Pseudonymous operator and guardian of bitcoin.org, the website originally registered by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008. Chose to lose a copyright lawsuit by default rather than reveal his identity — then was vindicated when Craig Wright was ruled not to be Satoshi.
Cobra (also stylized as Cøbra) is the pseudonymous operator of bitcoin.org, the website registered by Satoshi Nakamoto in August 2008. Cobra’s real identity is unknown.
Role: After Satoshi’s disappearance and Martti Malmi’s departure, Cobra became the custodian of bitcoin.org — maintaining the site, hosting the Bitcoin whitepaper, and managing the domain that serves as Bitcoin’s primary public gateway. The position carries no formal authority over the Bitcoin protocol but holds symbolic significance as the steward of Satoshi’s original website.
Wright v. Cobra (2021): In February 2021, Craig Wright filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Cobra, claiming ownership of the Bitcoin whitepaper and demanding its removal from bitcoin.org. The London High Court allowed Wright to sue Cobra pseudonymously, but the procedural rules did not allow Cobra to defend himself without revealing his real identity.
Cobra faced an impossible choice: reveal his identity and lose his anonymity, or accept a default judgment. On June 28, 2021, he chose to protect his anonymity, and the court issued a default judgment in Wright’s favor. Bitcoin.org was ordered to remove the whitepaper.
Vindication (2024): On March 14, 2024, the UK High Court ruled in COPA v. Wright that Craig Wright is not Satoshi Nakamoto and had fabricated evidence on a grand scale. The ruling rendered the 2021 default judgment against Cobra meaningless — Wright had no legitimate copyright claim to the whitepaper. The Bitcoin whitepaper remains freely available on bitcoin.org and numerous other websites worldwide.
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After the London High Court ordered bitcoin.org to remove the Bitcoin whitepaper, Cobra responded on Twitter with a scathing critique of the legal system and a declaration that cryptographic rules are superior to court-enforced rules.
Craig Wright sued the pseudonymous operator of bitcoin.org (Cobra) over Bitcoin whitepaper copyright. Cobra refused to reveal his identity to defend himself, resulting in a default judgment on June 28, 2021. The court ordered bitcoin.org to remove the whitepaper.