all transactions of Bitcoin are public and the
1.1 million Bitcoin in question have remained
untouched since their creation. Members of
the Bitcoin community have regularly called for
Wright to move just a fraction of the coins into a
separate account to prove ownership and show
that he truly is as wealthy as he claims.
During the trial, both Wright and other
cryptocurrency experts testified under oath
that Wright owns the Bitcoin in question.
Wright said he would prove his ownership if he
were to win at trial.
The lawyers for W&K Information Defense
Research LLC, the joint venture between the
two men, said they were “gratified” that the jury
awarded the $100 million in intellectual property
rights to the company, which developed software
that set the groundwork for early blockchain and
cryptocurrency technologies.
“Wright refused to give the Kleimans their fair
share of what (David Kleinman) helped create
and instead took those assets for himself,” said Vel
Freedman and Kyle Roche of Roche Freedman LLP
and Andrew Brenner, a partner at Boies Schiller
Flexner, in a joint statement.
Wright’s lawyers have said repeatedly that
David Kleiman and Wright were friends and
collaborated on work together, but their
partnership had nothing to do with Bitcoin’s
creation or early operation.
Wright has said he plans to donate much of
the Bitcoin fortune to charity if he were to win
at trial. In an interview, Wright’s lawyer Rivero
reconfirmed Wright’s plans to donate much of his
Bitcoin fortune.