In February 2021, Craig Wright filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against the pseudonymous operator of bitcoin.org, known as “Cobra,” claiming ownership of the Bitcoin whitepaper — one of the defining events of Wright’s Satoshi claim, predating by three years the court ruling that would undo it.
On June 28, 2021, the London High Court issued a default judgment in Wright’s favor. Bitcoin.org was ordered to remove the Bitcoin whitepaper from its website and post a notice referring to the court’s judgment.
Cobra lost by default — not because the claim had merit, but because he could not defend himself without revealing his real identity. The court allowed Wright to sue Cobra pseudonymously, but the rules did not allow Cobra to defend pseudonymously.
Cobra faced an impossible choice: reveal his identity and lose his anonymity, or accept the default judgment.
He chose to protect his anonymity.
Cobra responded publicly the same day, arguing that rules enforced through cryptography are superior to rules enforced by whoever can outspend an opponent in court.
This ruling was later rendered meaningless when the UK High Court ruled in COPA v. Wright (March 2024) that Craig Wright is not Satoshi Nakamoto and therefore has no claim to authorship of the Bitcoin whitepaper. The Bitcoin whitepaper remains freely available on numerous websites worldwide.
