UK Court Doubts Craig Wright's Ability to Pay the Costs of the Lawsuit Against Kraken and Coinbase

UK Court Doubts Craig Wright’s Ability to Pay the Costs of the Lawsuit Against Kraken and Coinbase

Updated: 30 July 2023

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Craig Wright, who continues to claim to be the creator of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto, recently hit a major obstacle in his legal case against two major crypto exchanges, Coinbase and Kraken.

Wright was unable to prove to the UK High Court judge that he had the funds necessary to cover the potential legal fees that would come with his lawsuit.

In a preliminary judgment, the Hon. Mr Justice Mellor, ordered Wright International Investments, Craig Wright’s company, to provide two security deposits. One included £250,000 for a lawsuit against Coinbase, while the other was £150,000 for a lawsuit against Kraken.

However, the judge did not make the same order against Wright himself, saying:

I was not satisfied by the evidence from the Cs filed in support of the contention that C2 [WII] was resident in the UK or that (assuming such residence) it has any degree of permanence. The nature of whatever business C2 has conducted or does conduct was also obscure.

Wrights’s evidence of being Nakamoto or having access to funds is insufficient

As mentioned, Wright is still not giving up his claims that he is, in fact, Satoshi Nakamoto, even though he was never able to prove being Nakamoto by causing any kind of activity in any of the crypto wallets known to belong to Bitcoin’s founder.

However, that did not stop him from filing lawsuits against the two exchanges for trademark infringement.

In the lawsuits, he claims that he owns the rights to the name “Bitcoin.” He also claims that the exchanges are not allowed to use the term for assets like BCH and BTC, which deviate from the original system.

With the judge’s concern that Wright could not afford to pay for the lawsuits, Wright’s evidence of being the owner of Nakamoto’s Bitcoin wallets was not reassuring enough.

The judge concluded that the evidence offered “no reassurance that either C2 or C1 [Wright] has or will have funds to pay costs.”

Wright’s case holds a deeper meaning for the crypto industry

The case is important for the crypto industry since it delves into complex issues involving blockchain immutability and trademark law involving cryptocurrency.

However, there is still no definitive proof that Wright is actually Nakamoto or that he truly controls Satoshi’s wallets. At this point in the case, Wright had to prove that he had access to the funds with more than just his word.

Once again, like many times before, he failed to do so, causing the judge to order his company to pay security deposits.

The Judge also made several other rulings that might define the future direction of Bitcoin trademark cases. He ruled that Wright’s lawsuit should remain pending until an earlier case — Crypto Open Patent Alliance v. Craig Steven Wright — is resolved.

Today, COPA initiated a lawsuit asking the UK High Court to declare that Mr. Craig Wright does not have copyright ownership over the Bitcoin White Paper. We stand in support of the Bitcoin developer community and the many others who've been threatened for hosting the White Paper. pic.twitter.com/QNDEq3H6Oq

— COPA (@opencryptoorg) April 12, 2021

This case is set to determine once and for all whether Wright is truly Satoshi, and if Wright loses this battle, Mellor said that he would be unlikely to win any Bitcoin trademark case.

Meanwhile, if Wright wins the case, his lawsuit against Coinbase and Kraken will be allowed to continue.

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