Magnus Granath, also known on Twitter as “Hodlonaut,” wins in a defamation lawsuit in Norway filed by fake Satoshi Craig Wright who since 2016 attempted to prove he was Bitcoin creator Satoshi by demonstrating proof that he controlled Satoshi’s private keys.
Australian computer scientist and businessman Wright and crypto enthusiast Hodlonaut were engaged in a legal battle over a series of tweets where Hodlonaut branded Wright a scammer and a fraud.
Craig then filed a defamation lawsuit against Hodlonaut calling the latter out saying “welcome to law,” in 2019. In an attempt to show that his many tweets criticizing Wright and his Nakamoto claims weren’t, in reality, defamatory, Hodlonaut filed the case in Norway.
Now that he has won the case, Hodlonaut celebrated the news by tweeting “I won. Welcome to law” as a callback to fake Satoshi Craig.
Hodlonaut noted, “I expected to win, since truth is so clearly on my side in this case, that the judge saw it the same way.”
To reach this judgment, the court had to assess the possibility that Wright was telling the truth about his claims. This is because Hodlonaut’s words might have qualified as defamation if there had been sufficient proof that Wright was Satoshi.
The court transcript states “In a situation where (Wright) has not succeeded in, nor does he wish to, provide cryptographic evidence that can support his claim to be Satoshi Nakamoto, the court believes that he must accept that there is a debate as to whether he is who he says he is.”
The evidence put out by Wright’s attorneys, according to Judge Engebrigtsen, was not suitable to modify the court’s prevailing judgment that Craig Wright is not Satoshi Nakamoto.
Last month, Craig Wright stomped on the chance to prove he is Satoshi by testifying in the Norwegian court that he “stomped on the hard drive” containing the “key slices” required to gain access to Satoshi Nakamoto’s private keys.
“Against this background, the court believes that (Hodlonaut) had sufficient factual grounds to claim that Craig Wright is not Satoshi Nakamoto in March 2019. Wright has come out with a controversial claim, and must withstand criticism from dissenters,” the court stated.
As a result, Hodlonaut is released from any liability claims relating to the Twitter comments made by his account and is not responsible for any damage done. Wright must also pay NOK 4,053,750, about $348,257 in damages to Hodlonaut as further compensation.
Halvor Manshaus, Wright’s lawyer, stated “Private citizens should enjoy the same protection on Twitter as on other media platforms. Anonymous online bullying and harassment risks having a chilling effect on meaningful debate and the civil exchange of views and opinions. Individuals should not be dissuaded from seeking to challenge persistent and pervasive online mistreatment or intimidation.”
