Self-proclaimed Bitcoin inventor faces court trouble

LONDON, Nov 1 (Reuters) – The Australian computer scientist who claims to have invented Bitcoin filed a 911 million pound ($1.18 billion) lawsuit against Twitter founder Jack Dorsey’s payments company Block SQ.N on Friday. He was later charged with contempt of court. England.

Craig Wright claimed to be the author of Bitcoin’s core text, published under the pseudonym “Satoshi Nakamoto”. However, the court found there was “overwhelming evidence” that Wright did not write the 2008 text.

The Crypto Open Patent Alliance has taken legal action to prevent Wright from suing bitcoin developers. Following a hearing at London’s High Court, a judge said in a written ruling in May that Wright had lied “extensively and repeatedly” and forged documents on a “massive scale”.

In July, the judge referred Wright to Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service for consideration of whether he should be prosecuted for perjury. He also issued an injunction preventing Wright from filing any lawsuits based on his claim to be Satoshi.

Wright is appealing the decision and a decision has not yet been made on whether he can appeal. He denied document fraud when giving evidence in February.

COPA attorney Jonathan Hough said at Friday’s preliminary hearing that Wright violated the injunction by filing suit against Square Up Europe Limited, which is owned by Block, earlier this month.

Hough said Wright did not have legal representation and attended the hearing via video link from Singapore.

“I don’t believe I was insulting,” Wright said. He added that if he is found to be in contempt of court, he is willing to amend his case to clarify that the case “has nothing to do with his ownership of the creation of the system.”

A hearing to determine whether Wright committed defamation will be held in December. Meanwhile, Wright’s lawsuit against Block has been put on hold.

Reported by Sam Tobin, Edited by Ros Russell

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