Craig Wright Goes on Crypto and Blockchain Patent Spree, Plans to Subdue Entire Industry
Australian computer scientist and self-acclaimed Bitcoin creator Craig Wright says he plans to acquire 6,000 crypto and blockchain patents as part of his efforts to dominate the entire industry.
Wright Plans 6,000 Blockchain Patents
Speaking to Australian crypto media outlet Micky, Wright, chief scientist at nChain says the company plans to own about 6,000 patents covering several aspects of the crypto and blockchain space.
Commenting on his plans, Wright quipped:
“Basically, it came down to if I want to actually … try and stop all the splits, forks and altcoin scams that are popping up pretending to be blockchains, then the only way I could really think to do it was to start patenting. Some of them I can charge money. I mean, you can license technology. Others that are basically ripoffs, sort of broken version of Bitcoin such as BTC you don’t need to [try and stop], they’re already broken. Eventually, people will realise that it doesn’t do anything.”
Wright’s plans could materially impact Bitcoin forks and other altcoins from a legal standpoint. The proposed patent drive could also affect scaling implementations for Bitcoin. Wright reportedly holds patents on blockchain electronic data interchange as well as other scaling and layer 2 solutions.
If such reports are true, Wright could theoretically launch legal actions against Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash. According to Wright, ownership of these patents provides “certain rights” which Wright plans to exercise in the future.
Bitcoin White Paper Copyright and Possible Legal Action
Back in May 2019, BTCManager reported that Wright was filing a copyright claim for the Bitcoin white paper. In his Micky interview, Wright confirmed that the copyright application is one of the enforcement actions he plans to take against Bitcoin.
Wright is, however, known for making grand claims, calling himself Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of Bitcoin. So far, the nChain chief scientist has been unable to provide clear-cut proof with many in industry referring to him as “Faketoshi.”
Wright is currently involved in a legal tussle with the Kleiman estate over ownership of the Bitcoin held in the “Tulip Trust.” Earlier in January 2020, the presiding judge on the case ordered Wright to produce the $9.2 billion BTC holdings. The court also dismissed an earlier order for Wright to forfeit 50 percent of the BTC holdings in the Tulip Trust.
