Online reports revealed Craig Wright skipped his UK court hearing today due to an alleged lack of resources to travel. The Australian computer scientist is facing a contempt of court case over his lawsuit against Bitcoin Core developers and could receive a prison sentence if the claim is proved.
COPA Vs. Wright Saga Continues
On Wednesday, Australian Computer scientist and self-proclaimed Bitcoin inventor Craig Wright was expected to appear at the London Royal Court of Justice to attend the hearing regarding the contempt of court case against him.
The hearing attendants reported that Wright didn’t appear in court “due to lack of means for travel.” According to the hearing transcription shared by BitMEX Research, the self-proclaimed Satoshi Nakamoto informed the participants via email he would not be attending.
In October, the Cryptocurrency Open Patent Alliance (COPA) filed a contempt application form in response to Wright’s $1.2 billion lawsuit against Bitcoin Core Developers and Jack Dorsey’s Square Up European Ltd.
In the contempt application, COPA argued that the computer scientist had breached the injunction resulting from the main Bitcoin Authorship case. The injunction ordered Wright to admit he was not Satoshi Nakamoto and cease any further legal action related to the disproved authorship claims.
In an early November court hearing, the fake Satoshi denied COPA’s accusations, arguing that his latest legal battle was “fundamentally different” from an identity claim as it was based on his “contributions to the development, maintenance, and extension of the Bitcoin Blockchain.”
Based on this, Wright, representing himself in the lawsuit, asserted not to be in contempt but added that he was willing to amend his case if the court found him to be breaching the court’s injunction.
For context, the self-proclaimed Bitcoin author claimed in the lawsuit that Bitcoin Core developers and all affiliated parties have misrepresented BTC as the original Bitcoin, adding that Bitcoin SV (BSV) is the real version.
Judge Mellor halted Wright’s lawsuit while the Contempt case was resolved, scheduling the hearing for December 18. During the hearing, the parties discussed that Wright’s in-person assistance was required, as he attended the initial hearing via video call from Singapore.
In a subsequent hearing, the court ordered Wright to return to the UK for today’s hearing.
COPA Asks For 2-Year Sentence Over Bitcoin Core Case
COPA’s legal representative, Jonathan Hough, revealed that the non-profit organization offered to pay his travel expenses. Seemingly, Wright refused the offer, stating it “would not cover his business losses.”
“This is the first time that CSW has said he does not have the means to travel. He has covered cost orders of around £10m earlier this year, therefore this latest excuse deserves a large amount of skepticism,” Hough stated.
The email exchange continued, with the Australian computer scientist stating that he would need £240,000 to cover the travel expenses and the business losses:
It comes in at £240,000. Due to the actions by COPA, I am not able to operate as expected. However, even with this funding I would not be in a position to function adequately, nor could I feasibly travel to complete such obligations.
It’s worth noting that Hough requested “a sentence of 2 years and a following term of 6 months if CSW does not withdraw the new claim,” noting that Wright is “staying out of jurisdiction to avoid consequences.”
After Wright’s confirmed absence, British High Court Judge James Mellor decided to continue the hearing and hand down a judgment on Thursday, December 19 at 2 pm UK time. The judge asked COPA’s legal representative to invite Wright to the sentencing before ending the session.
