divulge his physical location during the jail term sentencing. He joined via a virtual meeting app and stated he would appeal the court’s verdict.