UK Judge Freezes $7.6M of Craig Wright’s Assets Amid Satoshi Nakamoto Claim Fallout
A UK judge has approved the freezing of £6 million ($7.6 million) worth of assets belonging to Craig Wright. Wright is an Australian computer scientist who claimed to be Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of the Bitcoin network.
Judge James Mellor issued the court order to stop Wright from moving his assets offshore and avoid court costs associated with a case that determined he was not the inventor of Bitcoin.
Key points:
- Following the court’s ruling, Wright relocated his assets from the UK to Singapore, prompting the granting of the court order.
- The Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA) brought the case against Wright, challenging his claims of being Satoshi Nakamoto.
- The judge ruled that there was overwhelming evidence indicating Wright was not Nakamoto.
- COPA’s overall court costs amount to approximately $8.5 million (£6.7 million).
- The judge cited Wright’s history of defaulting on orders for the payment of money as a reason for the asset freeze.
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Wright notified Companies House, the UK’s register of companies, about the transfer of shares in his RCJBR Holding company to DeMorgan, prompting the worldwide freezing order.
The move comes after judge found Craig Wright is not Bitcoin founder
This move came shortly after Judge Mellor’s March 14 decision, which found that Wright did not author the Bitcoin white paper or the initial versions of the Bitcoin software.
In his judgment, Judge Mellor wrote, “Understandably, that gave rise to serious concerns on COPA’s part that Dr Wright was implementing measures to seek to evade the costs consequences of his loss at trial.” Also, the judge approved the asset freeze on behalf of COPA to help cover the organization’s substantial court costs, which amount to approximately $8,471,225 (£6,703,747.91).
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Craig Wright, an Australian computer scientist, has long asserted that he is Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin. Additionally, he has used these claims to issue copyright claims related to the Bitcoin network, such as requesting two websites to take down the Bitcoin whitepaper in January 2021.
During the court proceedings, early Bitcoin developers such as Martti Malmi and others provided testimonies that contributed to the judge’s ruling that there was “overwhelming” evidence indicating Wright is not Nakamoto.
In his judgment regarding the asset freeze, Judge Mellor cited Wright’s history of defaulting on orders for the payment of money as a contributing factor to the decision.
