Craig Wright demands Bitcoin Core developers restore access to Mt. Gox–stolen bitcoins

The self-proclaimed creator of the first cryptocurrency, Craig Wright, has demanded that the developers of Bitcoin Core restore his access to two Bitcoin wallets. One of the addresses is linked to the Mt. Gox exchange hack.

The law firm Ontier represents the interests of Tulip Trading Limited (TTL). The defendants listed are the developers of Bitcoin Core, Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin Cash ABC and Bitcoin SV.

Update: according to Cobra, the owner of Bitcoin.org, Wright named Amori Seshe, Jonas Schnelli, Peter Wulle, Marco Falke, Michael Ford, Roger Ver, Samuel Dobson, George Dombrovski, Peter Todd, Eric Lombrozo, Gregory Maxwell, Jason Cox and the nonprofit Bitcoin Association.

Craig Wight has filed his lawsuit in court.

Many prominent developers associated with Bitcoin are the defendants. Absolutely fucking disgusting. pic.twitter.com/zDYSLndk74

— Cøbra (@CobraBitcoin) February 25, 2021

According to Blockchain.com, one address holds 31,000 BTC, the other — 79,957 BTC. At the time of writing the total value of the coins exceeds $5.5 billion.

«The fact that someone stole Tulip Trading’s private keys stored digitally does not prevent the developers from launching code that would allow the rightful owner to regain control over the bitcoins», — Ontier said.

Cobra wrote that Wright “scares away the best developers and distracts them with legal rubbish,” and also harms Bitcoin’s technical progress.

If you hold Bitcoin, you need to seriously start campaigning to get BSV delisted everywhere. And fight back *hard* against this rubbish.

If he scares away our best developers, and distracts them with legal rubbish, he’s hurting Bitcoin’s technical progress.

— Cøbra (@CobraBitcoin) February 24, 2021

An expert in law and Reddit user under the pseudonym primepatterns stated that there are no legal grounds to pursue the developers on TTL’s behalf until it proves ownership of the addresses.

Later, investor Danny Brewster, who allegedly lost Mt.Gox funds of the Bitcoin startup Neo & Bee, in a letter to Ontier asserted his right to the bitcoins from one of the addresses.

pic.twitter.com/mkmVORIfxD

— Danny Brewster (@BtcDanny) February 25, 2021

The firm Anderson Kill P.C., which represents him, noted that other victims of the Mt.Gox hack have similar rights as well.

«Your client [Craig Wright] owes fiduciary and other legal obligations to our client and others», — the statement said.

The lawyers at Anderson Kill said they reserve the right to seek asset freezes and to file suit against Wright for misappropriation of property.

«If your client does not own the bitcoins at address 1Feex and can confirm that he never controlled this wallet, inform him that we can avoid unnecessary litigation», — said Anderson Kill.

Former Mt.Gox CEO Mark Karpelès backed Brewster’s lawyers’ actions.

Someone is finally calling Craig Wright’s bluff regarding the 1Feex bitcoins. I have no doubt those coins were stolen from MtGox in 2011, which means CSW’s alleged ownership is invalid and some would call his claim fraudulent. Read the actual letter: https://t.co/WiG2h9hgLx

— Mark Karpelès (@MagicalTux) February 25, 2021

«I have no doubt that these coins were stolen from Mt.Gox in 2011. That means CSW’s alleged ownership is invalid, and some would call his claim fraudulent», wrote Karpelès.

Earlier Wright demanded that Bitcoin.org and Bitcoincore.org remove the Bitcoin white paper, accusing them of copyright infringement.

After this, former Coinbase CTO Balaji Srinivasan proposed hosting a copy of the document on government sites in various countries. The idea was supported by Estonia and Colombia.

In February, the Cryptocurrency Open Patent Alliance requested additional information from Ontier about the involvement of the self-proclaimed Bitcoin creator in writing the white paper.

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a1letter Before Action From TTL by ForkLog on Scribd