by Richard Kastelein
Craig Wright, who says he is the founder of Bitcoin Satoshi Nakamoto and has been the subject of intense scrutiny from the press and been heavily ripped apart by the Reddit community in the past, is threating lawsuits against Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin (who keeps a library called the Cult of Craig on Github) and podcaster Peter McCormack who poked at Wright for claiming to be Satoshi on Twitter too many times apparently. Wright sent letters last week of his intent to litigate both of them – according to a recent Bloomberg news article.
Buterin has claimed publicly he does not believe Wright is Nakamoto
McCormack retorted that he has taken legal advice… snapping that Wright’s claim was so vexatious that he now has 15 lawyers who are willing to represent him on a pro bono basis:
My formal response to the letter issued by the lawyers of Craig Wright and @CalvinAyre. This was sent today. We look forward to resolving this quickly and efficiently. pic.twitter.com/ANSmF1kH8k
— Peter “Gigamegs” McCormack (@PeterMcCormack) April 14, 2019
Wright, who has claimed to have filed 666 patents on Blockchain, is being sued for a billion dollars, is likely not Nakamoto according to Bitcoin pioneer, Jeff Garzik said in Bloomberg last year:
“My personal theory is that it’s Floridian Dave Kleiman,” Garzik said in a phone interview. “It matches his coding style, this gentleman was self-taught. And the Bitcoin coder was someone who was very, very smart, but not a classically trained software engineer.”
Wired was also dubious. And there’s a slew of evidence brought forward by internet sleuths that Wright allegedly twisted the evidence trying to prove he was Bitcoin’s founder by faking Satoshi’s PGP keys, an allegedly faked cryptographic representation of a 2009 transaction that took place on the Blockchain and more. Venzen Khaosan from CCN did an extensive expose on the technical proof alleging Wright was not Satoshi in 2016.
And just two days ago Reddit detectives alleged an email submitted by Wright in the Kleiman court case is faked. Not to mention all the Bitcoin, in any case, was allegedly shown to have nothing to do with Wright or Kleiman.
However, Wright’s claim he is Nakamoto was originally backed as truth by two significant members of the Bitcoin community: founding director at Bitcoin Foundation and CEO of Hushmail Jon Matonis (who has now stopped working with Wright) and chief scientist at the Bitcoin Foundation Gavin Andresen (who then retracted his statement).
But the Streisand Effect has begun. When you try to clamp down on detractors, things tend to get worse.
Heavyweight cryptocurrency exchange Binance has delisted Wright’s Bitcoin forked Bitcoin Satoshi Vision (BSV) coin over this brouhaha.
JUST IN: @binance is delisting bitcoin SV $BSV days after CEO @cz_binance called Craig Wright, the fork’s creator, a “fraud.” https://t.co/wPGiQc4J4q @nikhileshde writes
— CoinDesk (@coindesk) April 15, 2019
US cryptocurrency exchange Kraken also announced on April 16, 2019 – they will also delist bitcoin SV.
Not to forget bitcoin.com
In the next thirty days, we will end even close out support for #BSV transactions. To use #BSV, go somewhere else! https://t.co/PCsbtn3MHG https://t.co/oSN19wIWre
— Peter Smith (@OneMorePeter) April 15, 2019
And then Eric Voorhees from Shapeshift.
We stand with @binance and CZ’s sentiments. We’ve decided to delist Bitcoin SV #BSV from @ShapeShift_io within 48 hrs.
— Erik Voorhees (@ErikVoorhees) April 15, 2019
Oh… wait… more?
To preserve our integrity & community trust, we will delist $BCHSV before it causes trouble and destroys more confidence in the crypto space! $BCHSV will be delisted within 24hrs. Withdrawals will be kept open @BitrueOfficial . @cz_binance @ErikVoorhees @Curis_Wang https://t.co/BqxhMZBN3w
— Bitrue (@BitrueOfficial) April 16, 2019
and more…?
Bittylicious is delisting Bitcoin SV (BSV). This will be available until 22nd April (pending brokers keeping their listings alive).
Low volumes aside, we are doing this to show solidarity against the toxic litigious environment in the BSV space @PeterMcCormack @cz_binance
— Bittylicious (@Bittylicious_) April 16, 2019
Free speech is something that even the crypto-anarchist Libertarians and altruistic, lefty, ideologues in the community can seemingly agree on. This is a classic Streisand Effect in action.
But if you think things could not get any weirder, controversial Canadian billionaire and Antigua-based online gambling czar and Wright supporter, Calvin Ayre blasted out a series of tweets in Wright’s defence, Bizarrely comparing him to Jesus Christ.
Imagine how the Catholic Church would react to Jesus showing up today. that is how the high priests of the crypto world are reacting to Craig wanting to now prove in court that he is Satoshi. They are horrified about what he thinks of their stupid plans. 🙂#CraigisSatoshi
— Calvin Ayre (@CalvinAyre) April 17, 2019
Oh yes, it can get weirder, former Libertarian presidential candidate John McAfee says he is suing Ayre and vows to bankrupt the billionaire.
CoinRivet sued by Calvin Ayre. I’m suing Calvin for $800 mil. Calvin stated that I committed murder. Completely unsubstantiable. Cuba is a Civil Law country – making lawsuits diffucult. However, I traced his assets to other countries. I will bankrupt him. https://t.co/BubOuoZLxI
— John McAfee (@officialmcafee) April 13, 2019
I am not saying McAfee is a murderer, I am saying the guy who confessed to killing his neighbour in Belize is saying John paid him so is a murderer:https://t.co/WbtwSwiwiY
— Calvin Ayre (@CalvinAyre) March 16, 2019
Some in the community are feeling left out of the latest melee in this stranger-than-fiction reality show we called Crypto.
Craig Wright is a fraud.
Craig Wright is a fraud.
Craig Wright is a fraud.
Craig Wright is a fraud.
Craig Wright is a fraud.
Craig Wright is a fraud.
Craig Wright is a fraud.
Craig Wright is a fraud.
Craig Wright is a fraud.
Craig Wright is a fraud.Sue me.
— Eric Wall (@ercwl) April 12, 2019
Looks like Wright will be hiring some more lawyers. And no, I am not looking to be sued. Allegedly.
