Key Takeaways
A U.K. judge has issued a global freezing order on £6 million of Craig Wright’s assets to thwart any attempt to move them offshore.
This decision follows a court case that concluded Wright was not Satoshi Nakamoto, the alleged inventor of Bitcoin, as he had claimed.
On March 14, Judge James Mellor, presiding over a lawsuit filed by the Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA), ruled that Craig Wright was not the author of the Bitcoin white paper or the original versions of the Bitcoin software.
Following this decision, Wright informed Companies House, the U.K.’s corporate registry, that shares in his company, RCJBR Holding, had been transferred to DeMorgan, a firm incorporated in Singapore.
A judgment published on the Bitcoin Legal Defense Fund’s website on Wednesday states that the costs incurred by the Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA) are approximately £6.7 million.
Judge James Mellor, in the judgment, highlighted serious concerns from COPA regarding Craig Wright’s actions to potentially evade the financial repercussions of his loss at trial, specifically pointing to the transfer of shares as a maneuver in this context.
He stated :
“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.”
Mellor added :
“Dr Wright has a history of default in relation to orders for the payment of money,” Mellor wrote, before detailing some examples. COPA has a very powerful claim to be awarded a very substantial sum in costs … I consider there is a very real risk of dissipation.”
In 2023, Craig Wright initiated legal action against 13 Bitcoin Core developers and several companies, such as Blockstream, Coinbase, and Block, alleging copyright infringements connected to Bitcoin.
The Bitcoin Legal Defense Fund reacted to the lawsuit by stating that prominent members of the Bitcoin community have faced numerous abusive legal actions for years.
They described these lawsuits as baseless yet impactful, noting that the burden of time, stress, financial cost, and legal jeopardy has led many developers to conclude that continuing work on Bitcoin is not justifiable.