Former Bitcoin Core Developer Files Defamation Lawsuit After Being Accused of Multiple Mishaps

Peter Todd is known for his former work with Bitcoin Core as a developer and cryptography consultant, but not most recently. Instead, news outlets are all over the recent allegations against him for rape and sexual assault. However, not to have his reputation besmirched, Todd has filed a defamation case against the allegations.

CoinSpice reports that the defamation lawsuit was filed by attorney Liana W Chen, who is presently a senior associate with Kronenberger Rosenfeld, which in the Northern District of California. Magistrate Judge Donna M. Ryu is planned to oversee the case, which was filed four days ago.

Todd posted to Twitter yesterday about the lawsuit, confirming that it has been filed. While he voiced that he hopes that accuser Isis Lovecruft will do “the right thing here,” he has been advised to direct questions back to his attorneys for now.

I can confirm I've filed this lawsuit, and on advice of counsel ask that questions be directed to my attorneys.

That said, I hope Isis Lovecruft does the right thing here. If she does I hope the wider community acts in the spirit of forgiveness and healing, as will I. pic.twitter.com/zGHA9ygrlN

— Peter Todd (@peterktodd) April 5, 2019

The lawsuit filed by Todd states that Lovecruft and himself were simply acquaintances. However, difficulties arose in their relationship when Lovecruft chose to accuse another man of sexual assault, which she promptly spoke to Todd about as a way to condemn him. Todd did not follow her lead, which he believe is what led Lovecruft to accuse him of rape and sexual assault as well. Two other cryptographers were also accused by Lovecruft.

These accusations were posted to Twitter by Lovecruft on February 20^th, where she added her allegations against Nadim Kobeissi. Kobeissi is known for the impressive work he did on Cryptocat and the contributions that he has made for the promotion of anti-censorship of the internet censorship. However, in Lovecruft’s post, she said that Kobeissi “grabbed [her] face and force kissed [her]” during a conference that they both attended. She added that he “defends other rapists,” adding Jacob Appelbaum and Todd to the post.

Nadim Kobeissi is a serial rapist and abuser who defends other rapists including Jacob Appelbaum and Peter Todd and in 2012 he grabbed my face and force kissed me at a conference and i absolutely believe the multiple survivors i’ve personally spoken with since then pic.twitter.com/z6PSOIF5mJ

— isis agora lovecruft (they/them) (@isislovecruft) February 20, 2019

Despite the fact that Kobeissi was clearly the main target in the post, adding Todd and Appelbaum tied them in with her accusations. Many people took note, considering the high standing of all three parties involved in the post. When a user commented about the comments on Todd, she replied that she has “a story about Peter Todd” and that there’s multiple survivors “who are terrified of him,” which is why they have not come forward themselves.

yes, similar to Nadim, i personally have a story about Peter Todd and i’ve personally spoken with survivors with absolutely awful and horrifying reports who are terrified of him and of coming forward (rightly so)

i however am not afraid and shitty dudes are going down

— isis agora lovecruft (they/them) (@isislovecruft) February 20, 2019

Considering that Twitter found the allegations to be baseless, her account was locked after the allegations. Even though Todd and Appelbaum had not given much attention to the allegations, Kobeissi took to Twitter to defend his name at the time. He added that Lovecruft’s changes in personality in the last six years since meeting her have made her a “monster.”

Isis, you've been spreading terrible gossip, rumors and innuendo about people I know and I've worked with in the field for years. The number is so large and your insistence on spreading lies about people is so great that I'm going to have to put my foot down and ask you to stop.

— Nadim Kobeissi • نديم قبيسي (@kaepora) February 5, 2019

Still, Kobeissi is not afraid, and has accused Lovecruft of perpetuating lies and gossip whenever she comes across someone she does not like or someone that offends her. Even with these posts, it is like Lovecruft is antagonizing him now, relying to his post with sarcasm and name-calling.

also you suck butt dongles at oxford comma you turd-for-brains uneducated piece of dog food

— isis agora lovecruft (they/them) (@isislovecruft) February 6, 2019

Todd did not file his defamation lawsuit until this whole story evolved into a major discussion on Twitter. The lawsuit states that the allegations are not true, and that he has never raped or sexually assaulted anyone. The defamation lawsuit was due to the fact that these accusations are still “publicly available,” which puts his reputation at risk.

Stephen Palley, an attorney, posted about the defamation lawsuit on April 6^th on Twitter, leading it straight into the center of attention on Twitter. He called the injunction “interesting,” since it may be difficult to get the comments pulled as a result of free speech. No officials have been able to validate the claims made by Lovecruft yet, and Reddit users have gone as far as to say that her claims are fake, since she has no actual proof.

Still, it is worth bringing up that Appelbaum had previously been involved in sexual assault allegations from other people, which led him to resign from working on the Tor Project. Even though he resigned, he still maintained that he was innocent, and that the allegations were nothing more than “a calculated and targeted attack” against him.