Self-proclaimed Bitcoin (BTC) inventor Craig Wright, has filed a lawsuit against Bitcoin.com chairman Roger Ver… in Antigua and Barbuda. 

Wright suing Ver, again

According to CoinGeek, Wright has filed a libel suit against the well-known crypto industry figure, with the High Court of the tiny Caribbean country. Specifically, Wright is suing Ver for daring to state he isn’t the real Satoshi Nakamoto – the as yet unidentified creator of Bitcoin. 

To be fair, in a May 2019 video message to Wright, Ver did say “Craig Wright is a liar and fraud, so sue me, again,” – so he really did, quite literally, ask for it!

Apparently, Wright is seeking an injunction to prevent Ver from making similar “defamatory” statements on social media, like YouTube and Twitter, along with monetary compensation. However, reports suggest that Wright’s team hasn’t been able to actually serve Ver, who is currently giving them the run around the islands.  

Wright has previously attempted similar legal action against Ver in the High Court of England and Wales. However, in that case the courts dismissed the suit because of questions regarding jurisdiction. Wright’s subsequent appeal was also dismissed, for similar reasons. 

Why Antigua and Barbuda?

If you’re currently wondering quite why the High Court of Antigua and Barbuda, a country with fewer than 100,000 residents, will have any more power than the High Court of England and Wales, it’s because, according to the court documents, both Wright and Ver are citizens of the country.

Wait, what? Isn’t Craig Wright Australian, and doesn’t he live in London? Well, yes, but Australia permits dual citizenship and London… well, he’s Australian. 

At this point it might be worth pointing out that Antigua and Barbuda is a well-known tax haven, with IBCs completely exempted from all taxes, including corporation tax, income tax, capital gains tax, withholding taxes, stamp duties, estate taxes, and dividend taxes.

Of course, we’re sure Wright would say he’s just there for the Caribbean sun and sand, but plenty of others would argue that sodding off to a tax haven pretty much undermines any attempt he makes to occupy the moral high ground… like suing people because his feelings are hurt. 

Ver’s time running out?

As for Ver, who is apparently also a citizen of fellow Caribbean tax haven Saint Kitts and Nevis, things might be about to get much more complicated.

As annoying as Wright can be, Ver has also ruffled more than a few feathers with his libertarian, anarcho-capitalist ways (and there was that time he served 10 months in a US jail for selling explosives on eBay).

He’s kind of like that other famous crypto exile, face panty-wearing John McAfee. But, unlike McAfee, who’s exploits seem to revolve firmly around winding up ‘The Man’, Ver is also suspected of being a partner in the $722 million Bitcoin scam, BitClub Network, and screwing regular people out of millions.

As previously reported, in July, Silviu Catalin Bacali, a 35-year old Romanian programmer pleaded guilty to his part in the massive Bitcoin ponzi scheme, and alleged accomplices Matthew Brent Goettsche, Russ Albert Medlin, Jobadiah Sinclair Weeks, and Joseph Frank Able, have also been charged by US authorities.  

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