The Bitcoin white paper has been restored to the Bitcoin.org website after Craig Wright’s failed attempt to prove his identity as Satoshi Nakamoto. Hennadii Stepanov, the maintainer of Bitcoin.org, shared a link to the PDF of the white paper, allowing users to access it once again. Legal issues in the United Kingdom had previously forced Bitcoin.org to restrict access to the white paper, replacing it with a quote from Nakamoto emphasizing the difficulty of suppressing information spread. Wright had previously won a copyright infringement case against Cobra, resulting in the removal of the white paper from Bitcoin.org.
In 2021, Craig Wright successfully won a copyright infringement case against Cobra, which led Bitcoin.org to remove the white paper and pay £35,000 in legal fees. Wright also filed lawsuits against Bitcoin Core developers and companies like Blockstream, Coinbase, and Block, alleging copyright violations relating to the white paper and Bitcoin blockchain. The Bitcoin Legal Defense Fund highlighted the detrimental impact of these lawsuits on prominent Bitcoin contributors and the development of the cryptocurrency. However, Wright’s claims as Nakamoto and original white paper author have been debunked following a legal case against COPA, which accused him of forgery and deceit.
Craig Wright’s copyright victory has lost its relevance as his claims as Nakamoto have been discredited, invalidating his copyright claim over the Bitcoin white paper. A UK court froze Wright’s assets worth £6.7 million to prevent him from evading payment of court expenses. The white paper is now covered by an MIT open-source license, allowing anyone to utilize and modify the code for their purposes. Recent investigations suggest that Nakamoto may be a collective entity, as evidenced by the use of “we” and “I” in the white paper and variations in Nakamoto’s writing style across different mediums.
The return of the Bitcoin white paper to Bitcoin.org marks a significant development in the ongoing controversy surrounding Craig Wright’s claims as Satoshi Nakamoto. With the white paper now freely accessible under an open-source license, its use and modification by the broader community are enabled. The legal battles waged by Wright against Bitcoin Core developers and companies have raised concerns over abusive lawsuits and their impact on the cryptocurrency ecosystem’s development and innovation. The ruling against Wright by COPA has exposed his alleged schemes of forgery and deceit, leading to the discrediting of his claims over the Bitcoin white paper. Despite the legal challenges faced by Bitcoin.org, the white paper’s restoration signifies a victory for open access and transparency within the Bitcoin community.
