If he prevails, a number of Bitcoin engineers may be compelled to rewrite its source code.
Reuters reported on February 3 that Craig Wright’s lawsuit seeking to compel Bitcoin developers to forfeit crypto and rewrite code can proceed to court.
Wright is suing 15 developers to recover 111,000 BTC valued at $2.5 billion. Supposedly, Wright has hacked years ago, causing him to lose access to the keys that would have permitted him to withdraw cryptocurrency from many addresses. (Despite Wright’s assurances, one of these addresses is thought to contain stolen assets relating to the Mt. Gox hack.)
If Wright prevails in court, the developers may be obliged to create software updates to assist Tulip Trading in recovering the full amount.
Wright has pursued this lawsuit in the United Kingdom since at least February 2021. Despite the case being dismissed last year, the U.K. Court of Appeal declared today that blockchain developers may owe duties to blockchain owners. Tulip has a “reasonable argument,” according to Judge Colin Birss, that crypto is entrusted to developers who may be forced to implement code that moves the owner’s Bitcoin to a secure location.
James Ramsden, the attorney for a number of developers challenging the decision, stated that his clients are “very anxious.” In addition to perhaps being required to pay money, the outcome could have far-reaching effects on blockchain development.
Wright’s assertions that he is Satoshi Nakamoto, the alias of Bitcoin’s pseudonymous creator, have caused friction between him and the cryptocurrency community. Despite this, he has been connected with Bitcoin since its inception and has successfully used this position in numerous legal disputes. He has obtained specific victories in copyright cases, along with technical victories and non-final defeats in defamation cases.
