An Australian computer scientist who claimed to have invented Bitcoin under the pseudonym "Satoshi Nakamoto" was sentenced in a London court to 12 months in prison for contempt of court, suspended for two years.
Craig Wright breached a court order by suing Block, a payments company owned by Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, for $1.9 trillion.
Wright was previously prohibited from making Bitcoin claims in May 2024.
According to Judge James Mellor, Wright repeatedly lied and forged documents to support his false claim to be the founder of Bitcoin.
In Wright's lawsuit against Block, the court found a clear violation of the order, which led to the contempt charge.
Although Wright attended his sentencing hearing remotely, he reportedly refused to divulge his location, stating that he was in Singapore or Indonesia.
Wright was ordered to pay $290,000 in costs within a fortnight.
A group of tech companies and cryptocurrency companies, the Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA), argued Wright's lawsuit was a publicity stunt.
According to COPA's lawyer, Jonathan Hough, Wright had shown no remorse and remained pathologically incapable of accepting responsibility for his actions.
In his appeal, Wright maintains he was not in contempt of the court.
As a result of Wright's claims and subsequent legal battles, cryptocurrencies regulation has risen to the forefront of financial markets' attention.
Wright's legal troubles underscore how challenging it can be to regulate emerging technologies, as well as how essential it is for financial and technological sectors to maintain their integrity.
