The U.K. Supreme Court has denied Craig Wright permission to appeal a ruling in his case against Peter McCormack, according to a lawyer. The denial was later confirmed by a posting from the Supreme Court, stating that the appeal does not raise an arguable question of law.
In July, a panel of judges ruled that Wright was only entitled to 1 GBP in compensation for a libel claim against bitcoin podcaster Peter McCormack. The claim was regarding Wright’s assertion that he is the inventor of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto. Rupert Cowper-Coles, a partner at law firm RPC who represents McCormack, stated that they had recently found out about the denial of Wright’s appeal. He added that McCormack is pleased with the judgment, which upholds the one pound nominal damages award that Wright had tried to appeal twice before.
Attempts to reach out to Wright’s lawyers with the firm Shoosmiths and McCormack were unsuccessful at the time of writing.
This latest loss for Wright comes amidst another ongoing legal battle he is involved in against a group of crypto companies and bitcoin developers. The group rejected an offer to settle a long-standing case that alleges they violated Wright’s alleged copyright to Bitcoin’s white paper, blockchain database, and file format. The non-profit Cryptocurrency Open Patent Alliance (COPA), which represents the 13 Bitcoin Core developers and companies like Coinbase and Block named in Wright’s original legal complaint from 2016, tweeted their rejection of the settlement offer. They stated that the offer comes with loopholes that would allow Wright to sue them again.
It is worth noting that the Supreme Court’s confirmation of the denial and the quote from the Supreme Court’s website were added to the article update.
This news highlights the ongoing legal battles surrounding Craig Wright, who has been a controversial figure in the cryptocurrency community due to his claims of being Satoshi Nakamoto. The denial of his appeal by the U.K. Supreme Court further solidifies the previous ruling against him in the libel case. Additionally, the rejection of the settlement offer by COPA indicates the determination of the group to defend themselves against Wright’s copyright claims. The outcome of these legal battles will have implications for the future of Bitcoin and the broader cryptocurrency industry.