Self-proclaimed bitcoin inventor’s $2.5 billion lawsuit can go to trial

The decision opens the door for a trial to determine whether developers have obligations to the owners of digital assets, which, according to a lawyer for certain developers, might pose a serious threat to decentralized finance if Wright prevails.

Australian computer scientist Wright is suing 15 developers in an attempt to recover roughly 111,000 bitcoin, which are presently worth about $2.5 billion. Wright claims that his personal computer network was hacked, and he lost the encryption keys needed to access them.

Wright's Seychelles-based business Tulip Trading is suing three network engineers, claiming they owe Tulip a software fix to enable it to retrieve the bitcoin.

Although Tulip's lawsuit was dismissed last year, the Court of Appeal concluded on Friday that developers may in fact owe owners responsibilities that should be decided in a thorough trial.

According to Judge Colin Birss, Tulip made a convincing case that network developers are "entrusted" with cryptocurrencies and as a result may be required to do certain actions, such as "introducing code so that an owner's bitcoin may be moved to safety."

The assertion that Wright, writing under the alias Satoshi Nakamoto, authored the bitcoin white paper in 2008 outlining the technology behind digital assets is highly contested.

He expressed his happiness with the decision in a statement.

The judgment, according to Felicity Potter, his attorney, "should be welcomed by future and present coin-holders alike" since it "moves towards a fully regulated and well-governed digital asset ecosystem."

Code authors are "extremely anxious" about the lawsuit, according to James Ramsden, an attorney who represented 13 of the 14 developers participating in the appeal, who might be held accountable for substantial amounts of money if Wright wins, he told Reuters.

The conclusion of any trial, whether it concerns value tokens or NFTs (non-fungible tokens) or the larger blockchain system, would impact "all parts of (decentralized finance)," he said.