In the ongoing legal battle between the Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA) and self-proclaimed Bitcoin creator Craig Wright, intriguing revelations came to the surface on February 19, suggesting that Wright could be the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto.
This revelation came to light during the testimony of a witness who described Wright as “very annoying.” Still, it acknowledged his potential connection to the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin due to his affinity for Japanese culture.
Craig Wright’s Work With Qudos Bank Comes to Light
Three key witnesses were summoned to testify in the third week of the legal battle between the Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA) and Craig Wright. Qudos Bank’s Chief Investment Officer (CIO) David Bridges, Max Layman, and nChain co-founder Stefan Matthews took the witness stand on Monday.
Bridges, the first to be questioned by COPA’s legal attorney Jonathan Hough, revealed that the self-described Bitcoin founder worked with the Qudos Bank as an IT expert sometime in 2005. He noted that Wright had given him several documents and papers, which became ‘very annoying’ to him at the time.
C: CSW also gave you loads of papers, docs etc,
B: Annoyed the hell of me, yes— Humble Bit (@Humble_Bit) February 19, 2024
When questioned on if any of the documents was a ‘criminal whitepaper’ as the COPA attorney called it, however, Bridges responded that it could be possible.
B: I haven't read all of them.
C: [shows docs] criminal white paper, did he show you this.
B: Possibly— Humble Bit (@Humble_Bit) February 19, 2024
Sharing more details, he stated that most of the documents focused on the forensic and IT services Wright performed for the Australian mutual fund bank.
The next item on the COPA legal team’s agenda was to ascertain whether Wright discussed the idea of a decentralized payment system with Bridges.
In an earlier statement, Bridges said that Wright proposed a system that could replace the traditional SWIFT network. The Qudos Bank CIO said that was the case, however, he was not quite familiar with the technical details surrounding Wright’s idea.
Q. Your statement: “Craig was proposing a system to replace the Swift network”
W. Oh yeah, that’s it, that’s right
Q. Our understanding is that it allows the sending of money transfer instructions between institutions?. CSW proposed some kind of system to be bolted on that or put…— BitMEX Research (@BitMEXResearch) February 19, 2024
He also pointed out that he was not yet familiar with Bitcoin, even though it was 2010 when the ‘Bitcoin Pizza’ event became popular. Bitcoin Pizza refers to an event when early Bitcoin user Laszlo Hanyecz paid 10,000 Bitcoins for a pair of Papa John’s Pizzas.
Next, the COPA legal team asked Bridges if he was still of the opinion that Wright was Satoshi Nakamoto due to his love of Japanese stuff, to which he responded in the affirmative.
C: in your statement, you said he was satoshi because of his passion for japanese stuff
B: yes— Humble Bit (@Humble_Bit) February 19, 2024
When asked whether he knew that other names had been drafted in the lineup of possible Bitcoin founders, Bridges said he didn’t know and didn’t follow the narratives.
C: did you know there are many other people identified of possible candidates?
B: doesn't know, doesn't follow much— Humble Bit (@Humble_Bit) February 19, 2024
Bitcoin Whitepaper ‘Could Have Been One of Them’
Wright’s cousin, Max Lyman, was the next witness called to the stand. Lyman confirmed that Wright had asked him to ‘run some code’ on his computer, however, the computer was not up to the task at the time.
Sharing more details, Lyman stated that Wright was running an e-commerce business then.
Lyman also revealed that he got the Bitcoin whitepaper but was curious about it coming from Wright. He said that Wright sent him several documents and a whitepaper draft could have been one of them.
Q. You do not recall Craig sending you the Bitcoin whitepaper?
W. Craig sent many documents to me, that could have been one of them
Q. You do not recall that particular document?
W. No. They were all the same type of thing
Q. Do you have a detailed understanding of…— BitMEX Research (@BitMEXResearch) February 19, 2024
He also stated that he was not convinced that Wright was the creator of the foremost crypto asset.
Stefan Matthews was the third witness on the stand, and his relationship with Calvin Ayre and Wright was brought up.
The co-founder of nChain noted that Ayre was an investor in the nChain platform but denied that he had notable sway in the company despite a 500 million Swiss francs investment.
C: does calvin have significant control of nchain group in uk
M: no, only the holding
C: [missed]M: no, we should list ayre in [missed] holding— Humble Bit (@Humble_Bit) February 19, 2024
He, however, admitted that he served as a promoter of Wright’s claims of being the Bitcoin network founder.
C: involved in the big reveal?
M: not managed by me
C: but you spend time, fair to say?
M: spent time in conflit with mcgregor and CSW— Humble Bit (@Humble_Bit) February 19, 2024
Matthews stated he did not sponsor Wright’s legal actions and only paid him salaries as a business routine.
M: i see
C: [missed] were they instructed by nchain?
M: no
C: [missed]M: incorrect.
C: nchain has never funded CSW litigation, directly or not
M: no, …. except by paying salaries— Humble Bit (@Humble_Bit) February 19, 2024
The ongoing trial between COPA and Wright seeks to debunk the latter’s claims of being the founder of the world’s largest blockchain network.
According to the plaintiff, it is requesting that the UK court issue an injunction against Wright that states that he is not the rightful creator of the Bitcoin network.
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