Legal Archives • Bitcoin Feed News

Coindesk / Ripple Avoids Securities Question in Motion to Dismiss XRP Lawsuit

September 20, 2019 / coindesk

Ripple has filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit claiming it violated U.S. securities laws by selling XRP. In a new filing posted early Friday, attorneys for Ripple pushed back…

Coindesk / SEC Chair, Commissioners to Talk Crypto at US Congress Hearing Next Week

September 19, 2019 / coindesk

The U.S. House Financial Services Committee plans to question the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) about cryptocurrencies and Facebook’s Libra project next week, among a host of other topics. According…

Coindesk / DOJ Brings Extortion Charges Against Early Advisor to Ethereum, tZero

September 18, 2019 / coindesk

U.S. law enforcement has charged Steven Nerayoff, an early supporter of the ethereum project and a former paid advisor to Overstock’s tZero, with extortion. Nerayoff, an attorney and founder of blockchain…

Coindesk / Craig Wright ‘in Discussions’ to Settle Multi-Billion Dollar Court Case

September 18, 2019 / coindesk

Craig Wright, the Australian entrepreneur who controversially claims he is Satoshi Nakamoto, is moving to settle a case that looks set to cost him billions in bitcoin. The case has…

Coindesk / $2 Billion Lost in Mt. Gox Bitcoin Hack Can Be Recovered, Lawyer Claims

September 12, 2019 / coindesk

The Takeaway: Moscow-based law firm ZP Legal claims to have identified Russian nationals who received bitcoin stolen in the 2014 hack of Mt Gox. Local law enforcement is investigating Alexander…

Coindesk / Bitwise Taps BNY Mellon as Transfer Agent for Proposed Bitcoin ETF

September 12, 2019 / coindesk

Bitwise has tapped Bank of New York Mellon to serve as the administrator and transfer agent for its proposed bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). The company filed an amendment to its…

Coindesk / Blockstack’s Regulated Token Offerings Raise $23 Million

September 11, 2019 / coindesk

Blockstack has raised more than $20 million in a token sale approved by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the company announced Tuesday. In a blog post, Blockstack co-founder Muneeb…

Coindesk / CipherTrace Enters Race to Solve Crypto’s FATF Compliance Headache

September 10, 2019 / coindesk

CipherTrace has unveiled its answer to one of the thorniest questions now facing the cryptocurrency industry: how to securely share information about customers under new global regulatory guidelines. On Tuesday,…

Coindesk / TokenSoft Launches Transfer Agent Support Tool for Crypto Securities

September 10, 2019 / coindesk

TokenSoft is rolling out a new tool to help token issuers comply with securities requirements. The security token facilitator announced Tuesday that it had developed an administrative panel for transfer…

Coindesk / Netki Retools Digital ID Service for FATF’s New Crypto ‘Travel Rule’

September 9, 2019September 9, 2019 / coindesk

Netki has upgraded its digital identity service to help cryptocurrency firms meet tough new international standards for combating money laundering. Announced Monday, the upgrade to TransactID adds two new features:…

Coindesk / The State of Security Token Regulations in Asia

September 6, 2019 / coindesk

This essay is presented as a part of No Closing Bell, a series leading up to Invest: Asia 2019 focused on how the Asian crypto markets are interacting with and…

Coindesk / Craig Wright Aims to Challenge Court Decision That Cost Half His Bitcoins

September 2, 2019 / coindesk

Craig Wright says bad weather means he needs more time to challenge a court order that he must hand over half of his bitcoin holdings. The case was brought by Ira…

Coindesk / UN Official: Crypto Makes Policing Child Trafficking ‘Exceptionally Difficult’

August 30, 2019 / coindesk

A top United Nations (UN) official said cryptocurrencies are making international efforts to combat terrorist financing, money laundering and cyber-crime “exceptionally difficult.” Neil Walsh, chief of the Cybercrime and Anti-Money…

