Craig Wright, the individual who has previously proclaimed to be Satoshi Nakamoto, the mastermind behind the Bitcoin network, has had £6 million ($7.6 million) worth of assets frozen by a UK court. This decision was made to prevent Wright from evading the court expenses linked to his claim. After a court ruling rejected Wright’s assertion of being Nakamoto, he relocated a portion of his assets out of the UK, leading to the freezing of his assets. On March 18, he transferred ownership of his London-based company, RCJBR Holding, to a Singaporean entity, as documented in the UK court filing.
Judge James Mellor stated in the court document that he approved the global freezing order sought by the Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA) to settle the $8,471,225 (£6,703,747.91) in court costs. COPA was established in 2020 with the aim of eliminating patents as a hindrance to innovation and progress within the cryptocurrency industry.
Craig Wright, a computer scientist from Australia, has claimed ownership of the Bitcoin network as Satoshi Nakamoto. In January 2021, he even requested the removal of the Bitcoin white paper from two websites. However, COPA filed a lawsuit against Wright in April 2021, alleging that he falsely claimed to be Nakamoto and therefore held the copyright to Bitcoin. The court ultimately concluded on March 14, 2024, after hearing testimonies from early Bitcoin developers such as Martti Malmi, that the evidence overwhelmingly suggests Wright is not Nakamoto.
In other news, Base, a cryptocurrency platform, achieved record transaction volumes in March, while decentralized finance (DeFi) activity experienced a surge.