Bitcoin & Blockchain

In the upcoming trial of COPA v. Wright, COPA sets out to prove that Dr. Wright is not Satoshi, while Dr. Wright provides evidence that he is. How do you prove a negative? There is a misunderstanding about “negative proof”, especially among the supporters of Dr. Wright. The saying is that it is impossible to have “negative proof”. First, there is an issue of terminology. In philosophy, science, and logic, “negative proof” typically refers to… Read More »To prove a negative in COPA v. Wright

Much fruitless thinking (especially mine own) is going on about the mysterious 26.9 BTC transferred to the address in the Genesis block of Bitcoin. This is largely due to the lack of clear and definite information. Dr. Wright has said something about the Genesis block in the past. But in his typical fashion, he speaks in his domain and at his own level, with little sympathy for how others are positioned. For example, in one… Read More »Satoshi’s secret in the Genesis block

Many suspect that the 26.9 BTC recently paid to the Genesis block on January 5, 2024 (txid=d7db4f96a4059c8906b953677ce533493d7b9da0f854a21b99f5772910dd0a31) was a deposit Dr. Wright made to satisfy the court-ordered security for costs of the core developers of BTC. There are good reasons: The total amount is close (the total security deposit proposed by the court was £900,000, about $1.15 million, a very close match to the value of 26.9 BTC at the time of transfer), and the… Read More »The mystery of 26.9 BTC paid to the Genesis block

Mathieu Ducroux of nChain published a paper entitled IPv6 Bitcoin-Certified Addresses. Abstract: A pivotal feature of IPv6 is its plug-and-play capability that enables hosts to integrate seamlessly into networks. In the absence of a trusted authority or security infrastructure, the challenge for hosts is generating their own address and verifying ownership of others. Cryptographically Generated Addresses (CGA) solves this problem by binding IPv6 addresses to hosts’ public keys to prove address ownership. CGA generation involves… Read More »IPv6 Bitcoin-Certified Addresses

On December 20, 2023, Judge Mellor, who presides the trial of COPA v. Wright, handed down a pretrial judgment to adjourn the trial from the originally scheduled January 15, 2024, to February 5, 2024. A three-week adjournment of the trial does not seem to be such a significant change, especially considering that the case was filed in April 2021 and has been pending for well over 2.5 years. However, what is significant is the cause… Read More »The Additional Documents in COPA v. Wright

“Do you prioritize low transaction fees for everyday use, or are you more concerned about security and decentralization?” The above is a question I hear from people who are at least honest enough to acknowledge that BSV is more practical for everyday use due to its low transaction fees, but nevertheless insist that BTC is superior due to its better security and decentralization. These things are all important. But they are not mutually exclusive. People… Read More »Is Bitcoin decentralized?

“An honest man is one who knows that he can’t consume more than he has produced.” Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged. Before you take pride in how much wealth your favorite coin has extracted from the real economy, ask what your coin has contributed to the world, or at least will contribute. If you believe it has real productive value, please justify it using an honest theory that makes economic sense. Whenever destroyers appear among men,… Read More »Bitcoin must have utility before it can become anything

In addition to COPA v. Wright (Case No. IL-2021-000019), several active legal actions in the UK High Court involve Dr. Wright. The COPA v. Wright case concerns the identity issue (whether Dr. Wright is Satoshi). The other cases are derivative matters such as property rights Dr. Wright claims against various parties, including BTC Core, Coinbase, Kraken, Block, Spiral, Blockstream, etc. These cases all necessarily depend on the identity issue because Dr. Wright’s property claims can… Read More »Cases co-pending with COPA v. Wright

The trial of COPA v. Wright is set to start in mid-January 2024. (UPDATE: The trial has now been rescheduled to start on February 5, 2024. Also, see a follow-up article on the case: The Additional Documents in COPA v. Wright.) The case has a unique significance. For the first time, the central issue of a lawsuit involving Dr. Craig S. Wright is the truth itself (Satoshi’s identity), rather than derivative matters such as property… Read More »The key in COPA v. Wright