Craig Wright, the self-proclaimed creator of Bitcoin, has been ordered by James Mellor, a judge at the England and Wales High Court, to provide £400,000 ($516,000) as security for legal costs to pursue his allegations against crypto exchanges Coinbase and Kraken.
This ruling comes in light of Wright’s previous statements that he had made himself financially “untouchable” by using a trust to shift assets. However, Judge Mellor raised doubts regarding Wright’s financial capability to bear the legal expenses, referring to discrepancies in previous statements made about Wright’s financial situation. Despite the evidence presented, Mellor remained unconvinced about the adequacy of liquid assets held by Wright or his investment company to cover the legal costs. Mellor made it clear that he would dismiss the action if the necessary security for legal expenses were not provided within a few weeks.
Wright’s claims against Coinbase and Kraken
In 2022, Wright filed a lawsuit against Coinbase and Kraken, blaming them for copyright infringement. He asserted that both exchanges, especially Payward, the operator of Kraken, violated his intellectual property rights by using the term ‘Bitcoin’. Wright claims that he owns the goodwill in the term “Bitcoin,” and that Coinbase and Kraken, by allowing trading in Bitcoin (BTC) and bitcoin cash (BCH), are damaging the brand of rival cryptocurrency bitcoin satoshi vision (BSV).
The ruling has been met with various reactions. Kraken stated that the ruling would be a significant victory in their defense against Craig Wright’s claims of controlling Bitcoin. They added that “Satoshi never meant for a single person to control Bitcoin, which is why he released the Bitcoin software under open-source licenses for the world’s benefit.”
Meanwhile, several members of Crypto Twitter also chimed in and suggested that Wright was broke, further fueling skepticism about his claims. One user stated, “Craig Wright was broke in 2015, he managed to scam billionaire Calvin Ayre who still believes his nonsense and pumps 100s of millions in his scam. And here we are, till it all falls apart. Craig is still broke.”
Other legal battles involving Wright
This is not the only legal battle Wright is currently involved in. In a separate case in the U.S., Wright is due to defend himself against charges that he should be held in contempt of court for failing to fully disclose information needed to resolve a dispute with former business partner Ira Kleiman over the ownership of $143 million in cryptocurrency. Wright has denied these charges. In addition, Wright’s attempt to secure more than token damages in his defamation lawsuit against Peter McCormack, a Bitcoin enthusiast and podcaster, was futile. The lawsuit was centered around Wright’s claim that he is the rightful creator of Bitcoin, famously known as Satoshi Nakamoto.
After the verdict, McCormack took to Twitter to express the importance of standing in solidarity with those affected by the situation, specifically mentioning Hodlonaut, a fellow Twitter user also facing legal action from Wright for defamation.
