The sentence follows repeated violations of a court order prohibiting him from claiming to be Satoshi Nakamoto and filing lawsuits based on that assertion.
Australian computer scientist Craig Wright has been sentenced to one year in prison with a two-year suspension by the UK High Court. This means Wright will only serve the sentence if he violates court orders during this period.
The sentence was handed down by Judge James Edward Mellor after Wright breached a previous court order by filing a £911 billion and 50 million lawsuit against Bitcoin developers and the company Square last October.
During the hearing, Judge Mellor emphasized the unequivocal nature of Wright’s violations, ordering him to immediately withdraw his latest legal action. The judge stated:
“There is no doubt whatever that each of these contempts has been proved.”
The situation is further complicated by Wright’s current geographical location. He did not attend the December 18 hearing in person, citing financial losses amounting to £240,000. Appearing remotely the following day, Wright revealed that he was in Asia, presumably in Singapore or Indonesia, but did not specify his exact location. This circumstance could make enforcing the sentence particularly challenging, given the lack of extradition treaties with Indonesia and the limitations of the agreement with Singapore, which does not cover civil contempt cases.
The Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA) was awarded £145,000 in legal costs. Despite being denied permission last month to appeal the previous ruling declaring that he is not the creator of Bitcoin, Wright has stated that he will appeal this new conviction for contempt of court.
