6 ms·

Craig Wright's claim of inventing Bitcoin may get him arrested for perjury

75 points by edent 2y ago

mtnGoat 2y ago
Hopefully they do press forward and he is arrested. Abuse of the legal system should be punished.
1970-01-01 2y ago
Good riddance is all I want to say. We really need fewer liars in this world.
- toofy 2y ago
  it really is one of the great problems of today. this combined with what my grandpa called “blowhards”.
- brcmthrowaway 2y ago
  [flagged]
  - andirk 2y ago
    Factually and statistically speaking, both USA major parties' presidential candidates have a very long rap sheet of pathologically lying. One of the main differences is one started nonstop lying recently whereas the other was nonstop lying in previous decades.
vngzs 2y ago
His site now has a notice about the court case and denies he is Satoshi [0]. I've saved a copy for posterity at [1]. [0]: https://craigwright.net/ https://craigwright.net/ [1]: https://i.imgur.com/5yHiCLr.png https://i.imgur.com/5yHiCLr.png
- lawlessone 2y ago
  It's very funny, he's the only person on Earth who is 100% confirmed not to be Satoshi.
  - voiceblue 2y ago
    Well, plenty of people were born after that whitepaper came out.
    - gorlilla 2y ago
      You're awfully quick to rule out time travelers.
- JamesSwift 2y ago
  Well thats one hell of a homepage
- snapcaster 2y ago
  Did the court force him to add this on his homepage? i don't really get it
  - vngzs 2y ago
    Either the court or his lawyers.
  - rssoconnor 2y ago
    Yes. Paragraph 182 of the judgment [2024] EWHC 1809 (Ch). https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/COPA-v-Wright-Judgment.pdf https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/COPA-v-W...
    - greyface- 2y ago
      Paragraph 182: > I do not consider a notice on his website on its own to be adequate, since his primary mode of communication to those interested appears to be via X / Twitter or via his Slack channels. So I will order the publication of an amended version of the notice sought by COPA (to reflect the injunctions I am granting) on the homepage of his website (i.e. not merely by way of a link) for a period of six months and of the same amended notice pinned on his X / Twitter feed and on all Slack channels for a period of 3 months. First ever legally compelled pinned tweet? I guess this way there's no "tweeting through it". It doesn't appear he's complied with this yet.
lawlessone 2y ago
Well deserved. Hopefully more patent trolls get the same treatment.
EGreg 2y ago
Funny, the title of his commandeered website is "Coming soon". What's coming soon? I wonder how the BSV guys are taking this... they were almost as cultish as Hexicans with Richard Heart (who confronted Craig Wright about this year ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQoyaguvGdQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQoyaguvGdQ )
mhh__ 2y ago
Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy
thrillgore 2y ago
[flagged]
eigenvalue 2y ago
Good, this guy is totally evil and malicious. He has plenty of capacity to pay for the damage he has caused people who actually did contribute to bitcoin.
andoando 2y ago
For a guy claiming to have invented bitcoin, is he at least an expert on crypto?
- 65756756 2y ago
  Not at all. He forked an altcoin that was already a fork of Bitcoin. Bitcoin Cash was the name, and he forked it into Bitcoin SV. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitcoin_Cash#2018_split_to_create_Bitcoin_SV https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitcoin_Cash#2018_split_to_cre... To understand why Bitcoin's entire goal is to maintain security of its ledger. Increasing the block size means less people can download the ledger and verify it, since it takes up more space. This is seen as a risk to the security of the ledger and any change to the block size should be avoided. Instead it is better to optimize for the space already available (Segwit is an example). Bitcoin Cash is a fork that disagrees with this opinion and has a bigger block size. Craig Wright spun off Bitcoin Cash into Bitcoin SV with a massive (128mb per block) size. It is easy to monitor network performance and see both of these networks under preform against Bitcoin. These cryptocurrencies serve as a way for Craig and the other crypto grifters to pad their bags. If you held Bitcoin at the time, you got the same amount "airdropped" on the forked chains represented in their blockchains tokens. This means that once the crypto currency goes live on any exchange you can immediately dump for profit and no real risk. All he is doing is finding a contentious issue, digging in and marketing his own solution without understanding any of the engineering philosophy in order to exploit and extract money from people in a loosely regulated market. Hope it truly catches up to him some day.
  - oskarkk 2y ago
    > Instead it is better to optimize for the space already available (Segwit is an example). Segwit doesn't optimize already available space, it bypasses the original 1 MB block size limit by moving the transaction signatures outside of the limit (which it does in a way that has some security advantages). Main difference is that it was done as a soft fork, not as a hard fork (which would split the chain). I don't think that you can optimize the size of blocks, as they contain mostly address hashes and signatures. You can see here that the blocks are bigger than 1 MB: https://www.blockchain.com/explorer/charts/avg-block-size https://www.blockchain.com/explorer/charts/avg-block-size
xhkkffbf 2y ago
There are a lot of false and exaggerated claims in the world. Why are we bothering to spend so much time on this in court?
- nullc 2y ago
  Design flaw in civil courts. Wright was backed by billions of dollars of other people's money that he was willing to throw away, so he was able to drive up cost for others and consume court time. Had he been just an ordinary unfunded kook, his loopy writings would have just been discarded by the courts.
- tardy_one 2y ago
  A court that doesn't act on demonstrable perjury is just a stadium.
  - nullc 2y ago
    Perjury prosecution is relatively rare in both the US and the UK. Take from that whatever you will.
- oskarkk 2y ago
  He not only claimed to be the inventor of bitcoin, he also started registering copyright to the bitcoin whitepaper and code.
nullc 2y ago
Well he got his butt out of the country as soon as the initial judgement came down and hasn't returned since. More positive effects, https://x.com/CobraBitcoin/status/1813271585882505272 https://x.com/CobraBitcoin/status/1813271585882505272 It's good to be here but its unfortunate that it required spending more than 10 million pounds and took several years of several people's lives to get here. ... and counting, considering that he's announced that he will appeal.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
ChrisArchitect 2y ago
Earlier: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40975209 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40975209
andirk 2y ago
When Wright first claimed to be the creator of Bitcoin, I didn't believe him only because the creator of Bitcoin was a very elusive person(s), and Wright is loud; I didn't need to look in to it further. Welp, the courts did. My best guess is Bitcoin was created by an Australian guy living in Japan and he no longer with us.
- naveen99 2y ago
  I like to think it was chris mallet who created autohotkey. He disappeared from autohotkey when bitcoin came out. And then disappeared from bitcoin when deep learning came out…
- nojvek 2y ago
  Why do you say Aussie in Japan? What evidence do you have?
  - andirk 2y ago
    His speech in forums and emails sounds Aussie to me. And his slight distance from American culture rules out USA. Japan because of a handful of references to Japanese culture, and others have deduced the Pacific region from his correspondence timestamps. And no longer with us due to not moving original coins, and his extremely abrupt disappearance mid conversation, almost mid sentence. I, personally, don't care though and respect their anonymity.
- voxic11 2y ago
  Its probably the person you most suspect https://youtu.be/XfcvX0P1b5g https://youtu.be/XfcvX0P1b5g

