Craig Wright, the bloke who’s claimed to be Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto more times than we can count, has now blamed a hurricane for being unprepared to challenge a recent court order, CoinDesk reports.
A court document submitted by Wright’s defense reads: “Counsel for Dr. Wright have been diligently working on meeting this deadline, however, Central and South Florida are currently threatened by a major hurricane.”
“Hurricane Dorian is expected to make landfall in Florida early next week and counsel for Dr. Wright have been expending significant time preparing for the hurricane, which has limited their ability to work on this matter,” it continued.
It formally requests an additional fourteen days so that Wright’s may challenge the order, which would make it due on September 24, 2019. Wright’s defense also promised that this ‘hurricane excuse’ is totally “in good faith and not for the purposes of delay.”
Wright says he has 1.1 million BTC, and he’s gotta give up half
Last week, a US judge ruled Wright must hand over 50 percent of his Bitcoin holdings (estimated to be worth more than $5 billion) to Ira Kleiman on behalf of his deceased brother David, a computer forensics expert who some believe played a key role in Bitcoin’s creation.
The 💜 of EU tech
The latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol' founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It's free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!
“[…] I completely reject Dr. Wright’s testimony about the alleged Tulip Trust, the alleged encrypted file, and his alleged inability to identify his bitcoin holdings,” wrote Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart.
“The evidence establishes that (Wright) has engaged in a willful and bad faith pattern of obstructive behavior, including submitting incomplete or deceptive pleadings, filing a false declaration, knowingly producing a fraudulent trust document, and giving perjurious testimony at the evidentiary hearing,” Reinhart added.
On top of losing half his Bitcoin holdings, the court decided that Wright should also give up half of his intellectual property to the Kleiman estate. Hard Fork has previously reported on his efforts to build a blockchain-related patent empire.
Let’s just hope the hurricane doesn’t eventually eat his homework, too.
Get the TNW newsletter
Get the most important tech news in your inbox each week.