The Maryland attorney’s office said the case was “still pending.”
MOVE TO BRITAIN
Wright’s involvement with bitcoin was initially lucrative. He worked on computer code with an American cybersecurity consultant named David Kleiman, and by 2011 the pair had amassed 1.1 million bitcoins, worth more than $1 billion at today’s prices. Their activities were described by Wright in his interviews with the ATO, of which Reuters has reviewed the transcripts. Kleiman died in 2013.
Wright lost money when an online currency exchange ran into difficulties, according to documents reviewed by Reuters. Wright left Australia and relocated his business ventures to Britain.
In 2015, associates of Ayre began setting up companies which are now involved with Wright and bitcoin and blockchain. In September 2015, EITC Holdings, the Antiguan company that has filed scores of patents, was incorporated, originally under the name NCrypt Holdings.
That month, two companies – The Workshop Technologies and The Workshop Ventures – were incorporated in Britain with Ayre’s associate MacGregor as their sole director. According to the person with direct knowledge of the patent filings, Wright now works for The Workshop Technologies and MacGregor is his boss. The Workshop Technologies did not respond to requests for comment.
