The Supreme Court of India has postponed a hearing that would consider the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) ban on providing services to cryptocurrency-related business. In an Oct. 16 session on the ban that prohibits banks and financial institutions from providing digital currency-related services, the court shifted the date of the next hearing to Nov. 12. The date was further extended to Nov. 19 due to national holidays in India, which fall on the date initially set. RBI criticized In late August, the Supreme Court slammed the country’s central bank over its handling of the cryptocurrency business ban and ordered …

Telegram Open Network (TON) developers responded to its investors after American regulators abruptly announced that its $1.7 billion token sale was illegal. No clear feedback from SEC for 18 months According to a TON letter to investors obtained by Cointelegraph, the firm has been trying to solicit feedback from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for the past 18 months regarding the TON blockchain and does not agree with the recent action. It wrote: “We were surprised and disappointed that the SEC chose to file the lawsuit under these circumstances, and we disagree with the SEC's legal position.” …

Bank of Ireland (BOI) executives have backed out of the testimony before the United States Government in the criminal proceedings regarding a $400 million worth money laundering scheme through cryptocurrency scam OneCoin. No testimony on voluntary basis As fintech-focused news outlet FinanceFeed reported on Oct. 11, the U.S. Government filed a Letter with the Court on Oct. 10, in which it clarified that over the past week it had tried to get voluntary witness testimony in Ireland. However, the witnesses changed their stance toward the prospect of testifying and would now testify only in response to compulsory process under the …

American prosecutors have indicted a man from Singapore for using stolen identities to illegally utilize Amazon Web Services’ cloud computing power for crypto mining. According to the indictment filed on Oct. 1, Ho Jun Jia was charged with eight counts of wire fraud, four counts of access device fraud and two counts of aggravated identity theft. Impersonating a game developer The document states that, from October 2017 to February 2018, Ho Jun Jia — also known under the aliases Matthew Ho, Prefinity and Ethereum Vendor — has stolen several identities and accounts, including from an unnamed Los Angeles-based game developer. …

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has entered settlement talks with alleged fraudulent cryptocurrency firm Veritaseum. Initial conference adjourned After filing a complaint against Veritaseum CEO Reginald Middleton and his two companies in August 2019, the SEC said that it is engaged in settlement talks with the defendants, fintech publication FinanceFeeds reports on Oct. 9. According to the report, the regulator filed a motion to adjourn the initial conference at the New York Eastern District Court earlier in October. Following the motion, the court reportedly agreed to reschedule the conference for Nov. 14, 2019. $14.8 million raised through …

A New York-based legal firm has filed a lawsuit against Tether and Bitfinex, accusing them of cryptocurrency market manipulation. “Largest bubble in history” Roche Freedman filed a class-action suit alleging that the stablecoin firm and affiliated crypto exchange have been involved in defrauding investors, manipulating markets and concealing illicit proceeds, the firm’s founding partner Kyle Roche tweeted on Oct. 7. In the tweet, Roche accused Tether and Bitfinex of creating the “largest bubble in history.” Filed on Oct. 6, the complaint document states that Bitfinex and Tether primarily accomplished a “sophisticated scheme” involving “part-fraud, part-pump-and-dump, and part-money laundering.” Suit alleges …

Stablecoin firm Tether and its affiliate exchange Bitfinex anticipate a lawsuit alleging that Tether token (USDT) is involved in market manipulation as the result of an unpublished paper. Tether and Bitfinex to defend its position On Oct. 5, both Tether and Bitfinex published statements claiming that they had become aware of an unreleased paper “falsely positing that Tether issuances are responsible for manipulating the cryptocurrency market.” Both firms argued that findings and conclusions claimed by that unpublished source relies on “flawed assumptions, incomplete and cherry-picked data, and faulty methodology.” Both announcements likewise refer to the paper as “non-peer reviewed.” Tether …

The CEO of Brazilian cryptocurrency firm Grupo Bitcoin Banco has claimed 25,000 Bitcoins (BTC) — a staggering $209 million as of press time — on a tax filing, while also saying his firm is unable to pay out customer funds as the result of a hack. The tax document was shared with Cointelegraph by an individual close to Brazil’s tax authority, the Department of Federal Revenue (RFB), who asked to remain anonymous for security reasons. According to the document, the exchange’s CEO, Claudio Oliveira,claimed his crypto holdings in a 2018 filing with the RFB. Although the document is genuine, it …

Executives at the Bank of Ireland (BOI) could join a trial in the case against Mark Scott, who allegedly helped launder nearly $400 million via cryptocurrency scam OneCoin. Four BOI witnesses to testify remotely On Sept. 29, the government of the United States submitted a court motion seeking the testimony of four witnesses via closed-circuit television from a remote location in Ireland. Initially set for Oct. 7, the trial has been adjourned to Nov. 4, while a final pretrial conference is scheduled for Oct. 28, as reported by fintech publication FinanceFeeds in early September. All four witnesses are current or …

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged Jonathan C. Lucas, the founder of adult entertainment marketplace Fantasy Market, with orchestrating a fraudulent initial coin offering (ICO). According to the SEC complaint published on Sept. 23, Lucas received around $63,000 in cryptocurrency from more than 100 investors “through the fraudulent offer and sale of unregistered digital securities of Fantasy Market.” The document states: “As alleged in the complaint, Lucas made numerous materially false statements in a whitepaper and online to induce investors to participate in the ICO. Among other alleged misstatements, Lucas claimed that a "working-beta" version of …

Blockchain network Ripple has filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit accusing the firm of selling unregistered securities. Ripple: Securities ruling beyond scope of the court In a court filing uploaded by Fortune on Sept. 20, lawyers representing the company against investor Bradley Sostack contested the claims. Part of an ongoing legal battle, Sostack says Ripple’s sales of XRP in 2013 constituted an unlawful securities offering. Ripple denies this, but the case has thrown up wider concerns over the legality of Ripple’s operations regarding XRP. As Cointelegraph reported, executives have refused to acknowledge the company’s relationship to the token, despite …

Craig Wright, a self-proclaimed inventor of Bitcoin (BTC), has asked for another extension of a deadline to settle his case involving his late partner Dave Kleiman. Wright entered negotiations On Sept. 17, Wright’s attorneys filed a new 30-day extension for all discovery and case deadlines, citing the need to facilitate the ongoing discussions with Dave Kleiman’s estate as the parties have entered “extensive settlement negotiations.” According to the document, Wright’s lawyers and Kleiman’s estate have reached a non-binding agreement to settle the matter and are continuing to negotiate and finalize all relevant terms. Citing a number of upcoming case deadlines …