UK Court Rejects Craig Wright’s Appeal, Upholding Ruling Against His Bitcoin Authorship Claim

The UK Court of Appeal has rejected Craig Wright's bid to challenge a previous ruling in his legal fight against the Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA), affirming that he failed to prove he is Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin.

The decision marks another blow to Wright’s ongoing claims of Bitcoin authorship.

On November 28, the court dismissed Wright’s appeal, ruling that his arguments lacked merit. Lord Justice Arnold stated there was no reasonable basis for an appeal and confirmed that Wright’s evidence did not support his claim to be the author of the Bitcoin whitepaper. Earlier this year, after a 22-day trial, a judge had concluded that Wright could not substantiate his assertions of authorship, with expert testimony undermining his case.

Despite Wright’s claims of judicial bias and improper handling of evidence, the court rejected these accusations. The ruling emphasized that the trial judge had ensured a fair process, dismissing Wright’s complaints as disagreements with the legal reasoning rather than valid grounds for appeal.

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The appeal also failed to convince the court that expert evidence was mishandled. Wright’s own experts often agreed with COPA’s experts on crucial points, further weakening his case. In addition, Wright had made strategic decisions not to call key witnesses or cross-examine others, a move that hindered his defense. The court noted that Wright’s insistence on being treated as an expert was unjustified, as he was already the main witness in his case.

Kosta Gushterov