A UK court has ordered a worldwide freeze of £6 million ($7.6 million) in assets belonging to Craig Wright, the Australian computer scientist who claims to be Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto.
According to court documents, the court’s order follows a request from Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA).
The organisation consists of 33 members including Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN), Meta and MicroStrategy and recently won against Wright in an “identity” case. Wright claimed to be Satoshi Nakamoto.
COPA’s request for a freeze on Graig Wright’s assets
COPA filed its case against Dr Wright in April 2021 while Wright sued several Bitcoin Core developers in 2023. A joint trial began on February 5, 2024.
The court determined that Dr. Wright was not Nakamoto or the author of the Bitcoin whitepaper. However, the judge was yet to deliver his written judgement and issues such as costs expensed.
On March 18, just days after the trial ended, Dr Wright is noted to have transferred his company RCJBR Holding plc from the UK to DeMorgan PTE, a Singapore-based entity.
COPA’s urgent filing for a worldwide freeze order came as part of the quest to ensure Dr Wright does not evade court expenses after his loss.
Justice James Mellor determined that Wright’s move raises “serious concerns” and agreed with COPA’s request for a WFO.
“Although I have not yet heard detailed argument on costs, it is undoubtedly the case that COPA (and the Developers) are the winning party. They are highly likely (to say the least) to obtain an order for their costs. Furthermore, in the circumstances, it is likely that those costs will be awarded on the indemnity basis,” Judge Mellor wrote.
The judge added:
“Having given careful consideration to COPA’s costs arguments and attempting to anticipate the points which could be made in response on behalf of Dr Wright, I concluded the appropriate sum for the WFO was the sum of £6m.”
The court also ordered £1 million be set aside from the £1.9 million bank guarantee COPA lodged in June 2023 as “Wright’s security for costs.”
This article first appeared on Invezz.com
