Craig Wright is visibly emotional to the point of shedding tears as he talks about his best friend Dave Kleiman and the depth of their relationship as he continues to take the stand for the plaintiff on day 7 of the Kleiman v Wright trial.

The plaintiff, represented by late Dave Kleiman’s brother Ira Kleiman, is claiming that Dave Kleiman and Wright co-authored the Bitcoin white paper under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto and together mined 1.1 million Bitcoin through a business partnership in W&K Info Defense Research, LLC.

The lawsuit lies on the premise that Satoshi Nakamoto is Craig Wright who is in possession of the 1.1 million Bitcoin. The point of contention is that Dave Kleiman, Wright’s best friend who he worked with on numerous projects, including Bitcoin, is a co-creator of Bitcoin and co-owner of the said coins.

At stake here is up to 50% of the 1.1 million Bitcoin, which is valued at over $70 billion at present, that the plaintiff is alleging to have been stolen by Wright from Dave Kleiman. Clear-cut evidence to this allegation, as well as Dave Kleiman’s co-writing of the Bitcoin white paper, has yet to be presented in court.

Dave Kleiman’s Role in the Creation of Bitcoin

“I was the main part of it. Other people helped. At the end of the day, none of this would have happened without Dave Kleiman, without Hal Finney, and without those who took over – like Gavin and Mike,” Wright was quoted as saying in “ The Satoshi Affair” by Andrew O’Hagan, who was also called as witness by plaintiff.

Wright maintains this statement to be true. He has not in any way denied it. He had help in creating Bitcoin, but that did not make all of them Satoshi Nakamoto. And in his testimony, Wright explains in detail how pivotal Kleiman’s role was in the creation of Bitcoin.

According to Craig Wright, the decision to create Bitcoin was part of a dark era of his life. Because of his obsession in actualizing the Bitcoin white paper, he neglected then wife Lynn Wright, which eventually led to their divorce. It was Dave Kleiman who figuratively held Wright’s hand and encouraged him to pursue what he was doing, which was Bitcoin, amidst the crisis in Wright’s personal life.

“I believe that Dave was essential for me because, without Dave, I would not have survived. I talked to Dave three, four times a week. So, Dave was essential because I would not have kept my sanity without Dave. Dave was my best friend and without Dave there to talk to literally I would have just quit earlier,” Wright said.

Without Dave Kleman’s moral and emotional support as Wright’s best friend, Wright would have probably quit, and the Bitcoin known today would not have existed. This was how special Dave Kleiman’s role was in the creation of Bitcoin.

Craig Wright’s Email Exchanges with Ira Kleiman

The fact that Dave Kleiman was someone important to Wright has been testified to and many pieces of evidence have also proven it. The two had a deep friendship and had worked together on different projects.

In fact, Dave Kleiman was in charge of the supercomputer, because he was the “supercomputer guy,” being used to mine Bitcoin on testnet in testing how big of a block could be mined on the network with the unbounded protocol. As its name implies, it is a test network; and any Bitcoin mined does not have actual monetary value.

However, the fact that the two were mining Bitcoin on testnet led Wright to believe that Kleiman would have also mined Bitcoin on his own. Dave Kleiman was advised by Wright to mine it, and he had the skills to do so.

And this was why, when Ira Kleiman contacted Wright after Dave Kleiman’s death, Wright had cautioned Ira Kleiman against erasing David Kleiman’s hard drives because he might own some Bitcoin.

It is also interesting to note that Wright previously was in contact with Dave Kleiman’s fiancé because he thought she was the only family he had as Dave Kleiman himself said his brother was dead and did not mention Ira Kleiman at all, his other living brother.

In addition to this, as evidenced by Wright’s actions after Dave Kleiman’s death that includes an emotional eulogy, Wright admitted to lying to Ira Kleiman and exaggerating Dave Kleiman’s work in Bitcoin because he wanted the Kleiman family to know that Dave Kleiman was working on something important.

“I exaggerated because I wanted Dave to be remembered,” Wright stated.

Without a doubt, based on witness testimonies and pieces of evidence presented, Dave Kleiman was a computer forensics expert and had a brilliant mind. He did work with Wright on a number of projects and white papers, just not as Satoshi Nakamoto on the Bitcoin white paper and as a business partner in the entity that mined the 1.1 million Bitcoin in question.

Dave Kleiman’s Inaction

It has to be pointed out that if Dave Kleiman really was half of the Satoshi Nakamoto pseudonym and if he really did mine 1.1 million Bitcoin with Wright, why did Dave Kleiman not claim them when he was still alive?

If Wright stole Dave Kleiman’s Bitcoin, why did this computer forensics expert and former police officer not gather evidence of this crime committed against him by his best friend and partner, and filed the appropriate civil or criminal lawsuit?

Ira Kleiman had gathered evidence from Wright to use in this lawsuit, even at the pretense of asking innocently about Dave Kleiman’s involvement in Bitcoin as stated in emails presented. Why did Dave Kleiman not compile evidence when he was the one who had access to so much information and had firsthand experience and knowledge of his role in the creation and early mining of Bitcoin?

It has been established in court that Dave Kleiman was an “operating agreement kind of guy,” wherein he asked one of his best friends, Patrick Paige, to sign a lengthy and detailed operating agreement when they put up a computer forensics firm. Then, why did Dave Kleiman not do the same with Wright if they did mine Bitcoin in a business partnership?

The answer to these questions is definitely not because Dave Kleiman did not need the money. The poor state of Dave Kleiman’s finances before he died show him to be buried in debt to the point that could not even afford to pay for his cell phone bill. And Dave Kleiman was paralyzed, had a long battle with MRSA infection and almost lived in a hospital for the last few years of his life.

Before Dave Kleiman’s death in April 2013, Bitcoin’s price was already rising and its price was already over $200. If what the plaintiff is alleging is true, then why did Dave Kleiman not sell his Bitcoin to pay off his debts, get access to better medical treatment and generally just live a more comfortable life?

Dave Kleiman’s actions—or lack thereof—should be the first clear indication that maybe there was no act of theft or cheating that occurred. Maybe Dave Kleiman was just not Wright’s partner as Satoshi Nakamoto and did not actually mine the said coins with Wright.

Because many want to see Wright disgraced through this trial, they are forgetting to focus on Dave Kleiman’s actions and inactions when he was still alive. Dave Kleiman had nothing but good to say about Wright, and the fact that he did not file a lawsuit or even talked about filing one against Wright for being cheated of the credit of creating Bitcoin and mining Bitcoin, may be the most glaring evidence of all.

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