False Satoshi Wins £1. Causes £900,000 Damage

The U.K. court has ruled that crypto podcaster Peter McCormack should pay Craig Wright, the Australian scientist who claims to be Bitcoin inventor Satoshi Nakamoto, around 900,000 British pounds (USD $1.1 million) in costs following their legal battle.

Alex Harutunian

Dec 21, 2022 - 2 min read

The final judgement in my case against CSW has been handed down.

It is not a very good judgement for Craig but ultimately a very expensive one for me.

On the four key final points... pic.twitter.com/bmXXhP90Bi
— Peter McCormack🏴‍☠️ (@PeterMcCormack) December 21, 2022

The legal battle started from McCormack's broadcast on YouTube in which he called Craig Wright a liar and a fraud and said he "is not Satoshi." Wright in response claimed that such comments caused him financial damage after he was disinvited to speak at various events and conferences and sued McCormack.

The judge concluded this August that Craig Wright had not provided enough evidence in his Satoshi Nakamoto claim, and awarded him only a nominal £1 damage compensation.

There was substantial credible evidence that documents produced by Dr. Wright to support his position in this litigation are fraudulent. There was credible and compelling evidence that documents had been altered. Other documents are contradicted by Dr. Wright’s testimony or declaration. While it is true that there was no direct evidence that Dr. Wright was responsible for alterations or falsification of documents, there is no evidence before the Court that anyone else had a motive to falsify them. As such, there is a strong, and unrebutted, circumstantial inference that Dr. Wright wilfully created the fraudulent documents - reads the court judgment

However, the same judge, Justice Chamberlain of U.K. Royal Courts of Justice, ruled that Craig Wright's court costs of around £900,000 should be compensated by McCormack.

This is not the first litigation in which Craig Wright has been involved. In October, Magnus Granath, known on Twitter as “Hodlonaut,” won a similar lawsuit against Craig Wright in Norway court. Proceedings were brought against him in the United States by David Kleiman that claimed he and Wright had been partners in the creation of Bitcoin and asserted an ownership interest in the Bitcoin.