Is Craig Wright Satoshi? A $70 Million Movie and a High Court Judge Disagree

The Bitcoin movie, now in post-production, tells Craig Wright’s version of the Satoshi Nakamoto story. Former Mt. Gox chief Mark Karpelès answered by pointing viewers toward the court record instead.

Doug Liman directs the $70 million production. Casey Affleck plays Wright, while AI versions of Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, and Jack Dorsey appear on screen. Gal Gadot, Calvin Ayre, Pete Davidson and Isla Fisher are star casts of the movie.

Why the Bitcoin Movie Splits Bitcoiners

Karpelès, who ran Mt. Gox until its 2014 collapse, replied to a thread mocking Wright’s supporters. His instruction was blunt. He told readers to link bitcoin.movie.

That page names no author. However, it leans entirely on public judgments, and it argues that the film inverts what judges actually found.

Artificial intelligence built the sets. Actors performed on a bare stage while software generated the environments, which producer Ryan Kavanaugh calls a big cost saving.

The timing matters. Bitcoin’s origin story keeps returning to the headlines, and each fresh claim travels fast. In April, a New York Times investigation named Blockstream CEO Adam Back, who denied it. Back has since challenged recent Satoshi documentary claims and the weight placed on early Bitcoin forum posts.

What the Court Actually Found

The Bitcoin movie frames Wright as a man hunted by powerful enemies. In 2024, however, the High Court of England and Wales ruled that he did not write the Bitcoin white paper and did not create the network. Mr Justice Mellor found forgery on a grand scale.

“Dr Wright lied to the Court extensively and repeatedly.” Mr Justice Mellor, judgment.

A contempt finding followed in December 2024. Wright drew a suspended 12-month sentence after filing a £900 billion claim against Bitcoin developers and companies.

Wright also has a history with Karpelès. In 2020, his lawyers claimed ownership of coins sitting in two hacked Mt. Gox wallets.

Despite that record, Wright still posts. His recent governance critique argued that Bitcoin’s base rules should never change.

Calvin Ayre, Wright’s longtime financial backer, reportedly helped fund the film. That gives the money behind the production a stake in the claim it dramatizes. Sellers pitched it at the Cannes market in April. No distributor has signed on since, so no release date exists.

Bitcoin’s origin story has drawn claimants, documentaries and lawsuits for years. Now it draws Hollywood money as well. The Bitcoin movie adds another version of events, not an answer.