Craig Wright’s Assets Frozen: Court Blocks Satoshi Wannabe’s £6 Million Assets

Key Takeaways

• Judge James Mellor issued a global injunction, freezing £6 million of Craig Wright’s assets.
• Mellor determined earlier that Wright could not be identified as Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of Bitcoin.
• The judge said there was a danger Wright might transfer his assets abroad to evade covering the lawsuit expenses.

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.

 Judge Freezes Wright’s Funds To Pay £6.7M Legal Bill

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.

Fake Satoshi Tried to Hide Assets

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.”

Copyright Claims Target Bitcoin Devs

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.

About the Author

Teuta Franjkovic

Teuta is a seasoned writer and editor with more than 15 years of experience. She has expertise in covering macroeconomics and technology as well as the cryptocurrency and blockchain industries. She has worked for several publications as a journalist and editor, including Forbes, Bloomberg, CoinTelegraph, Coin Rivet, CoinSpeaker, VRWorld and Arcane Bear. Teuta began her professional career in 2005, working as a lifestyle writer at Cosmopolitan in Croatia. From there, she branched out to several other publications, covering mainly business and the economy. She then turned her attention to the world of cryptocurrency and blockchain, believing that crypto is among the most important inventions in the history of humanity. Her involvement in fintech began in 2014 and she has since lent her expertise in writing, editing and gathering information about the world of crypto, blockchain, NFTs and Web3. An all-round news hound, mentor, editor, and writer, Teuta enjoys teamwork and good communication. She holds a WSET2 diploma and has a thing for chablis, punkrock music and shoes. She also holds a double MA in Political science and Entrepreneurship.

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