Court Favors Craig Wright, Orders Bitcoin.org to Remove BTC Whitepaper

by Arnab Shome
  • The creator of the website has also been ordered to pay £35,000 of Wright’s legal fees.
Court Favors Craig Wright, Orders Bitcoin.org to Remove BTC Whitepaper
Craig Wright

London’s High Court has ruled in favor of Craig Wright, the self-proclaimed Bitcoin creator and the proponent of Fork Bitcoin SV, 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 now has to remove the whitepaper and display a notice of the court order for six months. In addition, Cobra will have to pay £35,000 ($48,600) to Wright to cover his legal costs.

A Fraud or Legit?

Wright, a controversial figure in the cryptocurrency industry, moved to the UK court against Cobra, alleging that bitcoin.org infringed the copyright of the whitepaper, which Wright believes to be his intellectual property. Court proceedings began on February 24, 2021, and Cobra was served out of the jurisdiction by an email on April 21.

The majority of the crypto industry supported bitcoin.org and popular platforms, including Coinbase, started to host the Bitcoin whitepaper to protest Wright’s claims.

“Dr Wright does not wish to restrict access to his White Paper,” wrote Simon Cohen, a Senior Associate at ONTER LLP that legally represented Wright. “However, he does not agree that it should be used by supporters and developers of alternative assets, such as Bitcoin Core, to promote or otherwise misrepresent those assets as being Bitcoin given that they do not support or align with the vision for Bitcoin as he set out in his White Paper.”

Furthermore, Wright brought a libel lawsuit against Roger Ver, but the UK court later dismissed the suit over jurisdictional issues.

London’s High Court has ruled in favor of Craig Wright, the self-proclaimed Bitcoin creator and the proponent of Fork Bitcoin SV, 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 now has to remove the whitepaper and display a notice of the court order for six months. In addition, Cobra will have to pay £35,000 ($48,600) to Wright to cover his legal costs.

A Fraud or Legit?

Wright, a controversial figure in the cryptocurrency industry, moved to the UK court against Cobra, alleging that bitcoin.org infringed the copyright of the whitepaper, which Wright believes to be his intellectual property. Court proceedings began on February 24, 2021, and Cobra was served out of the jurisdiction by an email on April 21.

The majority of the crypto industry supported bitcoin.org and popular platforms, including Coinbase, started to host the Bitcoin whitepaper to protest Wright’s claims.

“Dr Wright does not wish to restrict access to his White Paper,” wrote Simon Cohen, a Senior Associate at ONTER LLP that legally represented Wright. “However, he does not agree that it should be used by supporters and developers of alternative assets, such as Bitcoin Core, to promote or otherwise misrepresent those assets as being Bitcoin given that they do not support or align with the vision for Bitcoin as he set out in his White Paper.”

Furthermore, Wright brought a libel lawsuit against Roger Ver, but the UK court later dismissed the suit over jurisdictional issues.

About the Author: Arnab Shome
Arnab Shome
  • 6227 Articles
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About the Author: Arnab Shome
Arnab is an electronics engineer-turned-financial editor. He entered the industry covering the cryptocurrency market for Finance Magnates and later expanded his reach to forex as well. He is passionate about the changing regulatory landscape on financial markets and keenly follows the disruptions in the industry with new-age technologies.
  • 6227 Articles
  • 79 Followers

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