Craig Wright's lawyers ask two websites to take down the Bitcoin whitepaper

Craig Wright, the self-proclaimed creator of bitcoin, has sent legal notices to two websites to take down the Bitcoin whitepaper.

Bitcoin.org and Bitcoincore.org were sent the notices on Wednesday, Bitcoin contributor "Cobra" said in a blog post published Thursday. Cobra said Wright's lawyers claim that he owns the copyright to the paper and is the original owner of bitcoin.org.

This is not the first time Wright has made such claims. In 2019, he made at least two attempts to claim copyright and authorship of the Bitcoin whitepaper.

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Bitcoin.org has refused to remove the whitepaper, while Bitcoincore.org surrendered.

"Unfortunately, without consulting us, Bitcoin Core developers scrambled to remove the Bitcoin whitepaper from bitcoincore.org, in response to these allegations of copyright infringement, lending credence to these false claims," said Cobra. "By surrendering in this way, the Bitcoin Core project has lent ammunition to Bitcoin's enemies, engaged in self-censorship, and compromised its integrity."

Cobra said Bitcoin.org will continue hosting the Bitcoin whitepaper. "Others hosting the whitepaper should follow our lead in resisting these false allegations," he said.

The Bitcoin whitepaper was initially published in 2008, by bitcoin's pseudonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto, on a mailing list for those interested in cryptography.

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Yogita Khatri is a senior reporter at The Block, covering all things crypto. As one of the earliest team members, Yogita has played a pivotal role in breaking numerous stories, exclusives and scoops. With nearly 3,000 articles under her belt, Yogita holds the records as The Block's most-published and most-read author of all time. Prior to joining The Block, Yogita worked at crypto publication CoinDesk and The Economic Times, where she wrote on personal finance. To contact her, email: [email protected]. For her latest work, follow her on X @Yogita_Khatri5.