75 points by edent 2y ago

mtnGoat 2y ago

Hopefully they do press forward and he is arrested. Abuse of the legal system should be punished.

1970-01-01 2y ago

Good riddance is all I want to say. We really need fewer liars in this world.

toofy 2y ago
it really is one of the great problems of today. this combined with what my grandpa called “blowhards”.
brcmthrowaway 2y ago
[flagged]
- andirk 2y ago
  Factually and statistically speaking, both USA major parties' presidential candidates have a very long rap sheet of pathologically lying. One of the main differences is one started nonstop lying recently whereas the other was nonstop lying in previous decades.

vngzs 2y ago

His site now has a notice about the court case and denies he is Satoshi [0]. I've saved a copy for posterity at [1]. [0]: https://craigwright.net/ https://craigwright.net/ [1]: https://i.imgur.com/5yHiCLr.png https://i.imgur.com/5yHiCLr.png

lawlessone 2y ago
It's very funny, he's the only person on Earth who is 100% confirmed not to be Satoshi.
- voiceblue 2y ago
  Well, plenty of people were born after that whitepaper came out.
  - gorlilla 2y ago
    You're awfully quick to rule out time travelers.
JamesSwift 2y ago
Well thats one hell of a homepage
snapcaster 2y ago
Did the court force him to add this on his homepage? i don't really get it
- vngzs 2y ago
  Either the court or his lawyers.
- rssoconnor 2y ago
  Yes. Paragraph 182 of the judgment [2024] EWHC 1809 (Ch). https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/COPA-v-Wright-Judgment.pdf https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/COPA-v-W...
  - greyface- 2y ago
    Paragraph 182: > I do not consider a notice on his website on its own to be adequate, since his primary mode of communication to those interested appears to be via X / Twitter or via his Slack channels. So I will order the publication of an amended version of the notice sought by COPA (to reflect the injunctions I am granting) on the homepage of his website (i.e. not merely by way of a link) for a period of six months and of the same amended notice pinned on his X / Twitter feed and on all Slack channels for a period of 3 months. First ever legally compelled pinned tweet? I guess this way there's no "tweeting through it". It doesn't appear he's complied with this yet.

lawlessone 2y ago

Well deserved. Hopefully more patent trolls get the same treatment.

