In the Kleiman v. Wright lawsuit back in December (both of whom are alleged co-inventors of Bitcoin), the jury has awarded the heirs of the recently deceased David Kleiman with $100 million in intellectual property theft damages. During this time, the defendant Craig Wright who claims to be the Bitcoin founder, Satoshi Nakamoto, celebrated this verdict because he believed that it was confirmation that he was Satoshi Nakamoto. Furthermore, Craig Wright’s lawyer, Andres Rivero, saw this as a win, given the awarded compensation was far from the plaintiff’s request for 50% of the first 1.1 million bitcoins mined.
However, the mood has changed. The “Satoshi Trial” judge has now increased the overall cost of intellectual property damages. Craig Wright has now been ordered to pay a sum of $143 million to David Kleiman’s brother, the plaintiff, on behalf of Kleiman. It has been argued that Craig Wright not only confiscated intellectual property, but he also took the initial 1.1 million bitcoins initially mined (now worth around $43 billion).
The jury is still unable to determine whether or not Wright has access to the pilot bitcoins, thus confirming that he is Satoshi Nakamoto. As a result, only the intellectual property damages are being awarded to the David Kleiman estate. Because of this, Wright’s lawyer is scoffing at the new charges and stating that the total sum is still only a fraction of what the accusers are saying.