Following Craig Wright’s failed attempt to prove his identity as Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of the Bitcoin protocol, the Bitcoin white paper has been reinstated on the Bitcoin.org website.
Hennadii Stepanov, the curator of Bitcoin.org, revealed the white paper’s return by providing a link to the PDF on platform X.
Previously, legal challenges compelled Bitcoin.org to restrict access to the white paper for users located in the United Kingdom.
During this period, the website featured a notable quote from Satoshi Nakamoto, underscoring the resilience of information: easy to disseminate yet difficult to suppress.
Wright Won Copyright Infringement Case Against Cobra
In 2021, Craig Wright successfully won a copyright infringement lawsuit against Cobra, the anonymous entity behind the website. Consequently, Bitcoin.org was compelled to take down the white paper PDF. Cobra, choosing not to contest the case, had to cover £35,000 ($40,100) in legal expenses.
Wright had previously sought copyright registration for the Bitcoin white paper in the United States in 2019. Expanding his legal endeavors, in 2023, Wright initiated lawsuits against 13 Bitcoin Core developers and various companies such as Blockstream, Coinbase, and Block, alleging copyright infringements related to the white paper, its file format, and database rights to the Bitcoin blockchain.
In response, the Bitcoin Legal Defense Fund highlighted the troubling pattern of abusive litigation targeting key Bitcoin contributors.
These lawsuits not only bring about significant time, stress, and expenses but also introduce legal risks that discourage open development.
However, the significance of Wright’s copyright victory has diminished, given the thorough discrediting of his claims to being Satoshi Nakamoto and the author of the white paper, thus rendering his copyright claim invalid.
A comprehensive ruling emerged from a case initiated against Wright by the Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA), a coalition of prominent companies seeking to prevent Wright from asserting ownership over Bitcoin’s core intellectual property. COPA accused Wright of orchestrating an intricate scheme involving forgery and deceit to fabricate evidence supporting his claim as Nakamoto.
Additionally, a United Kingdom court froze Craig Wright’s assets totaling £6.7 million ($8.4 million) to prevent him from evading payment of court expenses.
Now that the Bitcoin white paper is under an MIT open-source license, it is freely accessible for anyone to utilize and modify the code for any purpose.
Nakamoto May be a Collective Entity
Meanwhile, a recent investigation has uncovered evidence suggesting that Nakamoto may be a collective entity.
One compelling piece of evidence is the use of both “we” and “I” in the Bitcoin white paper, hinting at the possibility of a team operating under a single pseudonym.
Another significant finding comes from linguistic analysis of Nakamoto’s writings. While the white paper demonstrates flawless English with precise language and accurate usage of technical terms, Nakamoto’s writing style appears different in forums and email correspondences, implying the involvement of multiple individuals.
