Judge Bruce Reinhart has ordered Craig Wright to turn over even more documents in a lawsuit seeking half of Satoshi Nakamoto’s $8.7 billion cache of bitcoins.
The ongoing trial over the fortune in bitcoins mined immediately after the creation of Bitcoin pits self-proclaimed Nakamoto Craig Wright against the estate of his late partner Dave Kleiman. It took yet another strange turn on Friday.
On Jan. 6 Wright turned over more than 400 files for discovery. Among them was a shocking document revealing a third in the series of Tulip Trusts Wright says contain 1,100,111 bitcoins mined shortly after the genesis block.
Wright has long said the keys to the Tulip Trust were to be delivered to him on Jan. 1, 2020. If that happened, there has been no mention in court, and no transfer the early bitcoins that would proves Wright’s widely derided claim to be Nakamoto.
Wright previously told Modern Consensus that the Tulip Trust does not actually exist.
Today the judge ordered him to turn over everything, even documents sealed under previous lawsuits by court order.
“On January 9, 2020, the Court heard oral argument regarding Defendant’s assertion of confidentiality in declining to produce certain documents in discovery. According to defense counsel, Defendant has previously entered into non-disclosure agreements (NDA’s) with other individuals and entities which he believes precludes him from producing certain documents in this lawsuit,” Magistrate Judge Reinhart’s order states. The case in being tried in the Southern District of Florida.
In a hearing held earlier Thursday, Wright’s lawyers argued that some documents that fell under the new discovery order should be excluded. These documents included some with an NDA. These related to undisclosed business arrangements. Reinhart said no, ordering them produced immediately.
“It is hereby ORDERED [court’s emphasis] that any documents, otherwise discoverable in this lawsuit, which Defendant has withheld on the basis of the NDA’s, shall be produced by Defendant, subject to the terms of the parties’ confidentiality stipulation which the Court has adopted in this case,” according to court documents.
That will likely automatically seal these new documents. But we will eventually see what Wright wanted to prevent anyone from seeing.
A vendetta beyond death
The original Tulip Trust did not contain a confidentiality clause. However, it did say that if Wright died, his wife would get the entire Satoshi bitcoin cache. But, only if she agreed to restart Wright’s personal vendetta against a single person who works at the Australian version of the IRS.
Specifically, the money should be used to expose the “lies and fraud perpetrated by Adam Westwood of the Australian Tax Office against doctor Wright,” the will specified.
To sign off on this, the late Kleiman added another stipulation: “The last condition is listed as a direct quote of Dr Wright, who had specified against my advice that he requires this line to be included.”
If Wright has any other secret vendettas, we might hear about them as soon as the latest documents are unsealed.
(Updated on Jan. 11 at 3:45 p.m. to reflect Bruce Reinhart’s correct title. He is a magistrate not a district judge.)
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