Cryptocurrency enthusiasts might be in for a disappointment if they are hoping for a three-week trial in the Miami federal court to finally determine the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin.   

Curiosity seekers will nonetheless flock to see Australian computer scientist Craig Wright, the self-described “inventor of Bitcoin”, defend himself against allegations that he swindled the estate of a deceased Florida man of $65 billion in Bitcoin and intellectual property related to blockchain technology worth billions more.

Dave Kleiman’s brother claims that the late computer scientist worked with Wright on the early development of Bitcoin and that the estate is entitled to half of the value of a cache of up to 1.1 million Bitcoins, valued at $61,507.62 apiece as of midday on November 02, believed to be owned by Satoshi. It’s far from certain whether that stash can still be found. 

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Some major cryptocurrency entrepreneurs and investors feel Wright is a fraud and that Satoshi’s continued anonymity is part of Bitcoin’s genius.

However, the main issue in the Kleiman case isn’t whether Wright is truly Satoshi. The question in the trial, which begins Monday with jury selection, is whether Wright and Kleiman had a business arrangement before the latter’s death. 

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According to Aaron Brown, a crypto investor who also blogs for Bloomberg Opinion, Wright is “an important early innovator in cryptocurrency, and is also rich from cryptocurrency”.  “Beyond that, his claims to be the main or only author of the original Bitcoin white paper have little support.”

In the crypto world, Satoshi speculation is a popular activity, and even venture capitalist Peter Thiel got in on it last month, speculating that the real Satoshi was on the same beach as him in Anguilla in February 2000. Whoever Satoshi is, he or she most likely has enough Bitcoin to impact the market drastically.

The Kleiman estate’s lawsuit against Wright was first filed almost three years ago, but owing to the Covid-19 outbreak, the case has been delayed. 

Emails in court records reveal the two got along well — in one correspondence, Wright referred to Kleiman as his “best friend” — but Kleiman’s brother, Ira, will try to prove they worked together on a project.   Dave told Ira Kleiman over the Christmas lunch that he was working on something “bigger than Facebook”’ before scrawling out the now-famous Bitcoin logo: a B with two lines through it in the style of a money sign, according to Ira Kleiman.

The testimony of Wright may be crucial. The Kleiman estate had accused Wright of “a sustained pattern of perjury, forged evidence, misleading filings, and obstruction” earlier in the case. Wright’s attorneys argued that he is on the autism spectrum, and U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom refused to punish him severely.