Craig Wright, an Australian computer scientist who falsely claimed to be Satoshi Nakamoto, the founder of Bitcoin, has had 6.7 million British pounds ($8.4 million) of his assets frozen by a United Kingdom court. This decision was made after Wright attempted to transfer some of his assets outside of the U.K. following a court ruling that debunked his claim. In response, Judge James Mellor endorsed a “worldwide freezing order” by the Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA) to cover the court expenses of 6.7 million British pounds ($8.4 million).
COPA, founded in 2020, aims to promote the adoption and advancement of cryptocurrency technologies by removing patents as a barrier to growth and innovation. Its members include prominent companies in the industry such as Coinbase, Block, Meta, MicroStrategy, Kraken, Paradigm, Uniswap, and Worldcoin.
COPA filed a lawsuit against Wright in April 2021, challenging his claims. The court ruled on March 14 that Wright is not Nakamoto. However, Wright has been involved in other legal disputes related to Bitcoin. In 2023, he sued 13 Bitcoin Core developers and several companies for copyright violations regarding the Bitcoin white paper, its file format, and database rights to the Bitcoin blockchain.
The Bitcoin Legal Defense Fund responded to these lawsuits, highlighting the harmful impact they have on prominent Bitcoin contributors and the overall development of the cryptocurrency. Wright had also filed for United States copyright registration for the Bitcoin white paper in 2019. It is worth noting that the Bitcoin white paper is now subject to an MIT open-source license, allowing anyone to use and modify the code for any purpose.
In other news, a Bitcoin enthusiast known as the “Bitcoin Man” and a member of the X Hall of Flame predicts that China will contribute to a significant bull run for Bitcoin, with the price reaching $1 million by 2028.