Who he is
Craig Steven Wright is an Australian computer scientist and entrepreneur, the central figure in one of the longest-running controversies in Bitcoin's history. From 2016 he publicly claimed to be Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of Bitcoin, without ever providing the cryptographic proof the community asked for (signing with the keys of the first blocks). He was for a long time Chief Scientist at nChain, a blockchain research and patents company, and he is the promoter of Bitcoin SV (BSV), the fork born in 2018 out of the split from Bitcoin Cash. His claim to authorship of Bitcoin was definitively dismantled in court in the United Kingdom in 2024.
Current role
He no longer holds the role of Chief Scientist at nChain: the title was removed from the company's website at the end of 2023, during the crisis that also led to the dismissal of the then CEO Christen Ager-Hanssen, and Wright stated that he did not consider an official role necessary (Verified: September 2026). His current professional activity is not clearly documented by reliable sources. On the legal side (Verified: September 2026): he has a 12-month prison sentence for contempt of court, suspended until 20 December 2026 on condition that he does not breach the orders again, and since May 2025 he has been subject to a General Civil Restraint Order preventing him from starting new cases before the English High Court and county courts without permission.
Career path
- 2015-2016 — Wired and Gizmodo point to him as a possible Satoshi; in 2016 his public "proof" is dismantled by the technical community.
- 2016-2023 — Chief Scientist at nChain and the face of Bitcoin SV; launches a long series of defamation and intellectual property cases against developers and critics.
- 2024-2025 — The COPA v Wright case demolishes his claims; a contempt conviction, a rejected appeal and a ban on new legal actions follow.
Recent developments and controversies
- COPA v Wright (March 2024) — Judge Mellor of the London High Court rules that Wright is not Satoshi Nakamoto and is not the author of the Bitcoin whitepaper; the written judgment (May 2024) speaks of evidence riddled with lies and forged documents. Outcome: claim definitively rejected.
- Contempt of court (December 2024) — For starting, in breach of the orders, a new case worth over £900 billion against BTC Core and Square, on 20 December 2024 he is sentenced to 12 months, suspended until 20 December 2026.
- Appeal rejected and sanctions (2025) — In March 2025 the Court of Appeal refuses permission to appeal and orders him to pay £225,000 in costs; he is also sanctioned for filing documents containing invented legal citations generated with AI. In May 2025 the General Civil Restraint Order arrives. Outcome: the English legal saga is, in effect, closed against him.
FAQ
Is Craig Wright Satoshi Nakamoto? No, as established by the British High Court in March 2024: the judge concluded that he is not the inventor of Bitcoin and that the evidence he produced included forged documents.
Is Craig Wright in prison? No: the 12-month sentence for contempt of court (December 2024) is suspended until 20 December 2026, on condition that he commits no new breaches of the orders.
See also
Verified sources
- https://www.kangssolicitors.co.uk/news-insights/intellectual-property-vexatious-litigation
- https://www.stevens-bolton.com/site/insights/articles/dr-craig-wright-in-the-courts
- https://ipkitten.blogspot.com/2025/05/copa-v-wright-civil-restraint-orders.html
- https://www.theblock.co/post/253741/nchain-ceo-departs-asserts-craig-wright-is-not-satoshi
