It wasn’t me, I swear! It was Mr. X.
Charlie Shrem, who is accused of stealing[1] 5,000 bitcoin from Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, won his first battle in court, according to a recent order[2] by Judge Jed S. Rakoff of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, filed on November 8, by which Judge Rakoff lifted a freeze on Shrem's assets.
On October 2, the court had granted an ex parte attachment request[3] by the Winklevoss Capital Fund LLC (WCF) to freeze Shrem's assets up to 5,000 bitcoin or its equivalent. That order applied to any digital currency Shrem held on crypto exchanges Bittrex, Coinbase, Poloniex, or Xapo. On November 1, WCF filed a motion to confirm Judge Rakoff's attachment order, which provided Shrem with his first opportunity to contest the order.
Yesterday, Judge Rakoff lifted the freeze on Shrem's assets, stating, "After careful consideration, the Court denies plaintiff's motion to confirm the order of attachment and therefore lifts the attachment currently in place, effective immediately."
Although the ruling does not identify the reasons for lifting the freeze, Judge Rakoff wrote that "an opinion explaining the reasons for this ruling will issue in due course."
Although this is a win for Shrem, he still has a long way to go in fighting the lawsuit, especially considering the strange defense his lawyer seems prepared to mount.
Shrem's November 5 opposition[4] to WCF's motion claims that on December 30, 2012, Shrem and others received an email from a "prominent bitcoin industry member" with whom Shrem was acquainted, named Mr. X. The opposition states that the moniker was used to protect the identity and safety of the actual individual.
According to Shrem's opposition, in this email, Mr.
