Will Florida Trial Reveal Satoshi?
Kleiman v. Craig Wright Court Case Continues
October 31, 2008.
Since the release of the Bitcoin whitepaper on that date, the world has not known with any certainty just who “Satoshi Nakamoto” is. The pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin has never revealed themselves. Could a court case currently going on in West Palm Beach, Florida finally give the world that answer? Could we find out who the 15th richest person in the world is?
The plaintiff certainly thinks so.
Ira Kleiman, the brother of the late Dave Kleiman, is suing Craig Wright, an Australia resident, claiming that Dave Kleiman and Wright formed as partnership to develop the code for the original digital currency, Bitcoin. At stake is a digital Bitcoin wallet containing 1.1 million coins, currently valued at around $64 billion. With a B.
Complicating the case is the fact that Dave Kleiman died in 2013, and the circumstances surrounding his death were, at the very least, strange. Kleiman had been rendered a paraplegic from a 1995 motorcycle accident, and his body was found badly decomposed, surrounded by liquor bottles. There was a loaded handgun next to him and a bullet hole in his mattress.
Vel Freedman, the attorney for Ira Kleiman, claims that email evidence suggest that Wright and Dave Kleiman formed a partnership to develop Bitcoin, and that the two collaborated on the original Bitcoin whitepaper. According to Freedman, Craig Wright began to tell the Kleiman family some details of their collaboration after Dave’s death, but decided to keep the Bitcoin wallet’s fortune for himself.
Note: Satoshi’s original Bitcoin wallet, containing over 1 million Bitcoins, has not been accessed in over twelve years, and the coins have not moved.
So, Who Believes Craig Wright is Satoshi?
Stefan Matthews, a technology officer for a gambling operation in Australia, met Wright while Wright was working as a security auditor for BDO Seidman, an accounting firm. Matthews claims that Wright talked to him about digital gold and digital currency and had developed several different concepts. He also maintains, more significantly, that Craig Wright presented him with a flash drive containing a draft of the original Bitcoin whitepaper. Matthews claims, also, that Wright and Kleiman had met in 2007 or 2008 and that Kleiman helped Wright with the wording of the paper. (Wright apparently had Asperger’s and was also a bit long-winded and had atrocious spelling.)
Gavin Andresen, a software developer from Massachusetts, was invited by Matthews to meet Wright. After meeting Wright in London, Andresen claims that Wright signed a message in Satoshi’s block, something that would have required Wright knowing Satoshi’s private keys. Andresen later posted on his own website that he believed that Wright was Satoshi Nakamoto.
Andresen has since changed his mind. He believes that it’s possible Satoshi was hacked and lost his private keys.
Who has doubts that Wright is Satoshi?
Arthur van Pelt, for one. The Bitcoin expert feels that “The real Nakamoto didn’t want to be the leader. He wanted to hand it over to the community.” In addition, van Pelt says,” Wright made himself out to be Satoshi and now is paying the price for it.”
Timothy M. Mullen, a security expert who has worked for Microsoft, the Air Force and the US Court System, publicly called out Wright, saying “People like you are dangerous and need to be exposed.”
Says Rivero, Craig Wright’s lawyer, “There is no connection between my client and (Dave) Kleiman.”
Were Wright and/or Kleiman actually Satoshi? The legal case is ongoing. Stay tuned.
Happy Thanksgiving!
I am thankful to Satoshi Nakamoto for unleashing this Bitcoin technology on the world.
I am also thankful for each and every one of you who subscribe to my writings!
Issue No. 31, November 26, 2021
Rick Mulvey is a CPA, forensic accountant and crypto consultant. He writes about all things Bitcoin, and yells at the Yankees and Giants. He also runs marathons and makes wine, neither professionally.
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