$1 Billion Bitcoin Lawsuit against Craig Wright Will Go On

$1 Billion Bitcoin Lawsuit against Craig Wright Will Go On

Craig Wright

A motion by Craig Wright to have a multi-billion dollar lawsuit accusing him of stealing bitcoins belonging to an alleged business partner dismissed has been denied.

In a ruling delivered on Thursday by Beth Bloom in South Florida, the District judge dismissed two counts that had been brought forth by the plaintiff, Ari Kleiman, while maintaining that the defendant, Craig Wright, will answer seven counts before or on January 10th 2019.

The matter originated from a business partnership Wright had with Ari’s brother, the late Dave Kleiman. The suit was worth as much as $10 billion, though the crypto bear market has eaten much of that valuation.

Kleiman was a cryptographer, author, and computer forensics scientist. He co-founded a firm with Wright known as W&K Info Defense Research LLC for the purposes of mining bitcoin.

From the articles of incorporation of W&K as noted in Judge Bloom’s ruling, Kleiman was the registered agent as well as the managing member of the firm while Wright’s various roles included “authorized representative, lead researcher, technical contact, legal agent and representative and Director/Australian Agent.”

After the death of Kleiman five years ago following a long battle with Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Wright is alleged to have fraudulently transferred bitcoins owned by W&K to himself.

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