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On August 26, the self-proclaimed Bitcoin inventor, Craig Wright, was ordered by Southern District Court of Florida to distribute half of his BTC holdings and intellectual property assets from prior to 2014. According to the Kleiman estate attorney Vel Freedman, the family has waited a long time for the ruling and they believe things are headed in the right direction.
Also read: Uyen T Nguyen: The Powerful Young Woman Behind the Alleged âSatoshi Affairâ
Kleiman Family Awarded 50% of Craig Wrightâs Supposed BTC Mined Prior to 2014
According to multiple sources, the infamous Craig Wright appeared in Florida on Monday to defend himself against the Kleiman familyâs lawsuit. The now-deceased David Kleiman was Wrightâs business partner for years and the family has accused Wright of manipulating Daveâs inheritance. At the date of filing on February 14, 2018, they said the value of Daveâs assets âfar exceed $5,118,266,427.50 USD before punitive or treble damages.â The Kleiman estate and Daveâs brother Ira insisted âCraig perpetrated a scheme against Daveâs estate to seize Daveâs bitcoins and his rights to certain intellectual property associated with the Bitcoin technology.â Fast forward to August 26, 2019, as Florida Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart advised the court that the Kleiman estate should get half of the BTC Wright allegedly mined with Kleiman before 2014. Moreover, half the intellectual property owned by Wright before December 31, 2013 should also be handed over to the plaintiffs, Reinhart recommended.
Since 2016, Craig Wright has claimed to be the creator of Bitcoin.
Not too long after Kleiman passed away on April 26, 2013, the plaintiffs said Wright reached out to Daveâs brother Ira and told him he partnered with Dave to âmine bitcoin, and create valuable IP.â The Kleiman estate says that Wright said Dave signed all these property rights away âin exchange for non-controlling share of a non-operational Australian company worth âmillions.ââ The plaintiffs accused Wright of document manipulation, fraud, and outright forgery. âAs part of this plan, Craig forged a series of contracts that purported to transfer Daveâs assets to Craig and/or companies controlled by him. Craig backdated these contracts and forged Daveâs signature on them,â the lawsuitâs argument claims. According to reporter Katie Ananina who witnessed the hearing on Monday, the Judge said âDr. Wright did not impress me as someone telling the truth. All Craigâs testimonies have been rejected on this matter.â
Federal District Court: "Craig Wright is a fraud"
Us: "Yeah, we know"
â Jake Chervinsky (@jchervinsky) August 26, 2019
âBy this time yâall already know the outcome â 50% of all the patents related to Bitcoin and filed prior Daveâs death going Kleimans â So do 50% of the coins supposedly mined by CSW and Dave,â Ananina tweeted. âCSW pays Kleimanâs legal fees.â Judge Reinhartâs recommendation must be accepted by Judge Beth Bloom, however, who is also presiding over the case. Another reporter who calls himself 22nd Century Crypto witnessed the court proceedings as well and stated that Judge Reinhart implied he doesnât believe the notorious Tulip Trust exists. âAny coins mined by [Craig Wright] from the time he met [David Kleiman] till the time [David Kleiman] passed is up for debate. As well as any IP that was developed during that time period,â the reporter explained. 22nd Century Crypto added:
Note: The judge does not think a trust exists. I would imagine this will have a large play in the actual trial.
And, yeah, I was right. And Craig Wright just lost, bigly. https://t.co/XXQbekYIJv
â Palley (@stephendpalley) August 26, 2019
Wrightâs âWhale Warningâ and a New Novel
Following the statements of the cryptocurrency reporters who attended the hearing, the Kleiman estateâs attorney Vel Freedman commented on Judge Reinhartâs ruling. âThe Kleiman family has waited a long time to recover assets that should have been returned to it shortly after Daveâs unfortunate death in 2013,â Freedman tweeted. âTodayâs ruling marks an important step in the right direction.â
Judge will not refer to civil or criminal contempt though
â 22nd Century Crypto (@22centurycrypto) August 26, 2019
After the court proceedings, Craig Wright gave an interview to crypto publication Modern Consensus and told the interviewer that he expects the Kleimans will have to pay billions in taxes. Wright explained that he plans to comply with the courts and stated: âIf the court makes an order, I will comply with the order. And the court has made an order. Itâs that simple.â The self-styled Satoshi also said that the Judge âwonât rule on whether Iâm Satoshiâ and that people should be prepared for what lies ahead. Wright insisted:
Everyone might want to start praying, because I complied with courts and that might get scary really, really quickly. The courts ruled that Ira inherited the $5 billion. Now he has to pay estate tax on that if he wants it.
When asked whether the Kleimans will receive BCH and BSV, Wright explained in his interview that they would only receive BTC. âAccording to the judge itâs only from before Dave died, so only BTC. Sorry BTC,â Wright explained during his interview after the August 26 hearing.
Many litigators and journalists following the story understand that thereâs still more to the Kleiman v. Wright case to come and the lawsuit could drag out for a few more months. Wrightâs legal counsel can file an objection or try to appeal the process this week. The only thing filed so far is a paperless minute entry for the proceedings with Judge Reinhart, which took about two and a half hours. On social media channels like Twitter and Reddit, the crypto community has shown extreme exuberance in regards to the ruling. Digital asset supporters wonder how Wright will be able to pay the Kleimans as a lot of crypto proponents do not believe Wright even has a trust with hundreds of thousands of BTC.
The US court *did NOT* rule that Wright/Kleiman were Satoshi Nakamoto
Anyone telling you otherwise is either insane or a liar.
â Alistair Milne (@alistairmilne) August 27, 2019
Cryptocurrency proponents had hoped the ruling might push Wright out of the limelight but that doesnât seem to be the case so far. Wright doesnât seem fazed by the ruling, even though he said: âThis is not an outcome I would have liked.â Moreover, Bitcoin Satoshiâs Vision (BSV) supporters have used the ruling to prove that Wright is Satoshi. âAnd Craig is officially proven Satoshi in court⊠So I guess itâs not that bad after all,â one BSV supporter exclaimed after the hearing.
So Ira Klienman inherits 5 billion $ in Bitcoin from his brother that Craig Wright must hand over. Where Ira is there is a 40% estate tax, so thats 2 billion dollars. Watch out for a big dump of bitcoin into the market unless he has the cash n hand.
â Daisy đŒ (@DaisyEdwardsOz) August 27, 2019
In addition to the lawsuit in Florida and the ruling on Monday, the popular crypto Twitter handle @Pons De Serres revealed that Wright published a book two days ago called âSatoshiâs Vision: The Art of Bitcoin.â ââNow, Craig Wright steps forward to explain why he chose to use a pseudonym, why he left, and why he returned,â the bookâs forward explains. The cryptocurrency community is already tearing the book to shreds, finding discrepancies and errors. The Kleiman v. Wright case still has to deal with more procedures tied to the discovery process, possible appeals and objections, and Judge Beth Bloom will weigh in on the matter as well.
What do you think about the outcome of the Kleiman v. Wright hearing this past Monday? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.
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