According to a lawyer holding licenses in New York, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, the self-proclaimed Satoshi Nakamoto, Craig Wright, is in serious legal trouble in his case against Ira Kleiman.
The Craig Wright Lawsuit
Back in February 2018, the brother of the now deceased David Kleiman filed a lawsuit against the self-proclaimed Satoshi Nakamoto and Bitcoin SV proponent, Craig Wright.
Ira Kleiman alleges that Wright stole a sum of bitcoins that the latter mined with his brother during the earliest years of Bitcoin.
Commenting on the matter is Daniel Kelman, a lawyer licensed in New York, a foreign-registered lawyer in Taiwan, and a solicitor licensed in Hong Kong, who claims to have been in private practice focused on Bitcoin and cryptocurrency-related matters since 2013.
Apparently, in the above lawsuit, the court had ordered Craig Wright to produce a list of the bitcoin addresses where David Kleiman and himself held the cryptocurrency. Wright argued that this is impossible as those bitcoins were placed into a “blind trust” back in 2011 and that he doesn’t have access to it. That’s because the trust requires him to contact a number of different trustees who are unreachable for various reasons.
Not So Fast
The court, however, has issued an order on June 14th which indicates that it believes that Craig Wright does, indeed, have the power to contact these trustees and, hence, access the trust. It had ordered a hearing scheduled for June 28th as to whether or not Wright should be held in contempt of court for actually failing to produce the addresses in question.
Needless to say, contempt of court is a very powerful remedy which allows judges to ensure that litigants comply with the court’s rules.
The lawyer argues that it’s Kleiman’s strategy to expose that Wright is not trustworthy, which is also something that puts his claims of being Satoshi Nakamoto to the test.
However, Kelman also says that the real strategy that is pursued by Kleiman is to seek a confidential settlement from Wright for an amount less than that sought in court, leveraging their ability to expose him as a fraud.
In essence, pay me or get exposed. – Says the lawyer.
Would It Help Peter McCormack?
Naturally, the outcome of the case between Kleiman and Wright could impact a more recent trial between Bitcoin SV’s proponent and popular cryptocurrency Youtuber Peter McCormack.
The latter was recently served with a GBP100,000 libel claim from Craig Wright. McCormack has since decided to pursue the matter in court and going all the way against CSW.
However, both cases are held under different jurisdictions as Wright vs McCormack is in the UK, while the other case is in the US.
Regardless, if Kleiman fails to reach a settlement (or if that’s not his strategy) and goes on to expose Wright’s trustworthiness, this could probably have serious consequences on his further trials where he claims that he’s the real Satoshi Nakamoto.
What do you think of CSW’s claims that he’s Satoshi Nakamoto? Don’t hesitate to let us know in the comments below!
Images courtesy of Shutterstock, CryptoNewz.com
The Rundown
