Bitcoin ‘inventor’ told to pay USD 100 million by US court

A computer scientist claiming to be inventor of Bitcoin has been told by a US court to pay USD 100 million. He was sued by his former partner, who is now dead. The partner had claimed half of the bitcoin cache with Wright. It is now worth about USD 4 billion. The estate of the departed partner has not been awarded half of the Bitcoin cache worth billions but will now get USD 100 million in intellectual property rights. 

The Miami jury cleared Craig Wright on nearly all issues in the dispute, including tha involving transfer of half of the 1.1 million Bitcoin in dispute.

Jurors concluded that Wright was not liable for fraud.

Wright and Dave Klieman were formerly partners in W&K Information Defense Research LLC.

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“This has been a remarkable good outcome and I feel completely vindicated,” Wright said in a video message, as quoted by Reuters

“There are still more fights. We are going to make everything change: cryptocurrency to digital cash the way it’s meant to be.”

According to court papers, the 1.1 million Bitcoin had been mined by Satoshi Nakamoto, whose October 2008 white paper “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System” described a framework for what would become bitcoin.

Wright claimed in 2016 that he was Nakamoto, which was a pseudonym. The claim has been disputed.

Kleiman’s family contended that he and Wright had been friends and business partners, but that Wright stole the bitcoin stemming from their relationship.

In a statement, lawyers for W&K and Kleiman’s estate said they were “immensely gratified” that the jury awarded the $100 million in intellectual property rights, and help give the Kleimans “their fair share of what Dave helped create.”

(With inputs from agencies)