Company behind bitcoin ‘creator’ sold to private investors

A company built around the research of Craig Wright, who has claimed to have invented the bitcoin cryptocurrency, has been sold to a private equity firm in a deal the company says is the biggest to date involving bitcoin’s underlying blockchain technology.

The deal swings the spotlight once again on to Wright, a 46-year-old computer scientist who is the cryptocurrency’s most controversial figure. He hopes to remain central to the technology’s future, telling Reuters the goal is to build bitcoin into a global “system with no ruler, no king.”

“We will scale and grow bitcoin to become what it was envisioned to be,” he said. “All I do is to help grow the use of bitcoin, and I want to see it in daily use by at least a billion people onchain. We have the funds, the people and the technology to do this.”

According to a news release on Thursday, Malta-based High Tech Private Equity Fund SICAV plc bought nChain Holdings, “the world leader in blockchain-centric research and development.” It put no value on the deal and did not mention Wright.

Reuters previously identified nChain, formerly known as EITC Holdings, as Wright’s vehicle for filing hundreds of bitcoin and blockchain-related patents.

UK records confirm that the target company – under both its EITC and nChain names – already filed more than 80 bitcoin and blockchain-related patents.

A person close to the deal said $300 million had been invested in nChain, but it was not clear over what period of time.

The Maltese fund did not respond to emails asking for comment.

Reuters reported last year that EITC planned to file hundreds of patents related to blockchain, the distributed ledger technology that underpins cryptocurrencies like bitcoin. The financial industry and others are exploring its potential. (RTRS)