A recent judgment highlights the circumstances in which the English court may, or may not, issue an anti-suit injunction to restrain an application under s.1782 of Title 28 of the US Code: Soriano v Forensic News LLC [2023] EWHC 262 (KB). In broad terms, s.1782 allows a litigant in a non-US legal proceeding to ask … Read more

Dr Craig Wright claims to be the inventor of Bitcoin and to have authored the Bitcoin White Paper in 2008, created the Bitcoin File Format and mined the inaugural block in the Bitcoin Blockchain – the ‘Genesis Block’.  Despite the Bitcoin White Paper having promoted de-centralisation, Dr Wright is now seeking to prevent others from … Read more

In the latest development in a line of cases involving Dr Craig Wright, who claims to be the creator of the Bitcoin system, the Court of Appeal has held that there is a realistic argument that Bitcoin developers, while acting as developers, owe fiduciary duties to the true owners of that property, which could include … Read more

A recent High Court decision suggests that there is some doubt as to the proper construction of the gateways allowing service out of the jurisdiction for claims relating to property in the jurisdiction, and for claims in constructive or resulting trust relating to assets within the jurisdiction. In particular, the decision suggests that it may … Read more

In a further decision demonstrating the English court’s ability to apply the law flexibly to novel issues arising in relation to crypto assets, the High Court has granted information orders against various foreign cryptocurrency exchanges requiring the provision of information and documentation to help identify those who hold accounts into which stolen cryptocurrency was allegedly … Read more

The High Court held, on an uncontested summary judgment application, that the crypto exchange controlling the wallet into which the claimant’s stolen bitcoin was transferred sat in a position of constructive trustee as against the claimant. It ordered delivery up of the bitcoin as against the fraudsters as well as the exchange: Jones v Persons … Read more

The Commercial Court has granted an anti-suit injunction restraining Belgian proceedings brought in breach of an exclusive English jurisdiction clause: Ebury Partners Belgium SA/NV v Technical Touch BV, Jan Berthels [2022] EWHC 2927 (Comm). This appears to be one of the first cases post-Brexit in which an anti-suit injunction has been granted by an English … Read more

The Court of Appeal has upheld an order permitting an application for third party disclosure to be served on a respondent outside England and Wales, in circumstances where the documents sought were located in England: Gorbachev v Guriev [2022] EWCA Civ 1270. The decision shows that the courts may permit an application for third party … Read more