Craig Wright arrives at federal court in Miami to fight an earlier lawsuit on Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2021. (Credit: AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

A man who claimed to have invented Bitcoin has won just £1 in damages after suing a podcaster who made his claims on social media.

In 2016, Australian businessman Craig Wright announced in a blog post that he created a cryptocurrency several years ago.

One of the main candidates to reveal the identity of the founder Satoshi Nakamoto, was initially taken seriously, especially by the technology magazine Wired.

However, when questions were raised about the evidence he used to support his claims, the magazine decided that he might be a fraud.

Cryptocurrency commentators like Peter McCormack continue to fight online, sometimes even in court, over claims like Wright’s.

In that case, Wright accused McCormack of defamation after writing several social media posts claiming that McCormack was lying about being Nakamoto.

McCormack initially thought the fight was “true”, so he had to prove his claim that Wright was a fraud correct.

But that could lead to a three-week trial, which the podcaster said he couldn’t afford.

Therefore, establishing the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto was not necessary in the case, Supreme Court Justice Michael Chamberlain wrote in a ruling published this week.

CGI image of bitcoin cryptocurrency

The true creator of Bitcoin remains a mystery (Credit: Getty)

Instead, Judge Chamberlain assessed whether McCormack’s accusations seriously harmed him.

The judge ruled that some of McCormack’s comments damaged Wright’s reputation.

However, Wright was only awarded minor damages because he knowingly gave false evidence as part of the lawsuit.

Wright said he refused to speak at certain conferences due to damage to his reputation. But Judge Chamberlain said the evidence did not undermine his educational background.

Ultimately, this nominal loss totaled £1.

After the verdict was announced, McCormack said he was “extremely happy” with the outcome of the case.

But it’s not all bad for Wright, who was allowed to hold billions of dollars worth of bitcoin in December after a relative of a former colleague claimed he helped create the virtual currency.