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Only on August 27th, the year-long lawsuit over an alleged $10 billion Bitcoin fortune did seem to come to an end, finally.
In a dispute that had been raised in 2018, between the self-proclaimed inventor of Bitcoin (BTC), Craig Wright, and Kleiman Estate, representatives of the deceased computer scientist, Dave Kleiman, Judge Bruce Reinhart ruled against Wright for allegedly lying, committing perjury and falsifying documents to hide the stash. Wright had been ordered by the court to surrender half of his Bitcoin earnings and intellectual property (IP) mined before 2014.
However, the trial remained ongoing, demanding further procedural interventions, despite the judge’s recommendation. Now, having asked for a 14-day-extension, Wright has recently challenged the court ruling that knocked down his affirmative defenses and demanded him to hand over $4B worth of cryptocurrency.
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According to documents filed by the Florida District Court on August 30th,
Dr. Craig Wright respectfully requests a fourteen-day extension of time to file a motion with the district court judge challenging Magistrate Reinhart’s August 27th order.
Wright’s lawyers have also claimed that they require more time as Hurricane Dorian, set to pound Florida over the next few days, is hindering the pace of their work. The filings also claim that Wright challenges Magistrate Reinhardt’s verdict and his legal counsel would need sufficient time to submit a challenge.
Judge Reinhart, though, has abolished most of the crucial affirmative defenses that Wright could exploit. If that remains absolute, it will become nearly impossible for Wright to defend himself.
However, given the magnitude of the payout involved and skepticism over Wright’s exact BTC holding, many are questioning whether he will comply with the order to deliver BTC to Kleiman’s estate. Wright has claimed during testimony that he is uncertain where the disputed bitcoin is being stored or whether he can obtain access to it.
On the flipside, Wright’s spokesperson, Ed Pownall, asserted that the verdict ordering him to turn over 410,000 bitcoin-only goes onto proving that he’s Satoshi Nakamoto. He argues, who, if not Nakamoto, would have such a massive trove? If Wright is not Nakamoto, he can’t have them in the first place.
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Be it as it may, there still awaits an extensive rough time ahead of Wright.