-
Three
witnesses
for
Craig
Wright
took
the
stand
on
Monday
as
the
third
week
of
a
trial
that
could
decide
if
he’s
Bitcoin
inventor
Satoshi
Nakamoto
kicked
off
in
a
U.K.
high
court. -
A
key
witness,
Stefan
Matthews,
had
to
defend
a
damning
statement
he
made
about
the
trial,
which
invited
questions
about
whether
he
thought
Wright
was
disingenuous.
“We’re
heading
into
a
f***ing
train
wreck.”
That’s
how
Stefan
Matthews,
a
witness
for
Craig
Wright,
described
the
U.K.
trial
probing
the
latter’s
claims
that
he
invented
the
first
cryptocurrency,
bitcoin.
Matthews,
the
co-founder
of
tech
company
nChain
–
where
Wright
was
chief
scientist
–
had
to
defend
that
January
message
when
he
took
the
stand
on
Monday
along
with
two
other
witnesses
for
Wright
as
the
third
week
of
trial
kicked
off.
Under
oath,
Matthews
said
he
was
referring
only
to
how
“uncooperative
Craig
was
in
his
strategy
and
plan”
for
the
trial
and
insisted
he
didn’t
think
Wright
was
a
“fake.”
A
set
of
prominent
crypto
industry
participants,
comprising
the
Crypto
Open
Patent
Alliance
(COPA)
and
a
grouping
of
Bitcoin
developers,
have
challenged
Wright’s
claims
that
he
is
the
cryptocurrency’s
pseudonymous
creator,
Satoshi
Nakamoto.
Since
the
trial
started
on
Feb.
5,
Wright
has
been
cross-examined
for
several
days,
followed
by
witnesses
from
his
camp.
Before
Matthews
took
the
stand
on
Monday,
David
Bridges,
CIO
of
Qudos
Bank,
who
met
Wright
in
2006,
and
Wright’s
cousin
Max
Lynam
participated
by
video
link.
Both
admitted
that
key
events
or
conversations
that
convinced
them
Wright
was
Satoshi
took
place
years
ago
and
without
material
proof
to
back
them
up.
Bridges
has
previously
drawn
parallels
between
Bitcoin’s
underlying
technology
blockchain
and
an
event
logging
system
created
by
Wright,
saying
both
systems
record
transactions,
and
have
“good
traceability”
and
immutability.
When
asked
by
COPA
counsel
if
the
parallel
Bridges
had
drawn
between
the
two
systems
was
a
conceptual
one
instead
of
a
technical
one
–
specifically
referring
to
code
–
he
said
he
didn’t
have
the
expertise
to
make
a
detailed
technical
comparison.
“Oh,
I
wouldn’t
know,
mate,”
Bridges
said.
He
also
said
he’s
not
big
on
following
the
crypto,
referring
to
Vitalik
Buterin
as
the
“Russian
guy”
who
invented
that
“other
one”
–
meaning
popular
cryptocurrency
ether.
“I’m
not
a
fanboy
or
anything
like
that,”
he
added.
All
three
of
Monday’s
witnesses
testified
on
Wright’s
behalf
at
a
previous
Oslo
trial,
where
Bitcoin
developer
Hodlonaut
(who
came
out
victorious)
challenged
Wright’s
assertions
that
he
was
Satoshi.
Matthews
will
continue
to
testify
until
lunchtime
Tuesday,
after
which
Steve
Lee
and
John
MacFarlane,
may
take
the
stand
for
COPA,
a
spokesperson
for
the
alliance
told
CoinDesk.
The
trial
will
continue
at
least
until
mid-March,
according
to
tentative
schedules
shared
by
the
court.
