Australian computer scientist Craig Wright, who claims to be the creator of Bitcoin, has been sentenced to a one-year suspended prison term for contempt of court in the United Kingdom.
The ruling came after Wright violated a previous court injunction by filing a $1.2 trillion lawsuit against payments company Block, founded by Twitter creator Jack Dorsey. The suspended sentence means Wright will avoid jail time if he meets certain conditions over the next two years.
Judge James Mellor delivered the contempt ruling during a hearing on Thursday, following a case brought by the Cryptocurrency Open Patent Alliance (COPA). The non-profit organization has been legally challenging Wright's claims of being Bitcoin's mysterious creator known as Satoshi Nakamoto.
Earlier this year, a UK court found "overwhelming evidence" that Wright is neither Satoshi nor the author of the original Bitcoin white paper. The judge determined Wright had "lied extensively and repeatedly" and forged documents to support his claims.
The court had previously ordered Wright to publicly deny being Satoshi and renounce copyright ownership of the Bitcoin white paper. However, Wright proceeded to file massive lawsuits against cryptocurrency developers, prompting COPA's contempt case.
Wright, who first claimed to be Bitcoin's creator through a blog post in 2016, has been a controversial figure in the cryptocurrency community. He has initiated multiple lawsuits defending his claims and alleging libel against those who called him fraudulent.
While Wright indicated he would appeal the contempt ruling, the judge noted that enforcement may be challenging as Wright currently resides in Asia, outside the court's jurisdiction.
The true identity of Bitcoin's creator Satoshi Nakamoto remains unknown, continuing to be a subject of speculation and intrigue in the cryptocurrency world.