The Bitcoin Legal Defense Fund has announced its support for the developers of Bitcoin Cash ABC in their ongoing lawsuit against Craig Wright. The legal fund aims to provide financial support to those fighting for the rights and development of Bitcoin, and has chosen to back the developers in this case. Craig Wright, who claims to be the creator of Bitcoin, is being sued for copyright infringement over his use of the Bitcoin white paper. The developers argue that they have a right to use and modify the white paper, while Wright claims to have exclusive ownership. The Bitcoin Legal Defense Fund hopes to help the developers defend their position and continue the growth and development of Bitcoin.
Bitcoin Legal Defense Fund (BLDF) to support Bitcoin Core developers in fight against Craig Wright’s Tulip Trading lawsuit
The Bitcoin Legal Defense Fund (BLDF), a non-profit co-founded by Block (formerly Square) CEO Jack Dorsey, has announced that it is supporting the legal defense for a number of Bitcoin Core developers targeted by a lawsuit filed by Craig Wright and his firm, Tulip Trading. The developers filed their substantive defense in a UK court on the same day as the announcement.
The lawsuits, which include “Tulip Trading Limited v. Bitcoin Association For BSV & Others,” are related to an alleged hack in 2020 that resulted in the loss of 111,000 Bitcoin that Wright claimed to own. The Bitcoin Legal Defense Fund is backing 13 Bitcoin developers in two separate cases initiated by Wright or his associated companies, and is calling the cases attacks on fundamental principles of freedom.
“At issue in the case,” says Jessica Jonas, Chief Legal Officer at the Bitcoin Legal Defense Fund, “is whether Bitcoin developers have a fiduciary duty to Bitcoin users.” Wright argues that they owe a fiduciary duty, and as such, they should be obligated to create a ‘backdoor’ to allow him to access coins he claims to have lost. However, creating such a backdoor would compromise Bitcoin’s core feature as a fully distributed open-source software, since no individual or group can retroactively alter the blockchain.
BLDF is calling the claims frivolous and is hoping to rally public support against this and future legal attacks by Wright. “By rallying the public and demonstrating widespread support for the defendants, we aim to show Wright and his team that their legal tactics will not go unchallenged,” says Jonas.
Craig Wright has launched several lawsuits since 2016, including accusing sites posting the Bitcoin whitepaper of copyright infringement after claiming to be the creator of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto. Earlier this month, Wright hinted that Apple might be violating copyright law when it was discovered that a copy of the Bitcoin whitepaper had been hidden on Apple’s computers since at least 2018.
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