Craig Wright, a self-proclaimed creator of Bitcoin (BTC), is continuing to file more defamation suits against perceived rivals, despite none of his previous attempts turning out to be successful.
On Aug. 25, Wright filed a libel suit against major industry figure, Roger Ver, with the High Court of Antigua and Barbuda, a spokesperson for Wright confirmed to Cointelegraph on Aug. 31. The lawsuit was served on Ver on Aug. 28.
According to an official defamation claim obtained by industry publication CoinGeek, Wright is seeking legal action against Ver for publicly stating that Wright is not the true Satoshi Nakamoto -- the anonymous creator of Bitcoin. The court document specifically refers to Ver’s video message to Wright in May 2019, stating, “Craig Wright is a liar and a fraud, so sue me, again.”
The new defamation claim seeks an injunction restraining Ver from further stating similar "defamatory" allegations on platforms like YouTube and Twitter as well as payment as compensation for the defamation, the document reads. The lawsuit is essentially a revised version of a previous defamation suit against Ver, a spokesperson for Wright noted.
As reported, Wright previously served Ver with a libel suit in the High Court of England and Wales for calling him a liar and fraud in a YouTube video in 2019. The video was subsequently stricken for violating YouTube community guidelines, which prompted Wright’s libel suit in May 2019. Despite the video being removed from YouTube, Ver’s message to Wright is still available on his official Twitter account as of press time.
The High Court of England subsequently dismissed Wright’s libel suit in July 2019 due to questions of jurisdiction. The Court of Appeal of England and Wales also dropped Wright’s appeal, claiming that the suit is not a U.K.-related issue in May 2020.
The new defamation suit will apparently have more chances in terms of jurisdiction as both Wright and Ver are citizens of Antigua and Barbuda, according to the court document.
As Cointelegraph reported, Wright is an Australian citizen allegedly residing in London. The Australian scientist reportedly claimed to be a citizen from Antigua and Barbuda and not from Australia in 2019.
A citizen of Saint Kitts and Nevis, Ver apparently acquired his Antigua and Barbuda citizenship through the country's Citizenship Investment Program.
Ver told Cointelegraph that he was optimistic about the potential outcome:
The last time Craig sued me, he lost, and had to pay me six figures. I expect this time to be similar again.