Craig Wright’s Satoshi Documents Sealed By Florida Judge

Bruce Reinhart, a judge from Florida seals the list of bitcoin holdings that Craig Wright, a self-proclaimed “Satoshi Nakamoto” was compelled to submit on June 17 following an order he issued last week.

While some may be happy about the decision, some are disheartened as crypto-sphere will have to wait a little longer before the truth about Wright’s claims of being the inventor of bitcoin.

The case 

As per a CCN report,  Judge Reinhart ordered Wright to produce a list of all the bitcoin he mined prior to Dec. 31, 2013. The ruling was made in response to a motion filed in March 2019 by the estate of computer genius Dave Kleiman. A colleague and friend of Craig Wright, Kleiman died in 2013.

His estate claims that Wright stole Kleiman’s share of the 1.1 million bitcoin they mined together between 2009 and 2013. A stash worth of $10 billion in 2018, at the time of Kleiman’s estate, sued Wright. The estate demands half the value of the Wright/Kleiman bitcoin stash or at least $5 billion from Wright. 

Last week, Wright was asked to produce a list of his bitcoin holdings by June 17 or he has to face contempt charges. It seems that Wright has complied with the court’s directive. 

In likeliness, the sealing has been done on  Wright’s request as he did ask for a similar protective order in April. Upon the denial for the protective order, at the time, Wright refused to provide the verification documents that Kleiman’s estate had sought. Now that the files are sealed from the public’s prying eyes, Wright did manage to have an edge in this heated lawsuit.

The Satoshi Connection 

The $10 billion federal lawsuits against Craig Wright was filed in February 2018. As per the filing, the estate alleges that Wright has stolen the intellectual property and massive bitcoin stash that was mined together by the duo, before Kleiman’s untimely death.

Back in 2008, Wright and Kleiman collaborating on bitcoin, before anyone had ever heard of it. The lawsuit adds that they managed to mine more than 1.1 million bitcoins. Rumor has it that Dave Kleiman was Satoshi Nakamoto and Wright is trying to steal his glory as he is not around to present a contradiction. Though the lawsuit, conceded that either of the two can be Satoshi Nakamoto.

“It is unclear whether Craig, Dave, and/or both created Bitcoin. For reasons not yet completely clear, they chose to keep their involvement in Bitcoin hidden from most of their family and friends. It is undeniable, however, that Craig and Dave were involved in Bitcoin from its inception and that they both accumulated a vast wealth of bitcoins from 2009 through 2013.”

The Signature Saga

While the Kleiman’s estate does not care about who is Satoshi, they d want the $5 billion in bitcoin that Wright and Kleiman mined together. As per the Kleiman lawsuit, Wright has allegedly used bogus signatures on legal documents to bilk Kleiman’s estate out of their rightful property.

An exhibit comparing  Kleiman’s signature and the ones found on several contracts used by Wright to claim ownership to the intellectual property and bitcoin referenced in their lawsuit was submitted by the plaintiffs. The estate noted that the signatures look “substantially different.” Further, they claim that the electronic signatures on relevant contracts look like a computer-generated font.

The complaint alleges:

 “The electronic signatures that appear on these documents are substantially different than known examples of Dave’s electronic and written signatures. This signature appears to be a near identical copy of a computer-generated font called Otto.”

 While the lawsuit is still in its early stages, it is likely to drag on due to the staggering amount of money involved. As for the next step, a mediation is set for June 18, and deposition is scheduled for next week.

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