Coindesk / SEC Settles Charges With Crypto Token Issuers Accused of Fraud

August 29, 2019 / coindesk

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) settled charges with crypto exchange Bitqyck and its founders, alleging that they committed fraud with two different token sales. According to a press…

Coindesk / Political Group Launches ‘ICO’ to Support US House Candidate

August 28, 2019 / coindesk

A political action committee (PAC) wants to conduct an initial coin offering (ICO) to support candidates for public office. “BitPAC has its own funds but we’re also doing an initial…

Coindesk / 4 Agencies Are Investigating Crypto Exchange QuadrigaCX

August 27, 2019 / coindesk

At least four different law enforcement and regulatory agencies are investigating defunct Canadian crypto exchange QuadrigaCX, a new report by bankruptcy trustee Ernst & Young (EY) said. George Kinsman, the…

Coindesk / Judge Recommends Ruling in Favor of Kleiman in Craig Wright Case

August 26, 2019 / coindesk

Craig Wright must turn over half of his bitcoin holdings and intellectual property to the estate of Dave Kleiman, a judge ruled Monday. The ruling applies to holdings and IP…

Coindesk / UK Central Bank Chief Sees Digital Currency Displacing US Dollar as Global Reserve

August 23, 2019 / coindesk

A central bank-supported digital currency could replace the dollar as the global hedge currency, said Bank of England governor Mark Carney. Speaking at the Economic Policy Symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming,…

Coindesk / SEC Approves Blockchain Tech Startup Securitize to Record Stock Transfers

August 21, 2019 / coindesk

Securitize, a provider of technology for issuing blockchain tokens, has registered as a transfer agent with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Administration (SEC), a move it says will boost adoption.…

Coindesk / Blockchain Firm Veritaseum Calls for Assets to Be Unfrozen in SEC Response

August 20, 2019 / coindesk

The Veritaseum blockchain platform and its founder Reggie Middleton have filed a response to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over the regulator’s claim that its ICO was fraudulent and illegal, and…

Coindesk / Dark Web Drug Dealer to Forfeit Millions of Dollars in Illicit Crypto Earnings

August 20, 2019 / coindesk

A man has been sentenced in San Diego, California, for conspiring to sell drugs over dark web markets for cryptocurrencies. Thirty-nine-year-old Sky Justin Gornik had pleaded guilty to using a…

Coindesk / Judge Blasts Craig Wright’s Evidence, ‘Inconsistent’ Testimony in Kleiman Trial

August 15, 2019 / coindesk

US Judge Beth Bloom has denied a request by Craig Wright to scuttle a lawsuit filed against him because of his past testimony and his credibility before the court, according…

Coindesk / New IRS Warning Letters Target Crypto Investors Who Misreported Trades

August 14, 2019 / coindesk

The U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is sending another round of warning letters to cryptocurrency users, this time to taxpayers it believes to have misreported income from exchange transactions. In…

Coindesk / Blockchain Firm Settles With SEC Over Unregistered $6.3 Million SAFT

August 14, 2019 / coindesk

A healthcare-focused blockchain firm has settled charges with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over its 2017 ICO. The SEC said on Monday that New England-based SimplyVital Health, Inc. raised around…

Coindesk / UK Advertising Watchdog Upholds Complaints Against BitMEX Bitcoin Promotion

August 14, 2019 / coindesk

The U.K. Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has upheld complaints over a bitcoin ad placed by crypto derivatives exchange BitMEX (HDR Global Trading). The advertising regulator published its decision on Wednesday,…

Coindesk / SEC Guidance Gives Ammo to Lawsuit Claiming XRP Is Unregistered Security

August 13, 2019 / coindesk

The Takeaway: A new amended complaint against Ripple draws on the SEC’s framework for digital assets to outline how XRP might be a security – likely the first federal case…

Coindesk / WATCH: Ted Livingston Discusses Kik’s Response to the SEC

August 12, 2019 / coindesk

[embedded content] Messaging platform Kik Interactive is facing off with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over its 2017 Kin token sale. The SEC alleges Kik violated federal securities law,…

