Journalists, crypto fans, and online detectives have been trying to expose the person behind the name Satoshi Nakamoto for about a decade. But the creator of Bitcoin, in possession of almost a million bitcoins – worth almost ten billion dollars – has managed to keep his identity a secret for years. That may not be long now: A massive lawsuit against the man who publicly claims to be Satoshi Nakamoto may unravel the mystery.

Australian cryptographer Craig Wright revealed in 2016 that he was the creator of the world’s most valuable cryptocurrency, but this claim has been questioned by many. Legal experts say this case, brought by the relatives of one of Wright’s business associates, will finally reveal the truth about Nakamoto. Little has been heard of him since Wright announced that he would do nothing more to prove that he was actually Satoshi Nakamoto. Now he is being sued by the heirs of Dave Kleiman, who was a computer scientist and cybersecurity expert. Many people believe that not Wright, but Kleiman was the real creator of Bitcoin.

 

What is the case about?

The claim is that Wright stole 1,100,111 bitcoins from Kleiman, which together are worth $10,236,532,855. In addition, the heirs claim that Wright “illegally and knowingly” passed on their trade secrets about blockchain technologies “in a malicious manner.” Monday night, a tweeter asked Craig Wright what he thought of the case. He responded to the tweet with one word: “greed.” Prosecutors are joined by Boies Schiller Flexner LLP, who also represented Al Gore in the case, which called into question the results of the 2000 presidential election. According to Bitcoin security specialists WizSec, Wright’s claims, nor those of Kleiman’s heirs, are correct. The company writes in a blog post that neither of them is the rightful owner of the bitcoins. “The bitcoins they are talking about are just a fantasy: they don’t exist at all,” the blog post wrote. “The lawsuit is a trivial argument over unrelated money that does not belong to either party.”

Who was Dave Kleiman?

Kleiman was a helicopter technician but became paralyzed after a motorcycle accident, leaving him to spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair. By the way, if you have a motorbike accident or are totally unaware of what to do if you have a motorcycle accident, you can visit this link https://lacenturylaw.com/motorcycle-accidents/. He met Wright at an online cryptographer’s forum in 2003. According to prosecutors, the two collaborated on the white paper on how Bitcoin and blockchain should work, publishing it under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008. Wright and Kleiman also set up a Florida company, W&K Info Defense Research LLC, in 2011, focusing on cybersecurity. The complainants are not sure whether one (or both) actually developed Bitcoin. The indictment continues, “for unclear reasons, they chose not to even tell their friends and family about what they were dealing with Bitcoin. But there is no denying that they were involved in Bitcoin from the start and that they both owned a huge number of Bitcoins between 2009 and 2013.” Ten months after Dave Kleiman’s death, his 94-year-old father, Louis Kleiman, receives an email from Wright, writing, “Your son Dave and I are two of the three most important people behind Bitcoin.”

Dave Kleiman passed away in April 2013, just before Bitcoin became a big hit, after a long battle with an antibiotic-resistant infection (the hospital bacteria MRSA). When he died, no one in his family knew about his part in Bitcoin’s development. They also did not know that he owned a huge amount of bitcoins. According to the indictment, Wright took advantage of the fact that none of Kleiman’s relatives knew about the situation. He drafted several contracts that ensured that the crypto legacy was transferred to Wright and his companies.

Gruesome scene

Kleiman’s death remains a mystery for the time being. “Dave was found dead in his home. It was a horrific scene,” the indictment said. “His body was decaying, there were blood and feces stains on his wheelchair, and there were open bottles of alcohol and a loaded pistol next to him. In his mattress, a gunshot hole was discovered.” Wright and Kleiman started a Bitcoin mining operation that earned them over a million Bitcoins. They kept these in Seychelles, in the United Kingdom, and Singapore. Much speculation continued even after Wright’s claim to be Nakamoto. When Wright subsequently refused to provide further evidence, the discussion turned out to be heated in the media and the Bitcoin community. The list of most likely Nakamotos includes Gavin Andresen, Hal Finney, Nick Szabo, and the infamous Dorian Nakamoto.