The crypto news headlines at the start of May with regard to Kleiman v. Wright were mostly variations on the theme of Craig Wright’s Satoshi case going to trial. The two parties appear well entrenched in their positions, and lawyers for both sides have said they expect the trial to begin as scheduled on July 6, 2020, in Florida. Does this mean there will be no settlement? “This is not like an ordinary commercial dispute where the parties can agree they’ve got a 50-50 chance of winning on an ambiguous contract provision, so they just split the difference,” Jason Gottlieb, …

Internet tech support and consulting player KDH Consulting Group recently filed an official complaint against crypto investment management firm Iterative Capital Management for alleged fraud and misdirection. Accusations include "fraud and breach of fiduciary duties, among other things," the April 27 filling stated. Iterative Capital allegedly lied Iterative Capital allegedly falsely boasted of previous crypto investment and trading success and liquidity related to a “hedge fund-like” account, which they urged KDH to join. Instead of using the capital as stated, for crypto investment and trading profit, the filing accuses Iterative Capital of taking the assets appropriated to the account and …

Legal proceedings surrounding the infamous OneCoin Ponzi scheme have seen a couple of updates, with the lead plaintiff for a $4 billion class-action urging the judge not to scrap the case after he missed two consecutive reporting deadlines. Federal prosecutors also unsealed an indictment from 2018 against OneCoin co-founder, Karl Greenwood. Plaintiffs request continuation of $4 billion class-action Levi & Korsinsky LLP, the law firm representing lead plaintiff Donald Berdeaux and plaintiff Christine Grablis, has responded to an order from U.S. District Judge Valerie Caproni to show cause for the case’s continuation. The court’s Order to Show Cause was issued …

The United States-based Blockchain Association has filed an amicus curiae brief in support of Canadian messenger Kik amid the firm’s legal battle with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The association addressed the April 17 brief to the court which is considering the case, asking it to deny the SEC’s motion for summary judgment and decide the case narrowly to avoid casting doubt on cryptocurrency projects that have yet to appear before the court. In March, the SEC requested summary judgment, claiming that it possessed “undisputed evidence” that Kik’s ICO distributed unlicensed securities. Not the same as Telegram’s case Basically, the …

A federal judge for the Southern District of California has argued in a recent court filing that blockchain-based assets exchange Blockvest and founder Reginald Buddy Ringgold III should lose their defense in a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) case after allegations of fraud and misconduct. Court documents released on April 20 show Judge Michael S. Berg has recommended granting plaintiff SEC’s “Motion for Terminating Sanctions” against Blockvest. “The Court has considered alternative monetary, evidentiary, and issue preclusion sanctions, and concludes that, under the facts of this case, even broad sanctions would not adequately redress Defendants’ egregious misconduct and deceit.” Blockvest …

Another episode of the Kleiman v. Wright saga concluded Monday with District Court Judge Beth Bloom ordering Craig Wright to turn over the 11,000-plus documents that Wright had declared “privileged.” Riveting the crypto world for more than two years, the case centers on 1.1 million Bitcoin that may or may not have been mined by Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoin’s founder, which may or may not be in a trust controlled by Craig Wright, who claims to be Satoshi Nakamoto himself. If any Bitcoins are retrieved, Wright may have to share them with the estate of his former business partner, the late …

There may soon be a new twist in the long-running legal case involving famous self-proclaimed Bitcoin (BTC) creator, Craig Wright, and the estate of his alleged former partner, Dave Kleiman. Wright, one of the most well-known figures to claim the mantle of Bitcoin’s creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, has been ordered to provide documents supporting the case by April 17. In an April 13 court order, United States district court Judge Beth Bloom overruled Wright’s objection to providing case documents on the basis of attorney-client and spousal privilege. Wright is once again ordered to provide real evidence for holding his Bitcoin fortune …

Roche Cyrulnik Freedman LLP, working with Selendy & Gay PLLC, filed 11 class-action lawsuits on April 3 in the Southern District of New York against seven token issuers and four of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges. The sweeping filings name exchange giants Binance, Bibox, BitMEX and KuCoin as defendants, along with Block.one, the Tron Foundation, the Bprotocol Foundation — which oversees the Bancor protocol — Civic, KayDex Pte. Ltd. — which operates as Kyber Network — Quantstamp and Status. Executives were not spared, with heavyweights Changpeng Zhao, Dan Larimer, Vinny Lingham and Brendan Blumer also named in the suits. The …

Lawyers for Satoshi claimant Craig Wright have strongly criticised a magistrate's order as wrong in law and “based in significant part on personal attacks” against Wright and his Kenyan attorney. Wright‘s team was objecting to the Order on Discovery filed in the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of Florida, that required him to produce a cache of 11,000 documents in a multi-billion lawsuit issued by the estate of his late business partner Dave Kleiman. They said the "order is clearly erroneous and contrary to law. It should be reversed and vacated”. Earlier in the case, Magistrate Judge Bruce …

United States Federal District Judge Jed Rakoff is considering temporarily releasing a 61-year-old toy retailer-turned-Silk Road vendor amid concerns of a purportedly imminent COVID-19 outbreak in a federal jail. According to Law360 on April 8, the prisoner, Hugh Haney, is serving a three-and-a-half-year money-laundering sentence for failing to explain where he obtained $19 million in Bitcoins (BTC). While Judge Rakoff gave additional time to brief a bail request after an April 8 hearing, he described the motion for Haney’s compassionate release as “an argument for releasing every single person” in the facility. Judge considers Silk Road vendor's request for release …

The Texas securities regulator has continued its crackdown on cryptocurrency scams, spotting an alleged fraudulent crypto firm that made fake claims about COVID-19 donations. On April 8, the Texas State Securities Board (TSSB) issued an emergency cease and desist order against Ultra Mining, alleging that the crypto mining firm is involved in diverse illicit activities including purportedly fraudulent claims to double investors’ money. As specified in an official TSSB notice, the Texas action was brought jointly with the Alabama Securities Commission to stop the ongoing illegal offering. According to the order, Ultra Mining is promising some “eye-opening returns.” As such, …

Sentencing for the co-founder of the major crypto scam OneCoin has been postponed for a further three months at the request of the United States government. On April 7, the New York Southern District Court approved a motion to adjourn the sentencing control date for Konstantin Ignatov, brother and accomplice of OneCoin co-founder and current fugitive Ruja Ignatova, a.k.a the "Cryptoqueen." Originally set for April 8, Ignatov’s sentencing date will now take place on July 8, 2020. Ignatov’s cooperation as a witness As reported, OneCoin is among the industry’s most infamous exit scams. Founded in 2014, the Bulgaria-based firm remained …