A British High Court has issued a restraining order against computer scientist Craig Wright, preventing him from filing further defamation suits. 

In a May 12 judgment, High Court Judge Edward Mellor said Wright’s repeated false claims and aggressive legal actions created legal “hell” for individuals and developers in the Bitcoin (BTC) community, adding that Wright sought to “weaponise legal systems” to intimidate and silence critics.

His lawsuits forced people into costly and time-consuming legal defenses, often based on fabricated evidence, the judge added as he handed out a General Civil Restraint Order or injunction against Wright, prohibiting him from filing any more civil claims or applications in the High Court. 

The court highlighted how this strategy was part of a pattern of abusing the legal system to assert false claims of being Satoshi Nakamoto.

“It is apparent that Dr Wright had substantial financial backing from the start of his campaign, and his defamation claims were deliberately unequal battles,” said Judge Mellor.  

The Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA) brought the claim in 2021, seeking negative declarations and injunctive relief because of the threats Wright had made against its members, including crypto blogger Peter McCormack and Magnus Granath (aka Hodlonaut).

His defamation claims “put each man through five years of personal hell,” Mellor wrote, adding that allegations were “part of a deliberate strategy whereby Dr Wright and his backers sought to establish the claim [that Dr Wright was Satoshi] by unequal contests.”

COPA is a nonprofit community formed to encourage the adoption and advancement of crypto technologies and to remove patents as a barrier to innovation.

Justice Mellor says Wright put defendants through personal hell. Source: bailii.org

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The threats its members received “were having a serious chilling effect on development and innovation in the cryptocurrency industry,” said Judge Mellor. 

“Dr Wright’s actions have not only affected the individuals he has sued,” he continued. “They have also caused significant disruption to innovation in an important technology industry.” 

Craig Wright slapped for contempt of court 

Last March, the British High Court ruled that Craig Wright was not the author of the Bitcoin white paper, did not operate under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto and was not involved in the creation of Bitcoin.

In July, Wright issued a legal disclaimer on his website, emphatically stating that he was not the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin.

In December, the Australian computer scientist was given a one-year suspended sentence in the United Kingdom for contempt of court.

Wright has also filed libel lawsuits against Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin and Bitcoin pioneer Adam Back during the almost decade-long “faketoshi” saga. 

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The lawyer for a group of Caitlyn Jenner memecoin buyers said they will continue their legal fight against the ex-Olympian after a judge threw out the case for failing to adequately support the securities and fraud claims it brought.

Jenner had escaped a class-action lawsuit from buyers of her self-titled memecoin, Caitlyn Jenner (JENNER) after California District Court Judge Stanley Blumenfeld Jr. said in a motion filed on May 9 that it was “sufficient to conclude that all nine causes of action are deficient” and sided with Jenner in dismissing the suit in its entirety for failure to state a claim.

He allowed the class group to amend its suit, which must be filed by May 23, but warned it had “to be more focused and judiciously pleaded” than the original.

A lawyer for the class group, Fitzgerald Monroe Flynn PC partner Jack Fitzgerald, told Cointelegraph it was “pleased the Court recognized we may be able to state some claims against the defendants, and intend to amend and press forward with the case.”

Jenner and her manager, Sophia Hutchins, were sued in November by a group that bought the JENNER token and accused them of having “fraudulently solicited financially unsophisticated investors” to the token, which they alleged was an unregistered security.

Lee Greenfield, a UK citizen, was added as the lead plaintiff in January and claimed he lost over $40,000 buying JENNER. But the court found, for a start, that claims of securities law violations couldn’t stand as it wasn’t alleged that his JENNER buys took place in the US, as the law requires, and gave “scant details” about the purchases.

The court didn’t allow the class to swap its lead for a US-based member, adding it must report by May 16 on how the suit will proceed (highlights added for emphasis). Source: PACER

Court dismisses all claims by JENNER tokenholders

In all, Judge Blumenfeld dismissed a further eight claims the class group brought in an amended complaint filed in February, which included accusations that Jenner and Hutchins either made misleading statements, sold unregistered securities, or committed various fraud.

Judge Blumenfeld said the suit failed to allege that Jenner sold the token through a prospectus that contained an untrue statement, as “Greenfield admits that the $JENNER tokens were not sold through a prospectus.”

The court also tossed a common-law fraud accusation, saying the complaint alleged omitted information and noted various X posts by Jenner “stating that she would continue to support the tokens,” but it did not identify which of the statements related to the fraud claim.

