Craig Wright, the self-proclaimed Bitcoin creator, won a section of a lawsuit on Dec. 6 in a complicated legal issue that recently made news. Yahoo News reported that this mixed verdict determined that Wright and Dave Kleiman were not business partners, allowing Wright to avoid paying billions of dollars to Kleiman’s heirs. However, the case’s outcome leaves open the question of who Satoshi Nakamoto is, and many in the crypto sector continue to dismiss Wright’s statements as overblown or creative.
Wright did not owe half of 1.1 million Bitcoin to David Kleiman’s family, according to a Florida jury. The jury did grant a joint venture between the two men $100 million in intellectual property rights, which was a fraction of what Kleiman’s lawyers were asking for at trial.
Wright was involved in a litigation action in Miami that pitted him against the family of his former business partner and computer forensics expert Dave Kleiman. The prosecution claimed that Kleiman, along with Wright, was a co-founder of Bitcoin and was entitled to half of Satoshi’s rumored fortune. The prosecution also claimed ownership of cryptocurrency’s intellectual property.
A total of 1.1 million Bitcoin was on the line, half of which was scheduled to go to Kleiman. These were the initial Bitcoins mined, and they could only be owned by someone who had been intimately associated with the cryptocurrency since its inception.
The federal jury in West Palm Beach, Florida, decided in Wright’s favor, concluding that the 1.1 million Bitcoin owed to Kleiman’s estate is unnecessary. The jury reached this conclusion after weeks of deliberation, scrutinizing the complex operations of the Bitcoin system and its enigmatic origin.
Wright, on the other hand, was ordered by the jury to pay $100 million to W&K Info Defense, a joint business founded by Wright and Kleiman. The funds will be deposited straight into the company’s official account.
Wright has told the media that he will not seek a further court appeal, signifying the end of a long legal battle that has lasted years.
David Kleiman and Wright were friends and collaborated on work together, according to Wright’s lawyers, but their cooperation had nothing to do with Bitcoin’s inception or early operation.