The Wright vs Kleiman civil trial continued on Friday. Dr. Ami Klin, an expert on autism, testified about Wright being autistic and having trouble with people all through his life. The testimony dominated the trial on this day. Wright has always claimed that he invented bitcoin without any assistance from another person. Ira Kleiman has been claiming that Dave Kleiman, his brother who died in 2013, also worked with Wright in developing bitcoin. He lays claim to the assets that he says were developed jointly by his late brother and Wright. These assets include bitcoins worth $66 billion.
What Craig Wright Claims
Wright claims that Dave was only his friend and not his business partner. He says their interaction about bitcoin was limited. Both parties agree that Wright is bitcoin’s pseudonymous creator. This claim has been put forward by Wright for more than five years. However, this claim has never been accepted by cryptocurrency analysts. Wright has been unable to prove being the creator of bitcoin to the satisfaction of other bitcoin experts.
The Case Development
The hearing started with a testimony of David Kuharcik, the accountant who worked on the federal tax works of Dave Kleiman. He was also handling the accounting works of a company Computer Forensics which was established by Kleiman with two other partners. During the cross-examination, Kuharcik acknowledged that formal guidance on reporting Bitcoin gains and its mining were required by the tax authorities only after 2014. The defense relied on the testimony provided by the autism expert Dr. Klin who elaborated on the behavioral traits of individuals with high intellect and classic autism.
The closing arguments by both sides are expected on Tuesday