The group also accused Hutchins of aiding and abetting Jenner’s allegedly fraudulent conduct, but Judge Blumenfeld said that claim failed as the complaint “does not adequately allege any viable fraud claim.”

In a footnote, Judge Blumenfeld said Jenner and the class group disputed whether the JENNER token was a security, but he was not going to decide at this stage as the “securities claims fail on other grounds.”

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“Because the determination of whether the tokens are securities is fact-dependent and may be affected by an amended pleading, the Court declines to resolve that issue at this stage and instead assumes without deciding that the tokens are securities subject to the federal securities laws,” he wrote.

JENNER first launched in May 2024 via Pump.fun on the Solana blockchain but was soon embroiled in controversy after Jenner and other memecoin launching celebrities claimed collaborator Sahil Arora scammed them. 

Jenner relaunched the token on Ethereum, which the class group claimed tanked the value of the original Solana token, but gave Jenner the benefit of collecting a 3% fee on every transaction.

JENNER has lost essentially all its value since launch. CoinGecko shows its market value has crashed to around $58,775 from a June 3 peak of nearly $7.5 million. The token has seen just $61.10 worth of trading volume over the last day.

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Australia’s crypto industry has expressed positivity after the recently reelected government named pro-crypto politician Andrew Charlton as assistant minister for the digital economy, artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies. 

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told reporters in Canberra during a May 12 press conference that Charlton would be the new assistant minister for science, technology and the digital economy, working with Tim Ayres, the minister for industry and innovation. 

Ayres and Charlton will administer policies and programs promoting advancements in emerging technologies, science, technology, innovation and the digital economy, according to Albanese. 

Charlton has shown strong support for the industry in the past. During a speech to parliament last November, he pushed for a balanced regulatory framework that encouraged industry growth.

Cryptocurrency is shaping the future of finance. Governments must support a balanced framework that encourages growth while ensuring security and trust. Let’s embrace the opportunities of a digital economy! #Cryptocurrency #Innovation @DECAustralia pic.twitter.com/av8L2DA72g

— Andrew Charlton (@Charlton_AB) November 27, 2024

Speaking to Cointelegraph, Jason Titman, CEO of Australian crypto exchange Swyftx, said Charlton’s appointment is “unequivocally good news for crypto in Australia,” and he expects the “blockchain industry is cheering.”

“Andrew has a deep understanding of blockchain, coupled with a genuine belief in its potential to support the Australian economy,” Titman said. 

Along with the new assistant treasurer, Daniel Mulino, Titman says he hopes Charlton “ fast tracks legislation around digital assets,” because the industry has been waiting for “six or seven years for legislative clarity.” 

Australian crypto industry continues to grow 

Vakul Talwar, head of the Australian arm of crypto exchange Crypto.com, said in a statement sent to Cointelegraph that Charlton’s appointment is a sign of the growing importance of the digital economy. 

Since the previous election in 2022, Talwar says the “industry has grown significantly,” and it’s important in the current term of Parliament to “ensure that as the digital economy continues to merge its way into traditional finance, appropriate regulations are in place.”

Around 31% of Australian adults own or have owned crypto, which is roughly 6.2 million people, April 4 data from crypto exchange Independent Reserve shows, up from 28% last year.

Roughly 6.2 million out of Australia’s more than 26 million population have owned or still own crypto. Source: Independent Reserve

Edward Carroll, head of global markets and corporate finance at Australian crypto platform MHC Digital Group, said that Charlton has long recognized the importance of fostering a constructive and innovative financial ecosystem.

“His specific support for digital assets and recognition of blockchain technology’s transformative potential, alongside the need to regulate it quickly and appropriately, should help Australia keep pace with the rapidly evolving global regulatory landscape,” Carroll said.

At the same time, Damian Kassabgi, CEO of industry advocacy group Tech Council of Australia, said in a May 12 statement that the addition of “digital economy” to the ministry position is a “strong signal of the Government’s commitment to this critical area of future growth for jobs.”

Related: Industry calls for urgent crypto law reforms after Australian election

The reelected center-left Labor Party proposed a new crypto framework on March 21, regulating exchanges under existing financial services laws and has promised to tackle debanking.

Meanwhile, in August 2022, it also initiated a series of industry consultations to draft a crypto regulatory framework.

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