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- Judge sets July 6 as start date for trial between self-proclaimed Bitcoin inventor, Craig Wright, against family of his former partner, Dave Kleiman.
- Out-of-court negotiations have a deadline and must be completed before July 3, 2020.
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida has finally set a date and schedule for the start of the trial between Bitcoin’s self-appointed inventor, Craig Wright, and the brother of his former partner, Ira Kleiman. According to the court, the trial will begin on July 6 of this year. However, the plaintiff, Ira Kleiman, and the defendant, Craig Wright, must appear in court on June 30 to begin preparations for the trial.
Beginning of the end for trial against Craig Wright?
For two years, Wright and Kleiman have presented evidence against each other in a series of hearings that have extended the formal start of the trial up to this date. In particular, Wright has presented documents, evidence, testimony, and has alleged the existence of individuals who have delayed the trial.
The lawsuit between the parties began in 2018 when Ira Kleiman accused Wright of stealing intellectual property from his brother, Dave Kleiman. In addition, Dave and Wright allegedly mined Bitcoin after the creation of the cryptocurrency. According to Ira, Craig Wright stole his brother’s mined funds. These funds are estimated to be around 500,000 BTC, a sum that is more than a billion dollars at the current Bitcoin price.
However, Wright has stated that after allegedly inventing Bitcoin he established a Tulip Trust. Despite this, Wright has been unable to present evidence to support his claims. For this reason, the judge in charge of the case, Beth Bloom, has ordered:
This cause is set for trial during the Court’s two-week trial calendar beginning on July 6, 2020 at 9:00 a.m.at the United States Courthouse, 400 North Miami, Avenue, Courtroom 10-2, Miami, Florida.
As stipulated in the schedule, the parties must submit the material for the case by June 22. This includes the list of witnesses and the demonstrative and summary evidence. The judge also ordered that the parties have until July 3, 2020 to reach a settlement, before the start of the trial.
Wright appears to have been preparing for this impending event. The self-proclaimed Bitcoin inventor settled one of his legal disputes against Blockstream co-founder Adam Back. The lawsuit was filed last year in the United Kingdom, where Wright accused Back of libel. The suit was dismissed in January of this year. Blockstream’s co-founder claimed that Wright paid 100% of its legal costs.
