Did this man really invent bitcoin?

Welcome to the 21st issue of the Tech Wrap-Up Europe newsletter.

Every fortnight, we'll be sharing interesting stories and expert insights from LinkedIn members.

In this issue, Sam Shead , tech editor at LinkedIn News Europe, looks at the legal battle to find out whether an Australian computer scientist's claims that he invented bitcoin are justified, the collapse of UK EV startup Arrival and the amount of Gulf money being poured into European startups.

Unmasking Satoshi Nakamoto, the mystery inventor of bitcoin, is turning into an intense legal battle.

Australian computer scientist Craig Wright has claimed to be the elusive creator of bitcoin for eight years, but many have their doubts.

"On Monday, in the swelling heat of a London courtroom, a trial began that will settle the question," Wired crypto and fintech writer Joel Khalili wrote on LinkedIn.

Khalili will be in and out of court over the next five to six weeks to cover the trial.

Wright insists he is the author of a 2008 white paper, the foundational text of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, published under Nakamoto's name. He argues this means he owns the copyright in the white paper and has intellectual property rights over the bitcoin blockchain.

But Jonathan Hough, a lawyer representing a group backed by X co-founder Jack Dorsey, told the court that Wright's claim is "a brazen lie, an elaborate false narrative supported by forgery on an industrial scale".

The lawsuit Wright faces was brought by the Crypto Open Patent Alliance , a nonprofit consortium of crypto companies.

"COPA claims that Wright’s recent history of filing lawsuits predicated on his claim of being bitcoin’s inventor has driven developers away," Khalili explains. "It is asking the UK High Court for a declaration, in effect, that Wright is not Nakamoto."

Wright's lawyer, Anthony Grabiner, argued in court documents that he has produced "clear evidence demonstrating his authorship of the white paper and creation of bitcoin". He added that it was "striking" that no one else has publicly claimed to be Satoshi.

Who do you think is Satoshi Nakamoto? Join the conversation in the comments.

The UK arm of Arrival – an electric van startup that was hailed as "the British Tesla " – has gone into administration, putting more than 170 jobs at risk.?

The Hyundai-backed company, which was valued at over $13bn (￡10bn) when it listed in New York in 2021, has laid off much of its workforce over the past two years in an effort to cut costs.?

Arrival's shares were delisted from the tech-heavy Nasdaq stock exchange last week after the company failed to file annual accounts for 2022. Accountancy firm 安永 has been hired to oversee the administration of Arrival's two UK arms.?

"Many underestimate how difficult it is to launch a new vehicle and new production facilities, how capital intensive it is, and once things start to go badly wrong how difficult it is to recover," TIEROEM CEO Andy Tonks wrote on LinkedIn.?

Britishvolt, another of the UK's biggest bets in the electric vehicle industry, collapsed into administration last January, disappointing a string of backers that included the UK government.

The company was planning to build a huge ￡3.8bn "gigafactory" in Northumberland that would supply UK car plants with lithium-ion batteries. However, it ultimately struggled to secure the funding that it needed.?

Why does it keep going wrong for the UK's EV startups? Share your thoughts in the comments.?

The amount of money flowing from the Gulf region's sovereign wealth funds and venture capital firms into European startups is on the rise.

In 2023, total investment from Gulf countries in European startups amounted to $3bn (€2.8bn; ￡2.4bn), according to DealRoom data shared by Sifted.

This represents a significant jump from 2018, when the same countries invested just $627m in Europe.

"Gulf countries, driven by economic diversification, have expanded their investments to cover various regions, industries, and investment stages," Hassan Awada , an associate managing director at Kroll , writes on LinkedIn.

Some of Europe's top entrepreneurs, who have been struggling to tap up Silicon Valley VCs as easily as they once used to, will no doubt be relieved that the Gulf nations are ready to invest from their deep pockets.

Saudi Arabia's Aramco Ventures , the Qatar Investment Authority and the UAE's Mubadala are among the most active European startup investors from the Gulf region.

Mubadala, a sovereign investor managing a portfolio of assets in the UAE and abroad, has a whopping $276bn plus in assets under management and a dedicated $400m European tech fund.

The investor has made 13 bets in Europe in the last two years, with buy-now-pay-later giant Klarna and e-scooter startup TIER Mobility among them.

So how can entrepreneurs in Europe convince Mubadala to invest in their businesses?

Founders who want to access Mubadala's mountain of money should think like camels instead of unicorns, according to Obediah Ayton, a director at an Abu Dhabi-based holding company.

"It might not be as exciting — and opting out of risk-taking isn't easy — but we'll only survive with a weather-proof approach," he writes on LinkedIn, adding that founders should "embrace a slow-but-steady trajectory".

But are ambitious founders in the likes of Dubai and Doha getting their fair share of capital from local investors?

Sanjay Dukle , a consultant in Dubai who aims to help founders and professionals grow brands and businesses with strategic partnerships, wrote on LinkedIn: "It's time the startups in UAE and the Gulf up their game, and aim for a bigger share of this investment going to other markets."

Are investors in the Gulf overlooking opportunities on their doorstep? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

?? Meta wants to label all AI images ahead of elections. The social media giant is working with tech companies such as 谷歌 and OpenAI to design invisible metadata or “watermarks” that identify photorealistic images made with their artificial intelligence tools. Read what people are saying here.??

?? Bluesky opens up to the public. Bluesky, the social media network created by former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, is ditching its invite-only system and opening up to everyone. Read what people are saying here.?

??UK govt touts AI investment. Prime minister Rishi Sunak has announced plans to invest over ￡100m into artificial intelligence research and regulation as it looks to try and make the country a leader in the field. Read what people are saying here.?

???? Snap Inc. to cut 10% of its staff. Snap is laying off about 10% of its global staff, or around 500 people, joining a slew of tech companies in trimming their headcount. Read what people are saying here.?

?? Deepfake costs company millions. Thinking a request had come from his company's chief financial officer in a video call, a Hong Kong employee recently remitted the equivalent of about $25.6 million – but it turned out to be a deepfake, according to local police. Read what people are saying here.?

Steve Hare? – Hare is the CEO of enterprise software firm Sage , which is one of the UK's largest tech companies. He posts about Sage's various initiatives, how the company is performing and emerging technologies.

Zoe Jervier Hewitt – Jervier Hewitt is VP of talent at renowned venture firm Sequoia Capital . She has a column at Sifted and posts about topics like how to break into VC and when to leave a job.

Snezhana Ilieva – Ilieva is a director of data science at 普华永道 . She posts about how AI is being used and shares news about some of the latest breakthroughs happening in the field.

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