Craig Wright Witnesses Face Questions About Their Memories in COPA Trial

CoinDeskPolicyPublished on 2024-02-14Last updated on 2024-02-15

Abstract

Lawyers for the Crypto Open Patent Alliance declared that the recollection of the witnesses today was "hazy" and "confused."

  • Craig Wright witnesses Ignatius Pang, Robert Jenkins and Shoaib Yousef took to the stand on Thursday.
  • Lawyers for the Crypto Open Patent Alliance questioned the soundness of the three witnesses' memories.
  • The trial on whether or not Wright is Satoshi Nakamoto, bitcoin's creator, is still ongoing.
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Lawyers for the Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA) questioned the soundness of Craig Wright's witnesses' memories on Thursday in an ongoing trial probing whether or not he is – as Wright claims – Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto.

Three witnesses testified virtually, including Ignatius Pang, who has known Wright since 2007. His statement centered around a memory of Wright asking him to build a LEGO blockchain in 2008, which Wright likened to a Chinese recursive chain puzzle.

Another witness, Robert Jenkins, testified that he had conversations with Wright around 2009 or 2010 about concepts tied to bitcoin and blockchains.

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Shoaib Yousef, the last witness to testify Thursday, said he discussed digital currency with Wright in the late 2000s.

Jonathan Moss, an attorney representing COPA, questioned whether the witnesses could accurately recall events from "16 years ago." Both Jenkins and Yousef agreed it may be difficult to recount events from that far back.

"I would suggest to you that you have confused these dates and details as you are looking back with the hindsight of what you now know," Moss told Jenkins.

Jonathan Hough, another COPA attorney, made a similar statement to Pang: "All I am saying to you is this hazy recollection is not a reliable recollection."

Wright was taken to court by COPA in the beginning of February in an effort to prove he is not Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of bitcoin (BTC). Wright himself took the stand last week and faced a week’s worth of questioning, which came to a close on Wednesday.

The trial is set to continue on Friday, when three additional witnesses will take the stand.

Read more: Craig Wright Accused of ‘Industrial Scale’ Forgeries in First Day of COPA Trial

Edited by Parikshit Mishra and Nikhilesh De.

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