Bloq CEO Jeff Garzik Subpoenaed Over Craig Wright's Satoshi Claim

Jeff Garzik, an early bitcoin developer and the CEO of blockchain startup Bloq, has been served a subpoena by a court in the U.S. ordering him to provide information relating to an ongoing lawsuit involving Craig Wright, the Australian cryptographer who has claimed he is bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto.

Garzik shared the subpoena document on Friday, which shows that the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida has asked him to provide all documents that support his “personal theory” that the late Dave Kleiman is Satoshi Nakamoto. (Garzik claimed that Kleiman is Satoshi Nakamoto back in November in an interview with Bloomberg.)

"My personal theory is that it’s 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,” he said at the time.

Kleiman, a forensic computer investigator, passed away in 2013 following a battle with MRSA. Last year, his brother Ira Kleiman sued Wright, alleging that he misappropriated billions of dollars’-worth of bitcoin from the estate of Dave Kleiman, his former business partner.

The suit accuses Wright of scheming to “seize Dave’s bitcoins and his rights to certain intellectual property [IP] associated with the bitcoin technology,” and is seeking return of a good portion of the 1.1 million bitcoins (worth roughly $4.3 billion as of press time) mined by the two, or its “fair market value,” as well as compensation for IP infringement.

Last April, Wright filed a motion to dismiss the case against him. However, back in December, the court denied most counts of Wright’s motion.

As per Friday's subpoena document, Garzik has also been ordered to provide all direct and third-party communications and documents related to both Wright and Kleiman, as well as those related to Silk Road and Mt. Gox among a total of 28 requests.

Garzik now has 30 days to provide all the information to the court, according to the document.

Jeff Garzik image via CoinDesk archives