A U.K. judge ordered to freeze $7.6 million (£6 million ) worth of Craig Wright’s assets worldwide after finding that he falsely claimed to be Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous inventor of Bitcoin.
The order comes after Wright’s decisive loss in a landmark lawsuit against the Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA). Earlier in March, Judge James Mellor ruled that Wright did not author the Bitcoin whitepaper, create Bitcoin, or develop its early software, debunking his longstanding claims to the contrary.
Now, Mellor has granted COPA’s application for a worldwide freezing injunction to prevent Wright from dissipating assets and evading costs related to the case. The British judge found Wright’s recent transfer of shares to an overseas company “gave rise to serious concerns” about his intentions to avoid the impending costs order.
Judge Mellor quotes from the freezing order judgment:
“that necessarily means (as I shall explain in my Trial judgment) that Dr Wright has forged documents on a grand scale and, during his cross-examination, he lied extensively and repeatedly.”
“Dr Wright has shown himself… pic.twitter.com/BBIlIuZNG6
— hodlonaut 80 IQ 13%er (@hodlonaut) March 28, 2024
Wright must now disclose all assets exceeding $30,000 in value and is prohibited from reducing his holdings below $7.6 million. The freeze reflects ongoing doubts about Wright’s trustworthiness, given his history of defaulting on court judgments and boasts about being “judgment proof.”
The new freezing injunction further hampers Wright’s ability to pursue additional Satoshi Nakamoto-related litigation. It also ensures assets will remain available to cover the multi-million dollar costs bill COPA expects to recover after debunking Wright’s outlandish assertions.
The British judge’s actions to freeze Wright’s assets appear justified in light of his dishonest behaviour. The saga underscores the need for courts to wield tools that prevent litigants like Wright from abusing the legal system and evading accountability.
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