In the latest chapter of Telegram's legal battle with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the firm’s founder Pavel Durov will give a deposition along with two Telegram employees. On Nov. 25, District Judge P. Kevin Castel of the New York Southern District Court ruled that the deposition will take place on Jan. 7 or 8, 2020, at a location agreed upon by the relevant parties. Ilya Perekopsky, vice-president of Telegram, will testify as well. Perekopsky’s deposition is set for Dec. 16, 2019. The deposition of Shyam Parekh, a Telegram employee engaged in the $1.7 billion Gram (GRAM) …

The firm behind a purportedly Estonia-based cryptocurrency exchange DX.Exchange is ceasing operations following a petition filed by employees. CX Technologies, the Israeli company operating DX.Exchange, entered bankruptcy after 78 of its employees filed a petition against the company with an Israeli court, the Times of Israel reported on Nov. 24. The petition specifically alleged that DX.Exchange’s website stated that the exchange had been owned by an Estonia-registered company, while in fact it was operated by CX Technologies. Binary options scam and relations with the ruling elite Employees also claimed that CX Technologies is a successor to SpotOption, formerly a software …

A former executive of a Hollywood-based digital marketing firm has admitted to embezzling $22 million from his employer to buy digital currency. The United States Attorney’s Office of the Central District of California announced on Nov. 22 that Dennis Blieden had pleaded guilty to wire fraud and identity theft. Blieden embezzled over $22 million from his employer and used the stolen funds to buy cryptocurrency, gamble and cover personal expenses. Abuse of authority At the time, Blieden served at StyleHaul Inc., a digital marketing agency that represents “influencers'' on social media platforms, as the controller and vice president of accounting …

The CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Binance has vowed to sue industry media outlet The Block over alleged false reporting. In an ongoing Twitter exchange on Nov. 22, Changpeng Zhao, known as CZ in crypto circles, promised to take legal action over an article that claimed Binance’s Shanghai office was receiving attention from Chinese police. CZ to The Block: “Own up and apologize” “We will be suing them,” he wrote in one tweet. The offending piece originally surfaced on Friday and was part of multiple reports of a fresh crypto clampdown by China. At the same time, Bitcoin (BTC) slid to …

The New York Southern District Court has ruled in favor of the United States government to intervene in a civil case against Jon Barry Thompson, who is alleged of a $7 million Bitcoin (BTC)-related fraud. With Judge Loretta A. Preska’s ruling on Nov. 19, the U.S. government — in this case, represented by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) — now has the right to intervene in civil proceedings that are running parallel to a criminal multimillion Bitcoin scam case. Thompson, a resident of Easton, Pennsylvania, is charged with “knowingly or recklessly making false representations to customers in connection with …

A United States federal judge has ordered asset custodian Kingdom Trust to fully restore data access to all affected clients following the unilateral termination of customers' access to their own account information on Bitcoin IRA's website. Filed on Nov. 12, a court document reveals that South Dakota District Court Federal Judge Karen E. Schreier ruled in favor of Bitcoin IRA in the case against Kingdom Trust, where the latter allegedly breached a referral agreement by terminating customers’ access to their account data on Bitcoin IRA’s platform without providing prior notice. The breach of the referral agreement As described in the …

Konstantin Ignatov, co-founder of alleged crypto scam OneCoin, has pleaded guilty to participation in the multi-billion dollar fraud. According to a BBC report on Nov. 14, Ignatov signed a plea on Oct. 4 and now faces up to 90 years in prison. The news was made public on Nov. 12, the BBC says. After being arrested at Los Angeles International Airport in March 2019, Ignatov pleaded guilty to several charges, including money laundering and fraud. While facing up to 90 years behind bars, he has yet to be sentenced and will reportedly not face further criminal charges for his role …

The Office of United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and prosecutors for the Southern District of New York have indicted a man for allegedly participating in a cryptocurrency scheme dubbed Igobit. According to an announcement on Nov. 6, Asa Saint Clair was charged with one count of wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison if convicted. Used clients funds for dinners at Manhattan restaurants The document states that, from 2017 through September 2019, Saint Clair solicited investors to be part of Igobit by World Sports Alliance, a purported intergovernmental organization focused on …

The latest court documents in the David Kleinman versus Craig Wright case filed on Nov. 1 reveal that Wright — the self-proclaimed Bitcoin (BTC) creator Satoshi Nakamoto — informed the plaintiff that he could not finance a 500,000 BTC ($4.5 billion) settlement. Given that the case was apparently reaching a resolution with the agreement, the plaintiff stopped active litigation and focused on settlement, joining Wright’s requests to extend the deadline into late October. Then Wright allegedly broke the settlement agreement: “On October 30, without any advance notice, Plaintiffs were informed Craig could no longer finance the settlement and was ‘breaking’ …

SIM swapping victim Michael Terpin wrote an open letter to the United States Federal Communication Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai. In his letter, posted by Coindesk on Oct. 21, Terpin requested that the regulator take decisive action against SIM swapping and end this type of fraud. Terpin proposes to force all U.S. mobile carriers to hide customer pins and passwords from employees and oblige them to inform its customers that they can opt-in to carrier high-security plans, which must include a “no port” option, meaning that a consumer would have the choice to go through the fraud department before the …

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has responded to Telegram’s counterclaim, insisting that Grams are securities. Preventing Telegram from further violation Following Telegram’s counterclaim on Oct. 16, where the firm argued that its native crypto is not a security and the preliminary injunction should be denied, the SEC has responded with a new filing in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on Oct. 17. In the document, the regulator not only insists that Telegram has actually violated the U.S. securities laws but also argues that a preliminary injunction should be granted to prevent …

Telegram responded to the United States securities regulator, arguing that Gram, the native cryptocurrency for the Telegram Open Network (TON), is not a security. Telegram requests to deny SEC’s injunction In an Oct. 16 filing, Telegram urged the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York to deny the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) request for a preliminary injunction. Moreover, the firm asked the court to enter an order that maintains the status quo regarding the offer, sale or distribution of Grams. The filing is released two days in advance of Telegram’s ordered deadline to release …