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Australian who says he invented bitcoin files for copyright

Craig Wright registers both the original code and the first whitepaper on bitcoin.

Corinne Reichert Senior Editor
Corinne Reichert (she/her) grew up in Sydney, Australia and moved to California in 2019. She holds degrees in law and communications, and currently writes news, analysis and features for CNET across the topics of electric vehicles, broadband networks, mobile devices, big tech, artificial intelligence, home technology and entertainment. In her spare time, she watches soccer games and F1 races, and goes to Disneyland as often as possible.
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The man who says he invented bitcoin has filed for copyright over the original whitepaper and code.

Chesnot / Getty Images

The man claiming he invented bitcoin , Craig Wright, has filed for copyright of the original Satoshi Nakamoto whitepaper.

The Australian entrepreneur claimed to be Nakamoto, the creator of the cryptocurrency, back in 2016.

The US Copyright Office catalog shows his filings for the Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System text file and Bitcoin, a computer file.

He was granted copyright registration over both effective April 2019, according to a GoinGeek press release.

"Wright wrote most of version 0.1 of the Bitcoin client software, and the registration covers the portions he authored," CoinGeek said.

At the time of publishing, bitcoin was worth around $8,000, up from $5,300 a month ago.