A two-month London trial intended to test assertions of intellectual property in the $800bn bitcoin digital currency seems set to go ahead despite a surprise public offer to settle. Australian-born computer scientist Dr Craig Wright, whose claim to be bitcoin’s inventor ‘Satoshi Nakamoto’ is at the centre of the litigation, last night made a 'non negotiable' offer to settle.

His principal opponent, a US-based open rights group, immediately rejected the offer. ‘Hard pass,’ it posted on social media site X.

The so-called Satoshi identity trial is expected to attract worldwide attention. Hearings in three rolled-up cases are due to open in the High Court in London on 5 February. The first is an attempt by the Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA) to obtain a court declaration that Wright’s claim to be ‘Satoshi’, author of the 2008 white paper which launched bitcoin, is fraudulent. If that succeeds, claims by Wright against bitcoin developers over alleged IP infringements will fall away. 

The case before Mr Justice Mellor is expected to hinge on expert analysis of documents on computer memory sticks which Wright says he found in a drawer last year. COPA is expected to argue that the documents could not have been generated in 2008, as Wright claims. 

Wright has previously sued several individuals who have challenged his claims; in 2022 the billionaire was awarded £1 in damages in a defamation case. 

However in his offer to settle, he said: 'The focus of my various litigations to date has never been on revealing my pseudonymous identity as Satoshi Nakamoto, but on mandating that bitcoin remains faithful to its central principles.’ Further to this aim, he offered 'to waive my database rights and copyrights’ and to offer 'an irrevocable licence in perpetuity to my opposing parties'.

These 'broadly uncontroversial' terms are 'intended to draw a fresh start in the history of bitcoin to guarantee its success in whatever form it takes', he said. 

COPA responded: 'Just like Craig Wright forges documents and doesn’t quite tell the truth, his description of the settlement offer isn’t quite accurate either - it comes with loopholes that would allow him to sue people all over again.'

Wright’s legal team has been approached for comment.

 

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