Dorsey trying to do his ‘Bit’

Jack Dorsey says he is planning a nonprofit aimed at paying the legal bills of Bitcoin developers who were sued by an Australian computer scientist who claims to be the founder of the popular cryptocurrency.

The former Twitter CEO sent an e-mail on Wednesday to a mailing list of cryptocurrency creators announcing the creation of the Bitcoin Legal Defense Fund.

The nonprofit will pit Dorsey’s financial muscle against the litigious Craig Wright, who has targeted a number of crypto developers in the so-called Tulip Trading lawsuit.

‘Satoshi’ suit

Last spring, Wright filed suit in a London court alleging that 16 software developers refused to help him retrieve 111,000 bitcoins that he claims rightfully belong to him.

Wright accused the developers of denying him the private keys to access the currency, which today is worth some $4.8 billion. On Thursday, Bitcoin was trading at $43,183.60.

Wright has claimed he was part of the team behind the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto, the mysterious figure who is credited with developing Bitcoin more than a decade ago. He also has insisted that he is the owner of 1.1 million Bitcoin, which would put his net worth somewhere at around $47.5 billion.

The crypto community has largely dismissed Wright’s claims.

Wright’s case is being brought against the developers of four networks — Bitcoin Satoshi Vision (BSV), Bitcoin Core (BTC), Bitcoin

Cash (BCH) and Bitcoin Cash ABC (ABC) — at addresses in continental Europe, the United States, New Zealand, Australia and Japan.

The developers said Wright had failed to prove ownership of the currency.

‘Capitulation’

Dorsey, who is now CEO of Block, formerly known as Square, wrote in his e-mail on Wednesday: “The Bitcoin community is currently the subject of multi-front litigation” that has compelled some developers to “capitulate in the absence of legal support.”

“The main purpose of this Fund is to defend developers from lawsuits regarding their activities in the Bitcoin ecosystem, including finding and retaining defense counsel, developing litigation strategy, and paying legal bills,” Dorsey wrote.

“This is a free and voluntary option for developers to take advantage of if they so wish.”

In his filing, Wright claimed he lost the encrypted keys when his home computer network was hacked in February 2020, according to Reuters.

“Our client has always maintained that he created Bitcoin to operate within existing laws and that in the event of loss or theft, where legitimate ownership can be proven, the developers have a duty to ensure recovery,” said Wright’s lawyer, Paul Ferguson.