Bitcoin price dips with over $250 million in total liquidations as judge rules out Craig Wright as BTC founder

• Bitcoin price retracted to a low of $70,543 on Binance, causing over $250 million in liquidations.
• A UK judge has determined that Craig Wright is not Satoshi Nakamoto and that he did not create BTC.
• Sidelined and late investors could have another buying opportunity before the next leg up ahead of halving.

Bitcoin (BTC) price dropped on Thursday, losing the critical support at $70,000 briefly before a pullback. The move, which saw hundreds of millions in total liquidations came after a UK high court ruled out Craig Wright as BTC founder. 

Also Read: Bitcoin cleared $70,000 and Ethereum, $4,000: What’s next for crypto?

Judge rules out Craig Wright as BTC founder

The identity of Bitcoin’s creator, the pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto, has remained a mystery for years. Among the prominent theories include:

• Nick Szabo - Computer scientist and cryptographer
• Hal Finney - Cryptographic pioneer and the first person to receive a Bitcoin transaction from Satoshi Nakamoto
• Dorian Nakamoto - he denied any involvement after a discovery article in 2024
• Craig Wright - Australian computer scientist who claimed he is Satoshi with cryptographic evidence to support his claim.
• A Group of Individuals - There are theories that Satoshi is not a single person.

However, at least one theory might now be put to rest. A high court judge in London cited “overwhelming evidence” after a two-month trial that Craig Wright is not Satoshi Nakamoto.

The presiding judge, Mr Justice Mellor, said, “…having considered all the evidence and submissions presented to me in this trial, I’ve reached the conclusion that the evidence is overwhelming,” and committed to issuing a “fairly lengthy written judgment” in due course. According to a report on The Guardian, Justice Mellor summarized:

• Wright is not the author of the Bitcoin white paper
• Wright is not the person who adopted or operated under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto in the period 2008 to 2011
• Wright is not the person who created the Bitcoin system
• He is not the author of the initial versions of the Bitcoin software

It all comes after a conglomerate of cryptocurrency companies, dubbed Crypto Open Patent Alliance (Copa), levied charges against Wright. The objective was to prevent him from claiming he had invented Bitcoin as he was already using this to expand his influence over the crypto sector.

Nevertheless, while Wright may not be the elusive inventor, the quest for Satoshi’s true identity continues, with the anonymity adding to the intrigue that surrounds the creation of Bitcoin and its impact on the world of finance and technology.

The news created waves in the BTC market. After advancing toward the $80,000 milestone, Bitcoin price has pulled back to record an intraday low of $70,605 against the Tether (USDT) stablecoin on Binance Exchange. The move resulted in over $250 million in total liquidations, comprising $181 million in long positions against $70 million in short positions across the market.

Total liquidations

In the BTC market, almost $70 million worth of positions were blown out of the water, comprising $56 million longs against $13 million in short positions. In a 24-hour span, BTC open interest rose by $63 million, from $35.8 billion to $36.4 billion between Wednesday and Thursday. This comprises the sum of all open short and long positions for the pioneer cryptocurrency.

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