Bitcoin Just In: Craig Wright to Cough Up $658K in Court Fees

The estate which accused Craig Wright of stealing $10 billion worth of Bitcoin from his deceased partner, Dave Kleiman, is asking him to cough up about $658K in court fees.

The declaration appears after Magistrate Judge Bruce E. Reinhart issued sanctions against Wright for not complying with the court order that asked him to surrender half of his Bitcoin holdings to plaintiff Ira Kleiman, brother of Dave. At the same time, the judge ordered Wright to pay for Ira’s legal costs. However, the Kleiman estate got an extension after both the parties agreed to reach a settlement.

The off-the-court negotiations, nevertheless, didn’t mature into a real deal. It led the estate to file a motion on Wednesday that orders Wright to pay $592,558 in lawyer fees and $66,023 in expenses. U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom studied the motion on Thursday and passed it to Judge Reinhart for a final recommendation. Ira said in the motion,

This amount is based on reasonable hourly rates — commensurate with those actually charged by these and comparable firms in matters in this district — and an appropriate number of hours worked in light of the scope and extent of Craig [Wright]’s deception and the amount at stake in this litigation

Craig Wright Ducks Settlement Talks

The burden passes on to Wright’s shoulder ever since Judge Reinhart found him guilty of making false declarations, producing tampered trust documents, and lying under oath. Wright, who long claimed to be Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin, was circumstantially mining the first batch of the cryptocurrency with Dave. The court found that Wright illegally gained access to Dave’s share of bitcoin upon his death in 2013. It further ordered him to hand those cryptocurrency units back to Dave’s estate.

Nevertheless, Wright’s response was full of excuses. He claimed that he does not have access to Dave and his bitcoins since its held in a blind trust. A digital forensics expert, on the other hand, said that Wright is lying about the Trust. Ownership of that bitcoin could also prove that Wright is the real Satoshi.

Wright later sought a 30-day extension to respond to the court sanctions. At the same time, he agreed to reach a settlement deal with the Kleiman estate. In November, Ira filed a notice in the court telling that Wright could not finance the deal, and therefore, was pulling out of the settlement deal. That prompted the plaintiff side to file a motion compelling him to pay, starting with the legal costs.

The next hearing on the matter will be on December 4.

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