Craig Wright Sues Bitcoin Developers; Tells Them to Recover His Stolen BTC from Mt Gox Hack

Craig Wright, a self-acclaimed bitcoin creator, is on a rampage as he commenced legal action against the developers of the digital asset.

According to the BitcoinSV progenitor, the legal action became necessary, alleging that he lost about 110,000 bitcoin through wallets connected to the Mt. Gox hack.

Track Down the Hackers or Face Legal Action

In a letter addressed to Bitcoin Core contributors through his law firm, Ontier LLP, Wright’s Tulip Trading Ltd. (TTL) demands access to two wallets. The wallets contain 31,000 and 79,957 BTC (-0.17%), respectively.

Wright explained that the stolen wallets were linked to the Mt. Gox hack that gulped 800,000 BTC from the world’s then most-popular bitcoin exchange in 2014. He, however, wants Bitcoin developers to give him the keys. The letter read in part:

“In accordance with their fiduciary duties, each of the Developers is obliged to a. Provide access and control to TTL of the BTC in the Addresses, which it owns but cannot access or control due to the hack/theft. b. Take all reasonable steps to ensure that TTL has access to and control of the BTC in the Addresses.”

Ontier LLP, in a press release made available to the digital assets community, stated that the value of the stolen funds is now worth over £3.5 billion.

Mt. Gox hack: Largest Bitcoin Heist

Launched in 2010, Mt. Gox was a Japan-based bitcoin exchange. It was a destination for cryptocurrency enthusiasts, as it was a big player in the crypto sector on a global scale. In what seemed to be its peak, three years after it launched, the exchange handled a whopping 70% of all bitcoin transactions worldwide.

The company’s fortune, however, took a devastating turn when hackers accessed and stole 740,000 bitcoin from its customers and 100,000 BTC from the company itself, roughly the equivalent of $460 million at the time. Sadly, Mt. Gox's reign ended due to this incident as it went bankrupt in 2014.

Following the 2014 fiasco, an investigation to look into the matter commenced, during which it was discovered that Mt. Gox’s private key was unencrypted and stolen in 2011. It, however, remains unclear if the key was obtained through a hack or with the help of an insider.

To stakeholders in the cryptocurrency industry, Wright is notorious for making unsubstantiated claims related to the inventory of bitcoin. He had argued to be Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin, a claim that has degenerated into a heated debate in the cryptocurrency community, with stakeholders unanimously tagging him as a fraud.

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— Danny Brewster (@BtcDanny) February 25, 2021