An Australian computer scientist who falsely claimed to be pseudonymous bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakomoto has been referred to UK prosecutors on perjury allegations.
Craig Wright had long claimed to be the investor of premier cryptocurrency bitcoin, having attempted to certify his claims in the UK High Court.
His case revolved around proving that he wrote the original bitcoin white paper published in 2009, but these claims were thrown out the window in March when a High Court judge ruled in favour of the Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA), which sued Wright over his false claims.
In his March ruling, Judge James Mellor accused Wright of “extensively and repeatedly” lying when giving evidence to the court.
According to Reuters reports, Mellor has followed this up with a referral to Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service to determine “whether a prosecution should be commenced against Dr Wright for his wholescale perjury and forgery of documents”.
Mellor added that prosecutors should consider "whether a warrant for his arrest should be issued and/or whether his extradition should be sought from wherever he now is".
Wright’s location is currently unknown, with Mellor stating: “The evidence shows that Dr Wright has left his previous residence in Wimbledon (in London), appears to have left the UK, has been said to be travelling and was last established to be in the time zone of UTC +7."
Usually a prolific Tweeter, Wright had not updated his X account since 20 May, when he posted: “I fully intend to appeal the decision of the court on the matter of the identity issue.”
Satoshi Nakomoto is the moniker given to the original creator of the bitcoin white paper. Their identity is otherwise unknown.