Craig Wright, an Australian cryptographer who claims to be Satoshi Nakamoto , the creator of Bitcoin (BTC), has sued Coinbase and Kraken for alleged copyright infringement. According to CityAM, the entrepreneur claims that Coinbase and Payward, the operator behind Kraken, affected his intellectual property rights by using the term ‘Bitcoin’.
Wright filed a multi-billionaire lawsuit, asking for GBP 500 billion in compensation. This lawsuit comes as the computer scientist asserts that BSV, a niche Bitcoin fork, is the only real Bitcoin, and that Kraken and Coinbase have misled investors by marketing their own cryptocurrencies under the Bitcoin name. In the High Court case, speculation continues about the identity of Bitcoin developer Satoshi Nakamoto.
Bitcoin claims were first made in 2015 when Wired magazine attributed Bitcoin’s invention to Wright. It later slammed Wright as a ‘brilliant hoaxer’, a charge he categorically denies. Earlier this year, Wright filed a lawsuit against several high-profile figures in the cryptocurrency community as part of a legal campaign. Also, after Vitalik Buterin claimed Wright had lied about inventing Bitcoin in 2019, Wright sued and later dropped the lawsuit.
No comments have been made officially by both Coinbase and Kraken as of press time about the lawsuit filed by Wright.
Bitcoin.org Court Case
Last year, London’s High Court ruled in favor of Wright, ordering Cobra, the pseudonymous creator of bitcoin.org, to takedown Bitcoin whitepaper from the website. The court decision was made in a default judgment as Cobra decided not to appear in court to defend its side. Last month, Cobra tweeted that ‘defending against nonsense is a waste of time.’
According to the court order, bitcoin.org had to remove the whitepaper and display a court order notice for six months. In addition, Cobra was asked to pay £35,000 ($48,600) to Wright to cover his legal costs.