Litigation support on Bitcoin's history, protocol and public record
Bitcoin Expert Witness and Litigation Consultant
If you are reading this, there is probably a case file on your desk with the word "Bitcoin" in it, and somebody has to explain to a judge what a block is, who said what in 2010, and why any of it matters.
I'm Kurt Wuckert Jr., in Bitcoin since 2012 and CoinGeek's Chief Bitcoin Historian since November 2020, with 262 articles there and close to five years hosting its weekly livestream. Before that, I was a penetration tester, which means companies paid me to break into their systems. With permission. Always with permission.
Trial lawyers on either side of a digital asset dispute, in-house counsel who just inherited one, and anyone who needs the history of this industry told accurately under pressure get a historian who reads the primary sources, a builder who can explain the protocol without a whiteboard full of hieroglyphics, and someone who has watched the biggest Bitcoin cases in the world get tried, session by session.
What I do
Most of the job is translation. A jury does not need a lecture on elliptic curves; it needs to know whether a document could have existed on the date somebody says it did, whether a transaction means what one side claims, and who actually had control of what. I build that answer from the record and put it in plain English.
The engagements I am set up for:
- Litigation support and expert opinion on Bitcoin's history and protocol design
- Mining economics: what a pool does, what a miner earns, and what the hardware and power really cost
- The Satoshi Nakamoto identity record and the Craig Wright litigation record
- Regulatory and media commentary on digital asset disputes
- Advisory work for firms that need a historian before they need a witness
That last one is underrated, because a case can go sideways when nobody on the team knew the history until opposing counsel explained it to them, at a deposition, on the record. Not exactly the ideal place to learn...
Trial record
| Case | Court | When | How I followed it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kleiman v. Wright | US District Court, S.D. Florida, Miami | November 2021 | In the gallery daily |
| Granath v. Wright | Oslo District Court | September 2022 | In person |
| COPA v. Wright | High Court, London | February to March 2024 | Every session through accredited media access, remote |
I was not physically in London for COPA, because I was recovering from surgery, so I attended every session through the court's private media link instead.
Why a historian
Because you cannot know where a thing is going, or honestly know where it stands today, unless you understand its history and its values from the day it began. Bitcoin cases are history cases, and the fight is almost always over what happened, when, and who knew it.
I write the Written History of Bitcoin series: more than 14 parts so far, 5,000 to 22,000 words each, footnoted to the source. I also maintain a Satoshi archive of the original writings and a History of Money and Banking series on this site. I was a consultant on the 2026 feature film "Bitcoin," directed by Doug Liman. Turns out Hollywood also wanted the dates right!
I am not mired in the past, either. I write weekly about emerging technology and add commentary on what is happening in the blockchain industry right now and where it is headed, so the history arrives with a working view of the present.
I founded GorillaPool, a Bitcoin mining pool, in 2021, and Open Protocol Labs in 2023, where I am CEO. So when a case turns on mining revenue or how a node actually behaves, I am speaking from the pool I built, not from a whitepaper.
The penetration testing years matter here too, because a lot of crypto litigation turns on somebody claiming a key was stolen, a wallet was hacked, or an email was forged. I used to break into systems for a living. Legally.
How an engagement starts
It starts with a conflict check, before anything substantive changes hands, and after that the inquiry form asks three questions:
- What type of matter is it?
- What is the jurisdiction, and what is the timeline?
- What is the question that needs answering?
Answer those three honestly and I can usually tell you in one reply whether I am the right person. If I am not, I will say so and point you somewhere better. Written opinions, deposition testimony and trial testimony are all available, remote or on site, and while I am based in Delray Beach, Florida, I travel to wherever the case is.
FAQ
What does a Bitcoin expert witness do?
A Bitcoin expert witness explains the technology, the history and the economics of a case to people who have to decide it: judges, juries, arbitrators and the lawyers preparing them. That can mean a written opinion on what a transaction record shows, testimony on whether a document fits its claimed date, or analysis of mining revenue. The goal is accuracy the court can rely on, in language a juror can follow.
Which side do you work for?
Either side, and neither. I take plaintiff or defense matters, and the conflict check comes first every time. Once I am engaged, my opinion is my opinion; it does not move because of who signed the retainer. If the record does not support the answer you were hoping for, you will hear that from me early, privately, while it is still cheap to hear it.
Have you testified before?
No. I have no sworn testimony on record. What I have is three Craig Wright trials in three countries, followed session by session, two from the gallery and one through accredited media access, plus a published record opposing counsel can read line by line: 262 CoinGeek articles since 2020 and the footnoted Written History series. For a first engagement, that published record is the thing to check.
What about Bitcoin SV and bias?
I am a Bitcoin SV advocate, and I write that in public every week. On Craig Wright, my position is a conviction and not a finding: the volume of the evidence makes it very difficult to write him off entirely, and there are real problems with his story that I do not pretend away. The High Court in London ruled against him in 2024. You get that disclosure in writing, on page one, before you rely on anything I say.
How fast can you turn a written opinion around?
It depends on the size of the record and the question. A narrow historical question with a clean document set moves quickly; a full protocol or forensic analysis takes longer. Most written pieces under 5,000 words come back within five business days when the instructions are clear. Put your deadline in the inquiry form and I will tell you straight whether it is realistic before you count on it.
What do you charge?
Fees depend on the scope: a consulting call, a written opinion, deposition preparation or trial days are priced differently. Time is billed at $500 an hour for expert opinion and $100 an hour for well-placed general knowledge, and most written work comes in at $5,000 or less. The first conversation, after the conflict check, is about whether I am the right fit at all, because pricing a case I should not take wastes your client's money.
Start with the conflict check
Got a matter with Bitcoin in the middle of it? Send the three answers, and I'll run the conflict check first.
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