- Craig Wright’s claim that two old Bitcoin wallets of his were hacked last year could have got him into legal trouble
- A Mt. Gox victim has instructed his lawyers to write to Wright’s lawyers to inform them that the rightful owners of one wallet, called the 1Feex wallet, are the Mt. Gox claimants
- The 1Feex wallet received almost ₿80,000 from the Mt. Gox hack in 2011
Craig Wright’s attempts to reclaim ₿110,000 he says was stolen in a hack on his computer last year could backfire after lawyers representing Mt. Gox victims pointed out that one of the wallets in question was the recipient of some ₿80,000 following the hack on the exchange in 2011. Wright’s claim to have owned the 1Feex wallet first emerged in June 2020 but was reinforced on Wednesday when he tried to get Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, and Bitcoin SV developers to return the coins to him, despite offering no proof that they ever belonged to him. This has left Wright in a Catch 22 position, with an unfavourable outcome likely whatever the eventuality of his efforts.
Wright ‘Hack’ Links Him to 1Feex Wallet
The first connection between Wright and the 1Feex wallet, so called because it represents the first five digits of the address, came in June last year when Wright’s lawyers wrote to three Bitcoin developers to remind them of “their responsibility to avoid illegitimate transactions being entered onto the blockchain”, according to Coingeek.
This was the first reference Wright made to the alleged hack on his computer four months prior, and the letters confirmed the addressees of the two wallets Wright said had been compromised. One of these was the wallet to which ₿79,957 was sent direct from Mt. Gox in March 2011 following the infamous hack. This piqued much interest at the time, as Wright seemed to be confirming that he was the recipient of the stolen Mt. Gox funds:
Just so we’re clear, Craig Wright has just openly admitted (via his lawyers) to be the guy that stole 80k BTC from Mtgox. The screenshots below show the court documents indicating the “1Feex” address is where the stolen Mtgox funds were sent. What do you have to say, @CalvinAyre? pic.twitter.com/Yh1esDar6J
— Riccardo Spagni (@fluffypony) June 12, 2020
Any doubts about this were put to bed on Wednesday when the followup letter from Wright’s lawyers once more made reference to the 1Feex wallet:
Finally we have confirmation, via his lawyers, that Craig Wright is the Mtgox hacker (see his claim of ownership on the 1FeeX address: https://t.co/4tM6To0AOz). I’d imagine those affected by the Mtgox hack will want to pursuing Craig Wright for his theft of their BTC. https://t.co/F0Ho4B8cMk
— Riccardo Spagni (@fluffypony) February 24, 2021
Mt. Gox Victim Reminds Wright of True BTC Ownership
Less than twenty-four hours after the letters to the developers outlining Wright’s demands were published, a Mt. Gox victim, Danny Brewster, instructed his lawyers to write to Ontier to inform them that, in fact, the funds don’t belong to Wright but rather the Mt. Gox victims:
— Danny Brewster (@BtcDanny) February 25, 2021
They also instructed Ontier that, as Wright points out, any retrieval of stolen goods must be preserved and then handed over to the police, which is what they say Wright should do if he ever gets the coins back as they do not belong to him.
The entire point may be moot as the chances of the Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, and Bitcoin SV blockchains being forked so that Wright can get back what he claims are his coins is close to zero, but if such an eventuality were to take place then he will face an immediate legal challenge regardless, potentially locking up the 1Feex wallet coins again for years.
