Block CEO Jack Dorsey has proposed the creation of a legal defense fund that would help Bitcoin developers deal with mounting litigation
According to a recent letter made by Square CEO Jack Dorsey to the Bitcoin developers mailing list, a legal defense fund has been established for open source developers to shield them “against litigation related their activity in the Bitcoin ecosystem.” Alex Morcos of Chaincode Labs and Martin White, the co-founder of Hudson River Trading, have also signed Dorsey’s letter.
The Bitcoin Legal Defense Fund would be a non-profit organization dedicated to assisting developers in avoiding legal issues. The fund would help in finding and retaining defense counsel, developing legal strategy, and paying legal bills, among other things. Dorsey, together with Alex Morcos and Martin White, would be the initial members of the board.
Tulip Trading, a Seychelles-based corporation managed by Craig Wright, a litigious Australian computer scientist who claims to be Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoin’s creator’s alias, is first on the docket. After losing a fortune in a hack, he sued core Bitcoin developers, alleging breach of fiduciary duty, and claimed that a tiny group of people controls the Bitcoin network and has a duty to safeguard users and assist in the recovery of stolen tokens.
In his email, Dorsey said that ongoing legal threats against the BTC community are having the desired impact, as some individual defendants have opted to surrender in the absence of legal backing. The first action of this Bitcoin Legal Defense Fund would be to defend 16 developers who are being sued by Craig Wright, an Australian computer scientist. The scientist claims to be Bitcoin’s founder.
