In a Miami courtroom on Monday November 22nd Craig Steven Wright is set to take the stand in his own defense against Ira Kleiman. Dr Wright is being sued for ~500,000 Bitcoins and a treasure trove of Bitcoin related Intellectual Property valued at approximately 60+ Billion USD.
In this case both the Plaintiff and Defendant accept that Craig Wright is Satoshi Nakamoto. What’s at stake is whether Dave Kleiman and Craig Wright were partners and if Dave Kleiman was an instrumental part in the creation of Bitcoin. Dave Kleiman passed away in 2013. Ira Kleiman is suing Dr Wright on behalf of his dead brother’s claim to the Satoshi coins.
While the two parties in the case accept that Craig Wright is at least part of the Satoshi Nakamoto team what’s missing is proof that Craig Wright IS Satoshi. This has been the cliffhanger of this case. Will Dr Wright prove he is Satoshi or not? Can Dr Wright prove that he alone is Satoshi and that Dave Kleiman was involved as a dear friend and confidante but was not part of the invention of Bitcoin? If yes then the courts could decide that Craig is the rightful sole owner of over 1,000,000 Bitcoins.
Despite the large dollar value and potential impact on the entire crypto space the case has been mostly under reported until last week. Here’s a summary from the NY Post. An interesting quote from the story:
But by May 2016, he (Wright) had reversed course. Wright vowed to cash out some of Satoshi’s coins in order to prove that he was Satoshi. Then he backed out with a claim, according to Bitcoin magazine , that the transaction could reveal an early “security flaw … that would make it risky for him to move Bitcoin, exposing him to exploitation or theft.”
This could be significant because if Dr Wright secured his coins in a transaction that is now insecure due to changes made by BTC Core development team he could seek a court order to move the coins after proving ownership.
Dr Wright has stated on numerous occasions that this case will end with Satoshi coins moving. Wright (possibly) confirmed this again as late as last week in a comment to Kurt Wuckert when asked about next week’s testimony and Dr Wright stated “I said the coins” and walked away.
This is all speculation and no one knows for sure what will happen on Monday. Dr Wright’s testimony could be a bombshell or a nothing burger.
But if the Satoshi coins move the markets will react violently. Plan accordingly.
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