‘Bitcoin Creator’ Craig Wright Sues Podcaster $140,000 for Satoshi Libel

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By CCN.com: Self-proclaimed Bitcoin inventor Craig Wright has finally filed a lawsuit against the What Bitcoin Did podcaster Peter McCormack. The podcaster simply tweeted ‘Served!’ alongside an image of the suit papers.

In the suit, Wright accuses McCormack of libeling him by denying he is Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin. McCormack had sent a tweet on April 10 not only denouncing Wright’s claim but also calling him a ‘fraud’.

According to Bloomberg, Wright’s lawsuit is seeking nearly $130,000 in damages. The lawsuit is also seeking to gag McCormack from publishing or making similar comments.

Self-proclaimed Bitcoin Inventor on a Lawsuit Spree

The lawsuit did not come as a surprise as in an earlier interview Wright had warned he would sue McCormack. A similar warning was issued to Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin.

Per Wright, he was targeting the two because of their level of influence in the cryptocurrency sector. By going to court, Wright has argued, he will have a chance to prove he is Satoshi rather than let it be decided by the Twitter mob.

The true identity of Satoshi Nakamoto has been a long-standing mystery in the crypto space. The first time Craig Wright’s claim to be Satoshi gained prominence was in December 2015. This was in a Wired article which was based on a leak.

It got more interesting when it was subsequently discovered that Wright was behind the leak. The Australian, now resident in England, was undeterred and went on to offer cryptographic proof that he was indeed Satoshi. That, however, proved to be inconclusive and since then he has become a subject of mockery over his claims.

Buterin and McCormack are not the Only Deniers, so Who Will Craig Wright Sue Next?

If Wright is mostly targeting the high profile crypto personalities who refute his claims to be Satoshi, the list of lawsuits is only likely to grow longer. This is because of the sheer number of people who have publicly called him out.

This includes Roger Ver, a former Wright ally in the Bitcoin Cash camp before the Bitcoin Satoshi Vision (BSV) split. In a recent video, Ver stated that Wright, who now backs BSV is a ‘liar and a fraud’ urging him to ‘sue me’.

Jihan Wu, the former co-CEO of bitcoin mining giant Bitmain, is another figure who recently ruled out Wright being Satoshi.

Changpeng Zhao, the CEO of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Binance, also recently denounced Wright’s claim. At the same time, he threatened to delist BSV from Binance over Wright’s threats to sue those denying his claims. Zhao eventually made good his threat causing BSV to fall in value as other exchanges followed his example.

Additionally, Crypto influencer and U.S. presidential aspirant John McAfee has also rubbished Wright’s claims to be the inventor of Bitcoin.

Craig Wright’s Support

Wright is not without supporters though. Among those who have steadfastly stood by him include his colleague in the Bitcoin Satoshi Vision camp, Calvin Ayre. The Canadian-Antiguan casino and crypto entrepreneur fondly refers to Wright as the ‘father of bitcoin’.

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