The Bitcoin white paper has been reuploaded to Bitcoin.org following Craig Wright’s failed legal attempt to prove he is Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoin’s pseudonymous creator.
Hennadii Stepanov, the maintainer of Bitcoin.org, announced the white paper’s return by sharing the PDF link on platform X. Due to legal constraints, Bitcoin.org had to restrict access to the white paper for UK users, instead displaying a quote from Nakamoto: “It takes advantage of the nature of information being easy to spread but hard to stifle.”
In 2021, Wright successfully sued the anonymous group running Bitcoin.org, known as Cobra, for copyright infringement, leading to the white paper’s removal. Cobra, choosing not to defend, paid Wright £35,000 ($40,100) in legal fees. Wright had filed for US copyright registration of the white paper in 2019.
In 2023, Wright sued 13 Bitcoin Core developers and several companies for copyright violations concerning the Bitcoin white paper and blockchain. The Bitcoin Legal Defense Fund criticized these lawsuits for deterring development due to legal risks.
Wright’s claims have since been debunked, invalidating his copyright claim. A detailed ruling against Wright by the Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA) highlighted his fabricated evidence and deceit. Wright’s assets, worth £6.7 million ($8.4 million), were frozen to cover court expenses.
The Bitcoin white paper now falls under an MIT open-source license, allowing unrestricted reuse and modification.