Craig Wright's withdrawal of his appeal against Hodlonaut closes a prolonged legal dispute over allegations of Wright posing as Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto.
Craig Wright has dropped his appeal against Norwegian bitcoiner Hodlonaut. This decision concludes a nearly five-year-long legal battle stemming from a series of social media posts in which Hodlonaut labeled Wright a scammer and a fraud.
The legal tussle began when Hodlonaut made claims on social media that Wright was falsely asserting himself as Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin. In response, Wright sought legal action against Hodlonaut for defamation. A 2022 trial in Oslo ended with a Norwegian judge ruling in favor of Hodlonaut, stating that he had "sufficient factual grounds to claim that Wright had lied and cheated in his attempt to prove that he is Satoshi Nakamoto."
Despite initially appealing the decision, Wright has now retreated. Hodlonaut shared the update through a social media post, expressing relief and joy: "Just got off the phone with my Norwegian lawyer. CRAIG WRIGHT DROPPED THE APPEAL IN NORWAY! I’m very happy!"
Just got off the phone with my Norwegian lawyer.
— hodlonaut 80 IQ 10%er 🌮⚡🔑 🐝 (@hodlonaut) April 11, 2024
CRAIG WRIGHT DROPPED THE APPEAL IN NORWAY!
My win from 2022 is now final and enforceable.
This case started May 19th, 2019 and lasted until today.
I’m very happy!
Now I just need to get the UK case dismissed/won and I can…
This move by Wright follows another legal setback in the U.K. a month prior, where Judge James Mellor ruled against him in a case brought by the Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA). COPA's lawsuit aimed to establish that Wright was not the creator of Bitcoin and to prevent him from claiming copyright over the Bitcoin whitepaper. Judge Mellor's verdict was clear: Wright "is not the author of the Bitcoin white paper…is not the person who adopted or operated under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto…is not the person who created the Bitcoin System…[and] is not the author of the initial versions of the Bitcoin software."
Since the COPA trial, Wright and his supporter, billionaire Calvin Ayre, have been notably silent. On the day following the trial's conclusion, Ayre posted what he termed a "farewell message" before embarking on a personal adventure.
Notwithstanding the termination of Wright's appeal in Norway, other legal proceedings involving him are still active. This includes another defamation case against Hodlonaut in the U.K. Wright's representatives have not issued any comments.
