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UK Judge Asks Craig Wright to Pay Over Half-Million Dollars in Case against Coinbase, Kraken

Craig Wright, the self-proclaimed Bitcoin founder Satoshi Nakamoto, is likely to pay hefty legal costs in pursuing the case against crypto exchanges Coinbase and Kraken.

In a recent development, James Mellor, a judge at the England and Wales High Court, said that Wright must pay 400,000 British pounds ($516,000) in security while pursuing cases against the two exchanges. The judge added that Wright won’t be able to pay the legal costs while mentioning his previous inconsistent statements about his financial position.

In a judgment on Tuesday, July 25, Judge Mellor said that the evidence “does not persuade me” that Wright and his company have enough liquid assets to meet the legal costs. If Craig Wright fails to put the security costs in place, Judge Mellor would strike out the action within weeks.

Wright claims to own the rights to the term “Bitcoin” and accuses Coinbase and Kraken of harming the reputation of Bitcoin Satoshi Vision (BSV) by enabling trading in Bitcoin (BTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH).

Mellor referred to Wright’s statements about becoming financially “untouchable” using a trust to move assets and raised concerns about inconsistencies in his testimony during US court proceedings involving his former business partner, Ira Kleiman.

Later today on Wednesday, Wright shall be defending his Florida case against accusations of failing to provide complete information required to resolve a dispute with Kleiman’s estate concerning the ownership of $143 million in cryptocurrency. Wright argues that he lacks financial details about his wife, Ramona Ang, and claims that his witness statements in UK courts are considered “hearsay”.

In an email to CoinDesk, a Kraken spokesperson said that the ruling “is an important win in our defense against Wright’s claims to control Bitcoin. Satoshi never meant for a single person to control Bitcoin, which is why he released the Bitcoin software under open-source licenses for the world’s benefit”.

The Bitcoin Legal Defense Fund (BLDF), representing the developers, contends that Wright has not presented sufficient evidence to prove his identity as Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of the Bitcoin white paper and database.

“Wright has claimed to be Satoshi since at least 2016 without providing a shred of evidence to back up this claim,” BLDF noted in a statement. They further added that Wright must prove to be Satoshi Nakamoto “before the courts can make a decision on the three primary claims named in the lawsuit.” The case is expected to go to trial in early 2024.

UK Judge Asks Craig Wright to Pay Over Half-Million Dollars in Case against Coinbase, Kraken

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