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Man who claims to have created bitcoin is sued for US$5 billion by family of hacker who was found dead

Dave Kleiman’s family say that he and Craig Wright both helped found bitcoin – and that Wright owes them half of the $11.6 billion fortune they made

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Craig Wright (seen in a publicity photo from his now-defunct website) is being sued by the family of a deceased hacker who said he robbed the man of a fortune in bitcoin. Wright has claimed to be the inventor of the cryptocurrency. Photo: DrCraigWright.net

The family of a programmer who was found dead in 2013 has filed a US$5 billion lawsuit against Craig Wright, the man who has claimed to be Satoshi Nakamoto, creator of the digital currency bitcoin.

The family of Dave Kleiman said in the lawsuit, which was filed in a federal court in Florida, that the two men jointly owned roughly 1.1 million bitcoin and a company. 

However, they claim, when Kleiman died Wright backdated contracts to transfer the ownership of the coins and intellectual property to him.

Kleiman’s family claims they are owed at least half of the bitcoin mined by the two men. The estimated value of Wright and Kleiman’s bitcoin holdings is roughly US$11.6 billion.

A bullet hole in his mattress was found. The exact details surrounding his death remain unknown
Lawsuit’s description of how Dave Kleiman’s body was found in 2013

The suit also provides a grisly description of Kleiman’s body: “His body was decomposing, there were wheelchair tracks of blood and fecal matter, open bottles of alcohol and a loaded handgun next to him. 

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