Coindesk / SEC Delays Decisions on 3 Bitcoin ETF Proposals

August 12, 2019 / coindesk

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) delayed making a decision on three bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) proposals Monday. The ETFs, proposed earlier this year by asset managers Bitwise Asset Management, VanEck/SolidX and…

Coindesk / Derivatives Drama: The Unintended Consequences of Crypto Regulation

August 11, 2019 / coindesk

Noelle Acheson is a veteran of company analysis and CoinDesk’s Director of Research. The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own. The following article originally appeared in Institutional Crypto by…

Coindesk / Australian Police Charge 5 Over $1.8 Million Cryptocurrency Scam

August 8, 2019 / coindesk

Five people have been charged in Australia over a cold-call cryptocurrency investment fraud. After an investigation by the Financial and Cyber Crime Group, State Crime Command, detectives allege that three men and…

Coindesk / Man Takes Bitcoin Miner Seller to Tribunal Over Electricity Bill and Wins

August 6, 2019 / coindesk

A Malta-based bitcoin miner has taken action after getting a shock when he received his electricity bill. As reported by Malta Today, the unnamed man had bought a bitcoin miner…

Coindesk / Cryptocurrency in China: Over the Counter, Under the Table

August 5, 2019 / coindesk

Dovey Wan is a partner at Primitive Ventures, a crypto asset investment fund, and a member of CoinDesk’s advisory board. This essay is presented as a part of No Closing…

Coindesk / Marijuana-Focused Stablecoin Issuer Added to Arizona Fintech Sandbox

July 31, 2019 / coindesk

A stablecoin project for the marijuana industry has joined an Arizona fintech sandbox. According to Arizona’s Attorney Generals Office, startup Alta was accepted into the office’s fintech program. The seventh…

Coindesk / QuadrigaCX Judge Approves $1.6 Million in Expenses for EY, Law Firms

July 31, 2019 / coindesk

A Canadian judge approved more than $1.6 million in fees for firms that are seeking to recover funds from the now-defunct Canadian crypto exchange QuadrigaCX. Nova Scotia Supreme Court Judge…

Coindesk / Crypto Exchange Rain Raises from BitMEX, Opens Trading In Middle East

July 31, 2019 / coindesk

Cryptocurrency exchange Rain has opened its doors for business following regulatory approval by Bahrain’s central bank. The exchange also closed a $2.5 million funding round co-led by BitMEX Ventures. Rain…

Coindesk / Former Mt Gox CEO Karpeles Must Face US Class Action, Judge Rules

July 30, 2019 / coindesk

Mark Karpeles, former CEO of the early bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox, must face a class action lawsuit brought in Philadelphia over the firm’s collapse in 2014. According to a Reuters report on…

Coindesk / Circle CEO Allaire to Congress: Treat Crypto as a New Asset Class

July 29, 2019 / coindesk

Crypto will take center stage on Capitol Hill for the second time in as many weeks when the U.S. Senate Banking Committee convenes Tuesday to discuss current and potential regulations.…

Coindesk / Judge Punts on Decision in NYAG Case Against Bitfinex and Tether

July 29, 2019 / coindesk

A New York judge has punted on deciding whether crypto exchange Bitfinex and stablecoin issuer Tether need to turn over documents and otherwise comply with a state investigation. The New…

Coindesk / Dark Web Drug Dealer to Hand Over Bitcoin Millions After Plea Deal

July 29, 2019 / coindesk

A dark web drug dealer must forfeit $4 million in funds including bitcoin after pleading guilty to charges of money laundering and conspiracy to distribute controlled substances. According to a press…

Coindesk / SEC Clears Blockchain Gaming Startup to Sell ‘Quarters’ Tokens

July 25, 2019 / coindesk

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has issued a no-action letter to Pocketful of Quarters (PoQ), a gaming startup looking to issue tokens on the ethereum blockchain. PoQ may legally…