The protracted court battle in which Craig Wright, the self-proclaimed founder of Bitcoin, is being sued by the Kleiman estates for BTC worth billions of dollars is headed to trial. The judge overseeing the legal tussle has set the trial date for July 6, 2020. However, he also gave leeway for the parties to make an out of court settlement.
An End to a Convoluted Legal Battle
The trial will likely mark an end to the convoluted legal battle that has been ongoing for about two years. During that time, Craig Wright has been slugging it out in the corridors of justice with Ira Kleiman, who is Dave Kleiman’s brother. According to Ira Kleiman, his late brother and Wright worked on Bitcoin together. As a result, he is claiming half of all the BTC mined in the early days of the Bitcoin network. Current valuation places the value of Bitcoin mined in the early days at around $8 billion.
Despite a judge ordering him to do so, Wright has failed to produce evidence that he owns the coins. In 2019, Wright claimed that the private keys for the BTC were held in the Tulip Trust, and keys would only become available to him in January 2020. However, the date came and went and Wright’s mysterious bonded courier never showed up. Soon after, his legal team rescinded the claim that Wright had access to the coins.
The Court Order
The court has set the date for the trial on July 6, 2020, at 9 AM. It is going to take place at the United States Courthouse, 400 North Miami, Avenue, Courtroom 10-2, in Miami, Florida. All parties have to submit their case materials to the court by June 22. Besides that, the judge directed that Wright and the Kleiman estate have until June 23 to resolve any translation issues. Additionally, the judge gave a deadline of July 3 for the parties to resolve the issue out of court.
Craig Wright and His Controversial Claims
Craig Wright became the source of controversy in the crypto community after he claimed that he was the one who created Bitcoin. Thus far, he has 114 blockchain patents and he lists two PhDs on his LinkedIn account. However, a recent medium post suggests that he plagiarized huge chunks of his Ph.D. from Charles Sturt University.
How will it End?
Those who have been keeping up with the case will no doubt be eager to see how the saga plays out. However, the legal battle does not seem to have been going well for Craig Wright thus far. In the ongoing legal battle, a judge accused Wright of presenting forged documents before the court. Judge Bruce Reinhart rejected the testimony he presented, because of the forged documents and ordered him to hand over half of the 1 million BTC that the Kleiman estate was demanding. Even if he does win this leg of the battle, the Kleiman estate might decide to appeal the ruling. Alternatively, Craig Wright and his legal team might opt out of the court case and decide to settle.
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