Craig Wright, the man who claims he is the creator of Bitcoin, has admitted that numerous documents he submitted in support of his assertion were falsified.
Wright is facing a trial in London High court for his claim, challenged by Crypto Open Patent Alliance or COPA, as well as several other bodies.
Bitcoin, the renowned cryptocurrency, came into existence in 2008 through a white paper penned by Satoshi Nakamoto, a pseudonymous figure.
For years, Craig Wright has been claiming that he is, in fact, Satoshi Nakamoto. But the claims of the computer scientist and businessman have been met with scepticism and debate.
COPA is a non-profit organisation set up to keep cryptocurrency technology free from patents. COPA is suing Wright over his claims first made in 2016.
On Friday in court, COPA presented evidence of inconsistencies, such as the use of fonts that were not available at the time the documents were purportedly made, prompting Wright to acknowledge their falseness, reported crypto.news.
However, Wright deflected responsibility, blaming former solicitors, sabotaging by former staff, hackers infiltrating his systems, and even suggesting that the IT environment could autonomously modify documents.
Adding to his complications, Wright failed to confirm the legitimacy of documents linked to the Tulip Trust, which he had previously presented in the US Kleiman litigation.
Wright said, "I have no idea, and I cannot actually vouch for anything being completely real."
On Wednesday, Wright had a relatively successful day in court, raising doubts for COPA as he thoroughly discussed Bitcoin's network theory and showcased a document from 2008 mentioning Bitcoin Cash, a cryptocurrency not introduced until 2017.
However, the court is mindful that as a skilled computer engineer, Wright possesses the expertise to manipulate metadata. Wright acknowledged to demonstrating to his university students how to modify document metadata.
The trial is scheduled to continue until mid-March, leaving the crypto community eagerly anticipating whether the court will reject Wright's drawn-out assertion of being Bitcoin's creator.
COPA has roped in several heavyweights --- including Coinbase and Block, both crypto platforms -- to its side in the authenticity trial against Wright.
"Craig Wright claims to be the mysterious creator of bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto. He isn't," Coinbase chief legal officer Paul Grewal had insisted before the start of the London hearing.
He added, "But, undaunted by this basic truth, Wright has used his substantial financial backing to bring an endless stream of baseless litigations against crypto developers based on this lie, many of whom cannot even afford to present the most basic defense."
Wright had last month offered a settlement to COPA, Coinbase, and others in the Bitcoin intellectual property right case.
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