Craig Wright Faces Contempt Claim Over Bitcoin Lawsuit
Australian computer scientist faces contempt-of-court claim after suing Jack Dorsey’s Block and Bitcoin Core developers for £911 trillion
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Australian computer scientist Craig Wright faces a contempt-of-court action after he filed a £911 trillion lawsuit against Jack Dorsey’s Block and the developers of Bitcoin Core last month.
Wright said he should not be obliged to attend a contempt-of-court hearing in December due to his autism and Christmas activities.
London’s High Court found in May that Wright had falsely claimed to be Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin, and issued an injunction barring Wright from bringing litigation based on his claim to be Nakamoto.
The May ruling found that Wright had lied “extensively and repeatedly” and forged documents “on a grand scale” to support his claim to have invented Bitcoin.
Bitcoin claims
Wright told the court his lawsuit against Square Up Europe, owned by Block, and Bitcoin Core was not based on his claim to be Nakamoto.
“I do not believe I am in contempt,” he told a preliminary hearing by videolink from Singapore.
The Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA), of which Block is a member, sued Wright to prevent him from suing Bitcoin developers.
COPA’s lawyer Jonathan Hough told the Friday hearing that Wright’s lawsuit breached the injunction.
Wright also removed a court-ordered online notice saying he is not Nakamoto, COPA said.
COPA asked for Wright’s lawsuit to be halted until the contempt-of-court proceedings are concluded.
Contempt of court
The organisation asked for Wright to be obliged to attend an 18 December court session in person, but Wright argued he was too sensitive to lighting conditions due to autism.
He said the lighting at his home was arranged in a certain way.
“Being able to sit in a courtroom is a different issue,” he said. “I might have a meltdown and I might not be cognitively able.”
Wright also claimed that he rarely sees his children and that it would be difficult to attend the hearing as his family would be in Singapore in December.
The judge ruled to stay the lawsuit against Square Up and Bitcoin Core and scheduled a 26 November hearing to decide whether Wright should attend the December hearing in person.
