Bitcoin Developers Bite Back at Craig Wright’s Claim; He Stole $80,000 Worth of BTC from Mt. Gox?

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A few weeks ago, an English businessman named Craig Wright claimed he has the right to Bitcoin. His Satoshi Nakamoto claim was partially confirmed by a UK high court, although not with immediate effect. There’s a trial scheduled for early next year where he can prove that he’s Satoshi, giving him full rights over Bitcoin. However, the original 12 Bitcoin developers are now biting back, arguing his claim in the same UK high court.

Their attorneys have just filed a preliminary issue application with the UK High Court which purports to dismantle his claims. They say that his company-Tulip Trading-must establish that it owns the digital assets in order to obtain the relief. The relief in question are 111,000 Bitcoins claimed from the Mt. Gox exchange, whose current value is nearly $3 billion, so this case is as hot as it gets.

‘Absence of Documentary Records’

The preliminary application issue is trying to dismantle Wright’s claims to the 111,000 Bitcoins. In the application, they say that Craig Wright doesn’t have the necessary documentary records that prove he’s the owner. The report also says that he deleted hard drive data after the alleged Mt. Dox hack, indeed proving that he covered up the records.

Wright claims that he erased the hard drive because he didn’t know if the hackers obtained access. He purposedly did so in order to ensure the malware doesn’t spread further. But, the Bitcoin developers doubt it, because, as they say, he has no experience in computer security at all. The collective of 12 developers quoted several judges overseeing lawsuits previously brought by Wright. They claim he lied and cheated in his attempts to prove that he’s Satoshi Nakamoto.

Wright has been going with this claim since early 2016. His base for these claims is the lawsuit he filed against core Bitcoin developers, saying that they stole over $3.5 billion in digital assets from his personal holdings. The developers in question include teams that also developed forks such as Bitcoin Cash, as well as Bitcoin Cash ABC, and Bitcoin SV.

Is this claim real or fake? Many believe that Wright is a cheat, although the UK High Court preliminary trial went his way. He has another chance to prove that he’s Satoshi in a trial currently on schedule in January 2024, but the bite back from the Bitcoin core developers might push this trial further down the line.

Wright Stole 80,000 BTC from Mt. Gox?

The Bitcoin Legal Defense Fund adds fuel to the fire by claiming that Wright stole 80,000 BTC from Mt. Gox during a hack. If he’s the owner, he must prove it in a court of law, which could be a problem considering the lost data on the erased hard drive.

The Bitcoin Defense Fund is lead by core developers including ex-Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. It remains to be seen what will be made of this case, but it seems that the hunt for the elusive Satoshi Nakamoto is still on.