On March 15, well-known Bitcoin developer Jeff Garzik revealed he was subpoenaed by the U.S. District Court of Southern Florida in the infamous Kleiman vs Wright bitcoin lawsuit. The Kleiman family is suing the self-proclaimed Satoshi for roughly 300,000 BTC and Garzik has been served by the court and asked to submit assorted documents and possible evidence that would be relevant to the case.
Also Read: Satoshi’s Pre-Release Bitcoin Code Contains Fascinating Findings
The Kleiman Estate Wants Jeff Garzik to Reveal Anything He Knows About Satoshi, David Kleiman and Craig Wright
The Kleiman estate and David Kleiman’s brother Ira Kleiman believe Craig Wright defrauded David and manipulated his assets. Some people believe that David Kleiman (deceased) may have been the creator of Bitcoin and the estate thinks he is owed about 300,000 BTC ($1.1 billion) from a trust that allegedly has 1 million BTC locked until the year 2020. News.Bitcoin.com recently reported on Wright’s response to the billion dollar lawsuit after Judge Beth Bloom denied his attempt at dismissing the charges. Now the early Bitcoin adopter and developer Jeff Garzik is involved with the lawsuit as he announced he’s been served with a subpoena to appear in court. The subpoena stems from the Kleiman’s council and asks Garzik to submit any evidence to the theory that David Kleiman was Satoshi Nakamoto.
“You got served,” Garzik exclaimed on Twitter. “The Bitcoin lawsuit drones on. In the interest of radical transparency, here’s the subpoena that just arrived for me (sans page 1).”
The subpoena also asks for any communications between Garzik and Wright and whether he had any direct communications with Kleiman. The plaintiff’s counsel is in search of any documents that stem from David Kleiman, W&K Info Defense (Kleiman and Wright’s company), and any communications with an individual called Uyen Nguyen. The request also asks for any communications between Garzik and the pseudonym or moniker Satoshi Nakamoto and any evidence that is tied to the “Tulip Trust” or “GISCR Trust.” The subpoena also refers to the search for subjects like early bitcoin mining between Jan. 1, 2009 through April 2013. Other subjects include any documents tied to Mt. Gox, Silk Road, Liberty Reserve, and the Prometheus Project. The documents ask about communications between well known figures like cryptographer Ian Grigg, writer Andrew O’Hagan, and billionaire gambling tycoon Calvin Ayre.
Garzik’s Personal Theory
Wright and his council have denied the allegations against him and said the oral partnership between Wright and Kleiman was barred by the statute of frauds. “There was no written partnership agreement between Dr. Wright and David Kleiman and/or W&K Info Defense Research, LLC,” Wright’s attorney’s detailed in the 36-page response to the charges. Meanwhile, Wright has been telling the public throughout many published tweets and memoirs how he was involved with the creation of Bitcoin.
In the 14-page request to Garzik it seems the Kleiman estate and council want to know everything the developer may have come across over the years. The request also mentions a Bloomberg article that talks about Garzik’s “personal theory” about David Kleiman. In the article Garzik states: “My personal theory is that [Satoshi Nakamoto] is the Floridian Dave Kleiman. It matches his coding style, this gentleman was self-taught. And the Bitcoin coder was someone who was very, very smart, but not a classically trained software engineer.” This specific quote has led the Kleiman estate to believe that Garzik may know more about the relationship between Wright and Kleiman or have clues about David’s possible connection to the infamous Nakamoto.
What do you think about the subpoena sent to Jeff Garzik? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.
Image credits: Pixabay, Twitter and Scribd.
At Bitcoin.com there’s a bunch of free helpful services. For instance, have you seen our Tools page? You can even look up the exchange rate for a transaction in the past. Or calculate the value of your current holdings. Or create a paper wallet. And much more.
