An Israeli judge has ruled that bitcoin (BTC) is an asset and not a currency, local news site Globes reported on May 21. The judgment is significant because it means profits made by selling the cryptocurrency will now be liable to capital gains tax, Globes notes. Noam Copel, who founded the blockchain startup DAV, had bought BTC in 2011 and sold two years later — making a profit of $2.9 million at today’s rates. During the court case, he had argued that bitcoin should be regarded as a foreign currency, as fluctuations in exchange rates are not taxed. But the …

Stablecoin issuer Tether said that it had invested some of its reserves in bitcoin (BTC), according to a court filing obtained by tech-focused media outlet the Block on May 21. Per the document dated May 16, David Miller, an attorney for Tether’s associated firm Bitfinex, said that Tether invested “a small amount” of Tether’s reserves into bitcoin, specifying that “prior to the April 24th order … Tether actually did invest in instruments beyond cash and cash equivalents, including bitcoin, they bought bitcoin.” Miller further said that Tether made “other investments, including purchasing other assets.” In response to Miller’s statement, New …

Justice Joel Cohen of the New York Supreme Court has granted the Bitfinex cryptocurrency exchange’s motion to modify an injunction from the New York Attorney General (NYAG), Bitfinex announced on May 16. Per the announcement, the court order will allow Bitfinex and affiliated stablecoin operator Tether to continue their normal business. It also states that the original injunction by the NYAG will expire in 90 days and that any motion to renew will be the responsibility of the NYAG. Cohen wrote in his decision: “...the Court finds that the preliminary injunction should be tailored to address OAG’s legitimate law enforcement …

Former OneCoin investor Christine Grablis is suing the cryptocurrency investment scheme for fraud, according to a complaint filed on May 7. Grablis is seeking damages and a class action suit to represent other investors purportedly defrauded by OneCoin. The full list of defendants in this lawsuit — Grablis v. OneCoin Ltd. — includes OneCoin Ltd, Ruja Ignatova, Konstantin Ignatov, Sebastian Greenwood, Mark Scott, along with other potential parties who have yet to be named. According to a Bloomberg report on May 7, OneCoin founder Ruja Ignatova has been charged with wire fraud, securities fraud and money laundering; Konstantin Ignatova, Ruja’s …

Popular Russian crypto exchange aggregator BestChange will soon resume operations after being blocked by the government, crypto news outlet Forklog reports May 7. The firm’s head of public relations and marketing Nikita Zuborev told Forklog that the block is expected to be lifted in the coming days following a court hearing. Russian telecommunications watchdog Roskomnadzor (RKN) blocked the BestChange website on March 12, following an order from a district court in Omsk, Russia’s seventh largest city. Despite the recent block by RKN, BestChange has still been operational in Russia through using various unblocking methods such as VPN services, Zuborev stated. …

The United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is suing a startup for spending its raised funds on bitcoins (BTC) and credit card bills, rather than the stated products, the court filing revealed on May 6. The FTC brought a lawsuit before the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas alleging that the startup dubbed iBackPack and its officer and authorized signatory Douglas Monahan misused a "large share" of $800,000 raised during four crowdfunding campaigns from consumers. Specifically, the defendants allegedly did not use the funds for development, production and distribution of the stated products such as backpacks, but …

Australian computer scientist Craig Wright has served Roger Ver, CEO of Bitcoin.com, with a libel suit at a London bitcoin cash meetup according to a report by Decrypt on May 2. According to the report, Ver called Wright “a fraud and a liar” in a YouTube video — which has since been stricken for violating YouTube community guidelines — that prompted Wright’s libel suit. Ver commented to Decrypt that he will be fighting the lawsuit. Wright has served legal suits to other figures in the crypto sector, who have denied that he is the mysterious inventor of bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto. …

The United States Attorney for the District of Arizona (DA) is seeking to retain a defendant in custody in a case of alleged shadow banking for cryptocurrency companies. In a court filing released on May 1, the DA states that they are concerned the accused will flee. The filing follows the official announcement published by the Southern District of New York Attorney in April, ordering to charge an Arizona citizen Reginald Fowler and Israeli woman Ravid Yosef for allegedly operating an unlicensed money transferring business and bank fraud. The recent filing asks the court to detain the defendant pending trial …

Canadian blockchain firm Vanbex has filed a lawsuit against its former contractor for spreading false and defamatory statements about the firm, as Vanbex announced on May 1. On March 14, Canadian police froze personal assets of the firm’s founders Kevin Hobbs and Lisa Cheng due to an allegedly fraudulent initial coin offering (ICO). According to court documents, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) determined that Vanbex founders Kevin Hobbs and Lisa Cheng were defrauding investors by offering investment in its token Etherparty (FUEL), while intending to use investor funds for personal benefit, rather than developing products. Following the reports, Vanbex’s …

The Southern District of New York Attorney has charged an Arizona man and Israeli woman for allegedly shadow banking cryptocurrency companies, according to an official announcement published on April 30. Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced the arrest of Reginald Fowler for allegedly operating an unlicensed money transferring business and bank fraud. His purported co-conspirator Ravid Yosef has also been charged with bank fraud and is still at large, according to the announcement. In 2018, the accused allegedly worked for several associated companies that provided fiat currency banking services to cryptocurrency …

In China, blockchain technology is increasingly employed to settle court cases, local news outlet Global Times reported on April 25. Speaking at the 2019 Forum on China Intellectual Property Protection, Zhang Wen, president of the Beijing Internet Court — which was established in September 2018, and has since processed 14,904 cases — reportedly said that the court employs technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain to render judgement. Zhang reportedly told the Global Times that “of the 41 cases concluded [with blockchain technology] so far, parties chose to settle out of court rather than litigate in 40 cases with …

The trustee of now-defunct Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Mt. Gox has extended the deadline for submission of rehabilitation plans, according to an official announcement published on the company’s website on April 25. Per the announcement, the exchange’s Rehabilitation Trustee Nobuaki Kobayashi filed a motion in a bid to extend the submission deadline of a rehabilitation plan at the Tokyo District Court. On April 24, 2019, the court released an order to extend the deadline to October 28, 2019. The announcement reads: “A large amount of rehabilitation claims that the Rehabilitation Trustee fully or partially disapproved remains undetermined for being subject to …