Bitcoin machine in Baltimore. Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM

A case concerning bitcoin's origins and more than $11.4 billion in digital assets will have its day in federal court.

On Thursday, a lawsuit against 47-year-old Australian businessman Craig Wright was set for trial on Sept. 30. The development follows a Dec. 27 ruling by U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom that permitted the suit to move forward in light of the defense's motion to dismiss.

The complaint against Wright, who previously claimed he assisted in the cryptocurrency's creation, was brought by the estate of his former business partner David Kleiman in the Southern District of Florida. Kleiman's brother Ira has alleged Wright improperly assumed control of bitcoin and intellectual property that belonged to his sibling, who died in 2013. Court filings submitted by the plaintiff have accused Wright of committing fraud to seize intellectual property and more than $11 billion in bitcoin that rightfully belonged to the deceased.

The motion to dismiss the suit contended it lacked standing as well as legally sufficient claims.

Bloom's order allowed all but two of the nine charges leveled against Wright to proceed. The two that were dismissed pertained to claims of misappropriation and were found to have fallen outside of the three-year statute of limitations for misappropriations.

The judge deemed the other charges, which included unjust enrichment, breach of fiduciary duty and fraud, to have been “sufficiently asserted” by the plaintiff.

Read the order: 

The plaintiff's attorneys, Boies Schiller Flexner litigators Devin “Velvel” Freedman and Kyle Roche, told the DBR they consider Bloom's ruling to be fair. “There were probably — if not over — 200 pages of briefings the court had to review,” Freedman said. “Now that the court has spoken on the issue, we accept her ruling.”

“The court has closed two tunnels but that still leaves seven other avenues to recover the bitcoin and intellectual property,” Freedman continued. “It doesn't have a substantive case-ending effect on us.” He stated opposing counsel will have to answer the complaint on Jan. 10 following the court's denial of its motion for an extension of time.

“As to discovery, for all intents and purpose this case was on ice,” Roche said. The New York-based attorney said that in light of the defendant's legal troubles in his native Australia as well as his residency in London, the case's international nature meant discovery would prove costly. Bloom opted to stay discovery pending her response to the defense's motion to dismiss.

“As we move forward now through discovery we'll have tools available to us,” Roche said, noting that the process will be “ongoing for the next year or so.”

Proceedings in the Kleiman estate's suit against Wright have proved intense, as briefings by both sides have been rife with colorful and creative barbs against one another.

Wright's defense attorneys at Coral Gables law firm Rivero Mestre, including firm partner Andrés Rivero, did not reply to the DBR's requests for comment by deadline.

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