Peter Schiff and Layah Heilpern compare and contrast gold versus cryptocurrency on’Making Money.’
Self-proclaimed Bitcoin creator Craig Wright must pay another $ 43 million to a joint venture he co-created, adding to a $ 100 million verdict against him last year, a federal judge in West Palm Beach, Florida, ruled Wednesday.
A jury in December found Wright unlawfully seized intellectual property belonging to the joint venture with late computer forensics researcher Dave Kleiman, W & K Info Defense Research. US District Judge Beth Bloom awarded the additional $ 43 million in interest on damages W & K suffered from when he took control of the IP in 2013 until the court’s final judgment.
Wright had argued that W & K should only be entitled to interest measured from October 2021, when the IP’s value was highest, through December.
Bitcoin was struggling early Monday morning following a downtrend last week with blame clearly landing on Fed plans to raise interest rates in March. (iStock)
CLICK HERE FOR FOX BUSINESS’REAL-TIME CRYPTOCURRENCY PRICING DATA
Wright’s attorney Andrés Rivero of Rivero Mestre said in a statement that the award was still “but a fraction of the amount plaintiffs claimed” and does not affect the jury’s finding that Kleiman did not co-invent Bitcoin with Wright.
W & K’s attorneys said in a statement that the decision, like the verdict, “sets a historical precedent in cryptocurrency and blockchain.”
Kleiman’s brother sued Wright on behalf of his estate in 2018, alleging he stole intellectual property related to blockchain technology from W & K along with 1.1 million bitcoin.
MAN WHO CLAIMS HE INVENTED BITCOIN WINS TRIAL, KEEPS BITCOINS WORTH $ 50B
According to court papers, the bitcoin was mined by Satoshi Nakamoto, who wrote a white paper describing the framework for what would become bitcoin. Wright has said that he is Nakamoto, which has been disputed.
Jurors awarded W & K $ 100 million for Wright’s conversion of its intellectual property but cleared Wright of other claims including theft and fraud, and found W & K and Kleiman were not entitled to any of the disputed bitcoin.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ON FOX BUSINESS
Kleiman said in the lawsuit that the assets were worth over $ 11 billion. Today, the 1.1 million bitcoin would be worth $ 43 billion.
The case is Kleiman v. Wright, US District Court for the Southern District of Florida, No. 9:18-cv-80176.
