In December 2024, Wright was sentenced to a suspended 12-month prison term for continuing to assert his copyright over Bitcoin in defiance of earlier court orders.
Conversely, other cryptographers like held legitimate patents for technologies foundational to Bitcoin—such as the Merkle Tree —well before the 2008 whitepaper, though these are viewed as historical precursors rather than claims to Bitcoin's ownership. Crypto Open Patent Alliance v Wright | Freshfields Renowned Cryptographer Says His Patent Was an O...
The phrase refers to , an Australian computer scientist who has spent years claiming to be Satoshi Nakamoto , the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin. Wright has often asserted that his extensive patent portfolio was the "original" intellectual property foundation for the Bitcoin system. In December 2024, Wright was sentenced to a