Established by Jack Dorsey, the Bitcoin Legal Defense Fund filed on behalf of 12 Bitcoin Core developers a ходатайство in the High Court of the United Kingdom seeking to overturn the suit brought by the self-proclaimed creator of the first cryptocurrency, Craig Wright, and his Tulip Trading company.
The case concerns a February 2021 matter in which Wright demanded the return of access to two wallets containing ~111 000 BTC (~$2.88 billion at the time of writing), allegedly stolen due to the fault of Bitcoin Core staff. One of the addresses is linked to the Mt.Gox exchange hack.
According to a recent motion filed by Tulip Trading, the suit is fraudulent and the assets sought likely do not belong to the firm. The lawyers insist that the “pseudo-Satoshi” prove his right to own the bitcoins before the court makes a final ruling.
The purported 111,000 BTC were held at two addresses — 12ib7 and 1FeeX — and there is no evidence that Tulip Trading or Wright ever controlled them, according to the defence.
“Dr Wright has a long history of fraudulent schemes, forgeries and dishonesty (including in court cases in this jurisdiction and internationally). […] These proceedings are an attempt by Wright, through Tulip Trading, to use the British courts as a tool of deception. These are serious allegations, and they are not made lightly,” the document states.
The self-proclaimed Satoshi says he bought the bitcoins in late February 2011 from the Russian exchange WMIRK. However, he has been unable to provide any evidence of the transaction.
Furthermore, the Bitcoin Legal Defense Fund stressed that if Wright truly owns the address holding 79 957 BTC, this would amount to involvement in the Mt. Gox hack.
In late July 2023, the British court dismissed the appeal by Craig Wright in the defamation case against Bitcoin podcast host Peter McCormack.
The businessman filed a defamation claim in 2019. He sought £100 000 in damages and costs for the legal proceedings. In August 2022 he was awarded £1, citing the provision of ‘inadequate’ and ‘knowingly false’ testimony.