Bitcoin has completely changed the way people look at the economy; however, the creator of the cryptocurrency is still unknown, going only by the name Satoshi. Recently, an Australian computer scientist who claims to have invented Bitcoin was informed by a jury in the United States that he needs to pay more than $100 million in damages due to claims that he cheated a friend, now deceased, over intellectual property related to the digital currency.
Taking place in federal court in Miami, the jury took more than a week to reach a verdict. The verdict came after a trial that lasted more than three weeks. Even though the jury rejected those claims made against Craig Wright, the Australian computer scientist, the jury still decided that the computer scientist owed the plaintiff more than $100 million. Of note, this trial does not settle the debate over the creator of the renowned cryptocurrency.
The lawsuit was brought by the brother of Dave Kleiman, who is a cybersecurity expert who passed away in 2013. The lawsuit alleged that Kleiman worked with Wright during the early years of Bitcoin, seeking to mine the cryptocurrency during its early phases. The lawsuit alleges that Wright did not give Kleiman his fair share of the mined Bitcoin, meaning that he was shorted hundreds of millions of dollars, given the rapid growth of Bitcoin during the past decade.
Even though Craig Wright feels that the verdict proves he is the creator of Bitcoin, most other people disagree. A lot of investors in Bitcoin view Craig Wright as a fake, and the result of the trial has done little to convince the public that this man is the true creator of Bitcoin itself.
Even though the verdict and settlement amount can be staggering in the eyes of a lot of people, Bitcoin has appreciated significantly since the time of the alleged incident, meaning that Wright could have billions of dollars in Bitcoin to his name. This could be the reason why he is not going to appeal the verdict. On the other hand, an attorney representing Kleiman hailed the verdict as marking a new precedent in the history of cryptocurrency.
