Man behind false Bitcoin founder claim given order to stop further legal action
7 March 2025, 13:24
A judge ruled in March last year that Dr Wright was not Satoshi Nakamoto.
Computer scientist Dr Craig Wright is to be given a court order stopping him from bringing future legal action after using the courts to “terrorise his perceived enemies”, the High Court has heard.
The Australian began claiming he was Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonym attributed to the person widely credited with establishing Bitcoin, in 2016 and asserted intellectual property rights over the cryptocurrency.
He brought legal proceedings against those who challenged his claims and was himself sued by the non-profit cryptocurrency group Crypto Open Patent Alliance (Copa) last year.
After a trial in London, a judge ruled in March last year that Dr Wright was not Satoshi and that he had “lied extensively” during the trial, also barring him from launching or threatening further legal action related to Bitcoin through a court order.
In December, he was sentenced to 12 months in jail, suspended for two years, for contempt of court after issuing a new claim for more than £900 billion related to Bitcoin.
At a High Court hearing on Friday, Copa asked a judge to issue a civil restraint order (CRO), which stops Dr Wright from reapplying to the High Court and all county courts for three years.
Jonathan Hough KC, for Copa, said in written submissions that Dr Wright had used the English legal system to “terrorise his perceived enemies”.
Mr Hough also asked for Dr Wright’s case to be referred to the Attorney General to extend the order beyond the three-year limit.
He said: “First, Dr Wright has brought a large number of baseless legal actions, founded on lies and backed up with copious forgeries.
“Secondly, in those actions he has claimed huge sums against a large number of individuals and companies, causing them serious distress, inconvenience and cost.
“Thirdly, his actions have taken up very significant court resources, running to nearly 100 court days in this jurisdiction.”
Mr Hough continued: “The undisputed consequence of his claims has been significant disruption to innovation in an important industry.
“There is a clear and serious risk of him repeating his campaign of litigation in one form or another.”
Dr Wright did not attend the hearing or contest the application.
Mr Justice Mellor granted the CRO and the referral to the Attorney General, adding that he will give full written reasons at a later date.
