The alleged inventor of Bitcoin is forced by justice to sell 500,000 – Company

The man who presents himself as the inventor of Bitcoin has trouble with the law. Pursued by the family of a supposed partner, now deceased, he must in principle hand over up to 500,000 bitcoins. But he is not sure he can do it. Nor that he has possession.

Craig Wright. You may not know this name if the universe of cryptocurrency is indifferent to you. This 49-year-old Australian claims to be the inventor of Bitcoin, which is the most famous electronic motto. It would be him who, from 2008 under the pseudonym of Satoshi Nakamoto, would have developed this system. Except that no proof exists to date to confirm this hypothesis.

What is certain, however, is the reality of the legal troubles of Craig Wright. The Guardian reports in its August 28 edition that the subject is subject to an injunction issued by a US court ordering him to return half of his possessions in bitcoins as well as half of the industrial property titles he holds. to the family of David Kleiman, deceased in 2013.

The latter has indeed filed a lawsuit against Craig Wright on the grounds that he and David Kleiman, a computer scientist, together developed Bitcoin, between 2009 and 2013, or five years. As a result, the family feels entitled to a share of the bitcoins that were generated by the duo at that time, but Craig Wright contests the existence of any partnership.

Billions of euros at stake

The sums at stake would be considerable: the Kleiman family could get their hands on 410,000 or even 500,000 bitcoins, which would represent, at the time of writing, between 3.4 and 4.2 billion euros. The actual amount will depend on the number of bitcoins that will be recovered, but also on the stock price when they are sold. The cryptocurrency's own is to have a very volatile value.

For his part, Craig Wright argued that he was unable to access these bitcoins, explaining having placed them (at least the ones extracted in 2009 and 2010) in an encrypted file and in a trust without right of look. The encrypted key was split into several segments that were donated to David Kleiman, who distributed them to third parties through the trust.

But for the judge, Craig Wright did not prove that he could not comply and get those bitcoins. However, if Craig Wright is not who he claims to be, then there is not the slightest fortune that comes with the whole story. Craig Wright will find himself in a rather paradoxical situation, having to pay for goods he does not own – or at least not in such numbers.

To read on Numerama: Who is Satoshi Nakamoto? Discover theories about the mysterious inventor of bitcoin