A computer expert committed “forgery on an industrial scale” by telling a “brazen lie” that he is the inventor of Bitcoin, the High Court has heard.
Dr Craig Wright has claimed he is “Satoshi Nakamoto”, the pseudonym of the person widely credited with founding the cryptocurrency, the court was told.
He is being sued by the Crypto Open Patent Alliance (Copa), a non-profit group including cryptocurrency firms, who say that he created an “elaborate false narrative” and forged documents to suggest he was Satoshi and had “terrorised” those who questioned him.
The Australian computer scientist, who attended the start of the five-week trial over whether he was the pseudonymised inventor, has denied the allegations.
On Monday, Jonathan Hough KC, representing the non-profit group, said Dr Wright’s claim “is a brazen lie and elaborate false narrative supported by forgery on an industrial scale”.
He continued in written submissions: “Copa’s case is, simply, that Dr Wright’s claim to be Satoshi is a lie, founded on an elaborate false narrative … As his false documents and inconsistencies have been exposed, he has resorted to further forgery and ever more implausible excuses.”
The original Bitcoin founding document, a white paper named Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System, was released in 2008, and was authored under Satoshi’s name.
The barrister told the court that despite various efforts by Dr Wright to prove his identity, he had “singularly failed to give that proof”, and that some aspects of his story entered “the realm of farce”.
He also accused Dr Wright of using the artificial intelligence software ChatGPT to forge documents “due to the pressure of time” needed to substantiate his claims.
“If Dr Wright were not Satoshi, the real Satoshi would have been expected to come forward to counter the claim.”
“Dr Wright’s use of the Satoshi pseudonym has its roots in his deep admiration for Japanese culture and a desire to maintain a certain level of privacy while developing and ultimately creating Bitcoin,” Lord Grabiner added.
The trial before Mr Justice Mellor, in which Dr Wright is expected to begin giving evidence on Tuesday, is set to conclude next month with a decision in writing at a later date.