A group of Bitcoin developers is challenging a lawsuit in the UK brought by Craig Wright’s crypto company, Tulip Trading, which alleges the developers wrongfully refused to help the company retrieve billions of dollars worth of Bitcoin that it allegedly lost in a hack. Lawyers for the 12 developers told the UK High Court that Tulip Trading never owned the digital assets and has fabricated documents to prove ownership of the tokens and fraudulently gain control over the funds. The Bitcoin Legal Defense Fund, an organization funded by Jack Dorsey and others, shared the filing.
The developers’ lawyers stated that Tulip Trading never owned the digital assets and has commenced this claim fraudulently and in reliance on fabricated documents. They also noted that Wright has a long history of fraud, forgery, and dishonesty and is using the English courts as an instrument of fraud. There is no evidence that Wright or his company ever owned either wallet that held the Bitcoin in question, they alleged.
The allegations stem from Wright’s lawsuit against the developers for refusing to build a backdoor mechanism in a Bitcoin-based software that would enable Tulip Trading to seize control of the crypto it claims to have owned and lost. Wright’s lawyers argued that the developers failed in their fiduciary duty by refusing to help Tulip Trading.
Wright has a long history of litigating disagreements. Last month, a UK court dismissed Wright’s lawsuit alleging crypto exchanges Coinbase and Kraken infringed on his copyright by using the name Bitcoin. Last year, Wright lost a preemptive lawsuit alleging he had lied about being Satoshi. Currently, Wright is involved in at least three lawsuits in Oslo, Norway; London, UK; and Miami, US.