Bitcoin trial: Defendant wins, keeps Bitcoins worth $50B
ABC News
Craig Wright, a computer scientist who claims to be the inventor of Bitcoin, prevailed in a highly publicized trial Monday that will allow him to hold onto a hoard of Bitcoins worth tens of billions of dollars
NEW YORK -- Craig Wright, a computer scientist who claims to be the inventor of Bitcoin, prevailed in a highly publicized trial Monday that will allow him to hold onto a hoard of Bitcoins worth tens of billions of dollars.
A Florida jury found that Wright did not owe half of 1.1 million Bitcoins to the family of David Kleiman, Wright's one-time business partner.
The highly case was highly technical, with the jury listening to explanations of the intricate workings of cryptocurrencies as well as the murky origins of how Bitcoin came to be. Jurors took a full week to deliberate, repeatedly asking questions of lawyers on both sides as well as the judge on how cryptocurrencies work as well as the business relationship between the two men.
At the center of the trial are 1.1 million Bitcoins, worth approximately $50 billion based on Monday's prices. These were among the first Bitcoins to be created through mining and could only be owned by a person or entity involved with the digital currency from its beginning.
