On Monday, a civil case began in Miami in which participants are trying to split 1.1 million bitcoins without having access to them.
Australian entrepreneur and computing specialist Craig Wright has credited himself with the invention of Bitcoin since 2016. According to the lawsuit, he was not the only one involved in the creation of the cryptocurrency. Plaintiff Ira Kleiman - brother of deceased fellow Wright David Kleiman - claims BTC, estimated at $66 billion at the current exchange rate.
David Kleiman and Wright partnered to found W&K Info Defense Research, LLC, which was used to mine Bitcoin and register intellectual property, including the source code for the cryptocurrency, the lawsuit says. Ira insists that mining bitcoins was his brother's job, and Wright appropriated them through deception and falsification. Wright, in turn, denies the accusations and states that he and David were friends, but not partners, and the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto belongs to him alone.
On Monday, a panel of 10 jurors was selected. Within three weeks, they must hear the explanations of the parties and make a decision, writes CoinDesk.
In his opening remarks, Clayman spokesman Kyle Roche tried to show the contradictions in Wright's claims. He showed emails in which Wright repeatedly referred to David Kleiman as his "partner" and "business partner" until his death in April 2013. According to Roche, after filing a lawsuit in 2018, Wright denied having a partnership with Kleiman or anyone other than his wife, Ramona Watts.
“He was never my partner. I hate the very idea of partnership,” Wright said on April 4, 2019.
Wright's defense is based on two aspects: his diagnosed autism spectrum disorder and the lack of a written agreement with Kleiman. Wright's spokeswoman Amanda McGovern said that due to her client's autism, he and Kleiman had different perceptions of the word "partner."
“He had a difficult childhood and few friends. Even his own sister thought he was strange. When he was 13, he came to the playground in a ninja costume and all the guys called him a freak,” McGovern said.
Roche, however, noted that the disorder was only diagnosed in Wright after 2018 by a doctor serving as a witness for the defense. At the same time, the doctor made the diagnosis over the phone and at that time had never seen Wright in person.
At the same time, neither side has questioned Wright's invention of bitcoin, although in the past Wright has shied away from proposals to prove it. In May 2016, he promised to move Satoshi Nakamoto's coins, but later stated:
“I am not brave enough. I can not".
In addition, many experts called the cryptographic proof of wallet ownership provided by Wright fake. Researcher Kim Nilsson argues that many of Wright's addresses are actually related to the hacking of the Mt. Gox in 2014. Thus, even if the jury decides that Ira Kleiman can claim Nakamoto's bitcoins, the court probably won't have the funds to enforce that decision.
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