Craig Wright, the self-proclaimed Satoshi Nakamoto who has been claiming to be the creator of the Bitcoin network, has had £6 million ($7.6 million) in assets frozen by a court in the United Kingdom. This action was taken to prevent him from evading court expenses related to the case after his claim was disproven. Consequently, on March 18, he transferred ownership of his London company, RCJBR Holding, to a Singaporean organization.
Judge James Mellor, in a court filing, stated that Wright’s assets were frozen to ensure that he would not avoid paying court costs. In addition, the judge approved the request made by the Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA) to freeze assets in order to settle the $8,471,225 (£6,703,747.91) in court costs. COPA was established in 2020 with the aim of removing patents as a barrier to innovation and development in the cryptocurrency industry.
Wright, an Australian computer scientist, claimed ownership of the Bitcoin network under the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto. However, the court concluded on March 14, 2024, based on evidence provided by early Bitcoin developers, including Martti Malmi, that strongly indicated Wright is not Nakamoto. COPA filed a lawsuit against Wright in April 2021, accusing him of falsely claiming to be Satoshi Nakamoto and therefore owning the copyright to Bitcoin.
In other news, Base, a cryptocurrency exchange, has recorded record transaction volumes in March, while activity in the decentralized finance sector has seen a surge.