EGreg 2y ago

Funny, the title of his commandeered website is "Coming soon". What's coming soon? I wonder how the BSV guys are taking this... they were almost as cultish as Hexicans with Richard Heart (who confronted Craig Wright about this year ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQoyaguvGdQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQoyaguvGdQ )

mhh__ 2y ago

Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy

thrillgore 2y ago

[flagged]

eigenvalue 2y ago

Good, this guy is totally evil and malicious. He has plenty of capacity to pay for the damage he has caused people who actually did contribute to bitcoin.

andoando 2y ago

For a guy claiming to have invented bitcoin, is he at least an expert on crypto?

65756756 2y ago
Not at all. He forked an altcoin that was already a fork of Bitcoin. Bitcoin Cash was the name, and he forked it into Bitcoin SV. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitcoin_Cash#2018_split_to_create_Bitcoin_SV https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitcoin_Cash#2018_split_to_cre... To understand why Bitcoin's entire goal is to maintain security of its ledger. Increasing the block size means less people can download the ledger and verify it, since it takes up more space. This is seen as a risk to the security of the ledger and any change to the block size should be avoided. Instead it is better to optimize for the space already available (Segwit is an example). Bitcoin Cash is a fork that disagrees with this opinion and has a bigger block size. Craig Wright spun off Bitcoin Cash into Bitcoin SV with a massive (128mb per block) size. It is easy to monitor network performance and see both of these networks under preform against Bitcoin. These cryptocurrencies serve as a way for Craig and the other crypto grifters to pad their bags. If you held Bitcoin at the time, you got the same amount "airdropped" on the forked chains represented in their blockchains tokens. This means that once the crypto currency goes live on any exchange you can immediately dump for profit and no real risk. All he is doing is finding a contentious issue, digging in and marketing his own solution without understanding any of the engineering philosophy in order to exploit and extract money from people in a loosely regulated market. Hope it truly catches up to him some day.
- oskarkk 2y ago
  > Instead it is better to optimize for the space already available (Segwit is an example). Segwit doesn't optimize already available space, it bypasses the original 1 MB block size limit by moving the transaction signatures outside of the limit (which it does in a way that has some security advantages). Main difference is that it was done as a soft fork, not as a hard fork (which would split the chain). I don't think that you can optimize the size of blocks, as they contain mostly address hashes and signatures. You can see here that the blocks are bigger than 1 MB: https://www.blockchain.com/explorer/charts/avg-block-size https://www.blockchain.com/explorer/charts/avg-block-size

xhkkffbf 2y ago

There are a lot of false and exaggerated claims in the world. Why are we bothering to spend so much time on this in court?

nullc 2y ago
Design flaw in civil courts. Wright was backed by billions of dollars of other people's money that he was willing to throw away, so he was able to drive up cost for others and consume court time. Had he been just an ordinary unfunded kook, his loopy writings would have just been discarded by the courts.
tardy_one 2y ago
A court that doesn't act on demonstrable perjury is just a stadium.
- nullc 2y ago
  Perjury prosecution is relatively rare in both the US and the UK. Take from that whatever you will.
oskarkk 2y ago
He not only claimed to be the inventor of bitcoin, he also started registering copyright to the bitcoin whitepaper and code.

nullc 2y ago

Well he got his butt out of the country as soon as the initial judgement came down and hasn't returned since. More positive effects, https://x.com/CobraBitcoin/status/1813271585882505272 https://x.com/CobraBitcoin/status/1813271585882505272 It's good to be here but its unfortunate that it required spending more than 10 million pounds and took several years of several people's lives to get here. ... and counting, considering that he's announced that he will appeal.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

ChrisArchitect 2y ago

Earlier: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40975209 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40975209

andirk 2y ago

When Wright first claimed to be the creator of Bitcoin, I didn't believe him only because the creator of Bitcoin was a very elusive person(s), and Wright is loud; I didn't need to look in to it further. Welp, the courts did. My best guess is Bitcoin was created by an Australian guy living in Japan and he no longer with us.

naveen99 2y ago
I like to think it was chris mallet who created autohotkey. He disappeared from autohotkey when bitcoin came out. And then disappeared from bitcoin when deep learning came out…
nojvek 2y ago
Why do you say Aussie in Japan? What evidence do you have?
- andirk 2y ago
  His speech in forums and emails sounds Aussie to me. And his slight distance from American culture rules out USA. Japan because of a handful of references to Japanese culture, and others have deduced the Pacific region from his correspondence timestamps. And no longer with us due to not moving original coins, and his extremely abrupt disappearance mid conversation, almost mid sentence. I, personally, don't care though and respect their anonymity.
voxic11 2y ago
Its probably the person you most suspect https://youtu.be/XfcvX0P1b5g https://youtu.be/XfcvX0P1b5g