CoinDesk Highlights Defamation Lawsuit Without Peter McCormack’s Consent

News site CoinDesk recently went on a live interview with What Bitcoin Did podcast host Peter McCormack on their show “All About Bitcoin.” The interview took a turn when McCormack was met with unexpected questions about Craig Wright’s defamation suit against him.

Wright is an Australian computer scientist who claims to have been part of the team who created Bitcoin. He has previously identified himself as the person behind the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto, but has consistently failed to provide requested evidence to these claims. 

After a podcast appearance with McCormack in 2018, Wright brought a defamation lawsuit forward with claims that his career is now suffering because of McCormack's statements that Wright is not the creator of Bitcoin.

Tensions Rising With CoinDesk

During McCormack's interview with CoinDesk on May 26th, 2022, anchor and producer Christine Lee compared the infamous Depp vs. Heard defamation suit with the Wright vs. McCormack suit. She recognized that the latter is garnering more attention within the Bitcoin and cryptocurrency space. 

Lee goes on to ask McCormack if we will ever officially know who Satoshi Nakamoto is “once and for all.” McCormack responded firmly saying, “I don’t think it would be wise for me to be discussing this.” He goes on to say he would not have appeared on the show had he known CoinDesk would be asking about the lawsuit. He later says, “this is detrimental to a decision that’s still not been reached yet.” 

Lee then attempted to clear the air by moving on to the next subject—McCormack's documentary on El Salvador. Instead, the interview ended abruptly with McCormack claiming to have connectivity issues. 

McCormack took his feelings to Twitter afterwards saying, “that was totally irresponsible and unacceptable.” The move has some people questioning CoinDesk's integrity, and whether their true intentions were to simply get a clickbait-worthy headline.