Miner setback: bitcoin creator must hand over half of fortune

THE Australian who claims to have invented bitcoin a decade ago has been asked to surrender more than £3.4billion worth of the digital currency to the estate of his former business associate.

Craig Wright, 49, was sued for more than $10 billion (£8.2 billion) by the estate of the late David Kleiman for a share of his bitcoin earnings.

The lawsuit claims that Mr Wright mined bitcoins with Kleiman, a paralysed coder who died in 2013, in the early days of the currency.

Following his death, Kleiman’s estate claims Mr Wright “perpetrated a scheme” to “seize David’s bitcoins”. Mr Wright denies there was a partnership.

Judge Bruce Reinhart, in West Palm Beach, Florida, ruled this week that Kleiman owned half of the bitcoins that Mr Wright mined until 2013 and half of all intellectual property he created, according to a court transcript.

That would give title to more than 410,000 bitcoins to Kleiman’s estate, with one bitcoin currently being worth £8,327 – a total sum of £3.4billion.

The ultimate test may be whether Mr Wright is actually able to deliver the bitcoins. In his testimony, he said he did not know where all the bitcoins were stored, and may not even be able to access them. Judge Reinhart said he did not believe that Mr Wright did not know where all the bitcoins were, calling his testimony “perjurious”.

The case was expected to shed light on whether Mr Wright is actually Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonym used by the anonymous creator of bitcoin.

“I am not required to decide, and I do not decide, whether Dr Wright is Satoshi Nakamoto,” the judge said. Judge Reinhart did not end the case, ruling that Mr Wright can fight the lawsuit.