UK High Court issues asset freezing order against Craig Wright

• The UK High Court has granted Peter McCormack’s application for a global freezing order against Craig Wright’s assets.
• McCormack is seeking to recover more than £1.5 million ($1.9 million) in legal fees related to Wright’s defamation lawsuit against the podcaster.

The UK High Court has issued a worldwide freezing order, or “WFO,” against the assets of Craig Wright, the Australian computer scientist who sued entrepreneur and podcast host Peter McCormack in 2019.

In that case, the court granted McCormack’s claim for WFO against Wright, with the verdict expected to see McCormack recover more than £1.5 million ($1.9 million) in legal fees.

This is according to legal documents filed on Friday, July 5.

Wright sued McCormack for defamation and lost

In 2019, Wright filed a defamation lawsuit against McCormack, accusing the podcaster of defamation for comments that Wright was not Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto.

Wright lost that case in August 2022 and an appeal was dismissed on July 26, 2023. The UK Supreme Court also dismissed Wright’s appeal in December 2023.

In his judgment, Justice Mellor also noted developments surrounding the COPA lawsuit. In May 2024, the judge ruled that Craig Wright was neither Satoshi Nakamoto nor the creator of Bitcoin. The decision also clarified that Craig was not the author of the Bitcoin whitepaper that ushered in the world’s largest digital asset.

Peter McCormack shared the latest verdict against Wright in the case, noting The global freezing order “in the amount of £1.548 million” was intended to help recover his legal costs.