Posting Security: Digital Assets Not A Replacement For Payments Into Court

On 25 January 2022, the English High Court determined an application by an entity owned by Mr Craig Wright ("Tulip"), the self-proclaimed inventor of Bitcoin, to post digital assets as security to cover the future costs of its legal claim.

Background

Tulip has issued claims against 16 Bitcoin developers in the UK seeking to recover access to crypto assets valued in the region of US$5.6 billion.

The catalyst for Tulip's claims came in February 2020, when hackers stole the private keys for two of its Bitcoin addresses. Copies of those keys were deleted from Mr Wright's computer, resulting in him being deprived of access to Tulip's digital assets.

By its claims, Tulip says that the Defendant developers have a fiduciary duty to help it recover access to those assets.