Craig Wright Faces Contempt Charges After Suing Block

Australian computer scientist and self-described Bitcoin founder Craig Wright has taken to the courts once again, this time filing a $1.18 billion lawsuit against Block, a payment company owned by Jack Dorsey.

Wright – who spuriously claims to be Satoshi Nakamoto – is accused of contempt of court by the Crypto Open Patent Alliance – COPA. It is the same group that, earlier this year, provided “overwhelming” evidence Wright did not invent Bitcoin.

“Faketoshi” Craig Wright Held in Contempt Again

An Australian computer scientist Craig Wright, who has said he invented Bitcoin, is accused of contempt of court on Friday. He filed a $1.18B lawsuit against Block, the company founded by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, in a British court.

Wright insists that he authored the original, 16 years old Bitcoin whitepaper, a work published under the pseudonym “Satoshi Nakamoto.” However, the court ruled that there was “overwhelming evidence” showing that Wright didn’t write the foundational 2008 document.

The Crypto Open Patent Alliance sued Craig Wright to prevent him from suing Bitcoin developers. Following a weeklong trial at London’s High Court, a judge ruled in May that Wright had lied “extensively and repeatedly.” The court also ruled Wright forged documents “on a grand scale.”

In July, the judge referred Wright to Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service to decide whether he should be put under perjury charges. The court also issued an injunction against Wright from initiating any legal action based on his claim to be Satoshi.

Denying the Document Forgery

Craig Wright is appealing a decision of the High Court. It found him to have lied and forged documents purporting his claim to be the creator of Bitcoin. A decision as to whether he will be allowed an appeal has yet to be decided.

In his testimony in February, Mr Wright denied the forgery of the documents. However, during a preliminary hearing on Friday, the COPA lawyer, Jonathan Hough, said that Wright breached the court’s injunction by filing a lawsuit against Square Up Europe Limited, a Block subsidiary, earlier this month. Wright attended the hearing via videolink from Singapore and didn’t have legal representative.

Craig Wright has said that he doesn’t believe he is in contempt of court over the Block case. He indicated that he would amend his lawsuit, if found in contempt, to make clear it has “nothing to do with the ownership of the creation of the system.” Whether Wright was in contempt will be clear at a hearing set for December. In the meantime, his suit against Block will stay active until then.