Craig Wright, the chief scientist at NChain and self-proclaimed Bitcoin creator, has filed a libel suit in the UK against Peter McCormack. The “What Bitcoin Did” podcaster has been accused of writing a series of libelous tweets about Wright in March and April, denying that Wright was, in fact, Satoshi Nakamoto.

The Craig Wright Satoshi Nakamoto Legal Saga Continues

The mysterious identity of Bitcoin’s creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, has been the focus of the crypto industry for the whole decade. With speculations ranging from Nakamoto being long dead to him being a group of people, nobody knows for sure what to make of the cryptic persona.

That is nobody except Craig Wright according to Craig Wright. The controversial entrepreneur filed a claim in a United Kingdom court on Apr. 17. After weeks of heated online debates, Wright accused Peter McCormack, the host of the “What Bitcoin Did” podcast, of writing a libelous series of tweets about him.

McCormack challenged Wright’s claim that he was the one who developed Bitcoin under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto, which launched a tidal wave of ridicule pointed at Wright. Filed in the High Court of Justice, Queen’s Bench Division, the lawsuit seeks damages of £100,000, or around $130,000. Wright is also seeking an injunction to prevent McCormack from publishing similar comments in the future.

The Court of Cryptography

According to the official court report, Wright notes that he believes the attacks against him are actually meant to hurt Bitcoin SV instead. The report said.

“Wright maintains that BSV is the real target due to its capacity for massive on-chain scaling, which represents an existential threat to the future of other cryptocurrencies, the flawed design of which prevents them from scaling to meet the needs of a truly global financial platform.”

The UK podcaster has previously been served with a cease and desist letter and came out today with an interesting offer for Wright’s legal representatives. McCormick offered to agree to all of the terms in the lawsuit and add another £50,000 to the settlement. Wright, in return, will have to pay out £50,000 worth of Bitcoin from Satoshi’s wallet.

Hey @CalvinAyre, I have a settlement offer for you. I'll agree to all terms and rather than pay Craig £100k, I'll pay him £150k, but I would like £50k in Bitcoin in return from the Genesis block. Deal? — Dr. Peter McCormack (@PeterMcCormack) April 18, 2019

Wright has not responded to the offer at press time.

Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum, has also been warned by Wright to cease challenging his claims or he will be sued for defamatory comments. Wright has also taken an aim at anonymous Twitter users and has accused several accounts, including Twitter user Hodlonaut, of defamation.

His threats have not gone unnoticed, though, and have had a detrimental effect on Bitcoin SV. Binance, Kraken, and Shapeshift delisted the coin earlier this week, which resulted in BSV plummeting 17% in the past week Many predict a bleak future for the notorious cryptocurrency

Update Apr. 20 @ 2:55AM PT: Peter McCormack has upped his offer to Craig Wright and now is only requesting $1 in Bitcoin from the Genesis block. However, many have pointed out funds cannot be sent from the Genesis Block and must instead be sent from Satoshi’s wallet.

New offer @CalvinAyre. I've totalled up all my stuff – house, car, Bitcoin, clothes, Metallica records. I reckon I can pull together £250k:

– I'll give you all that

– You incur no legal fees

– I will bow at the CSW alter If you send me $1 of Bitcoin from the Genesis block. — Dr. Peter McCormack (@PeterMcCormack) April 20, 2019