An Internet Court in Hangzhou, Eastern China, has turned to blockchain to fight piracy at the expense of online writers, English-language media outlet China.org.cn reports Dec. 8. China has reportedly “set up three Internet courts in Hangzhou, Beijing and Guangzhou.” Internet Courts are courts expressly intended to manage internet-related cases and allow plaintiffs to file their complaints online. The official website of Hangzhou Internet Court reads that it “behave[s] as an ‘incubator’ for Internet space governance, a ‘test field’ for Internet judicial rules, a ‘leader’ for diversified Internet disputes, and a ‘first mover’ for the transformation of Internet trials.” Hangzhou, …

A Russian court dedicated to intellectual property cases has successfully tested a blockchain network for storing copyright data. The technology was reportedly used for the first time in the judicial area in Russia, major Russian news agency TASS writes Monday, Dec. 3. According to TASS, the court recorded a change in a group of right holders, using a blockchain solution provided by Russian intellectual property startup IPChain. IPChain’s president Andrey Krichevsky claims this is a precedent for the Russian judicial system, calling the use of the tech “a definite breakthrough.” Krichevsky believes that blockchain could help increase interoperability in the …

A U.S. court has dismissed claims from regulator Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against decentralized blockchain-based assets exchange Blockvest, court documents released Nov. 27 confirm. The SEC suspended Blockvest’s Initial Coin Offering (ICO) via an emergency court order in October, with a subsequent legal battle ensuing over whether or not the firm’s BLV tokens were in fact unregistered securities under U.S. law. Part of multiple investigations into unregistered token sales by the regulator, the SEC’ retaliation initially saw U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California issue a temporary asset freeze against Blockvest. In a fresh development this week, …

This article has corrected misinformation about the claim filing procedure for investors in Envion in the case of liquidation. Our editorial team would like to apologize for the error. The cantonal court of Zug, Switzerland has shut down cryptocurrency mining firm Envion AG for an alleged unauthorized Initial Coin Offering (ICO), German news outlet Handelsblatt Global reported Nov. 28. Envion was established in Switzerland by Michael Luckow and Matthias Woestmann as an off-grid mining company that claims to use decentralized, clean energy like hydroelectric and solar to power its mobile mining units. Envion reportedly raised around $100 million through an …

The lawyer for Alexander Vinnik, the alleged former operator of defunct cryptocurrency exchange BTC-e, has said that a district court in Cyprus has withdrawn their lawsuit on charges “of fraud, money laundering and other crimes.” This development was reported by state-operated Russian news agency RIA Novosti Nov. 27. Timofey Musatov, the head of the lawyers’ group representing Vinnik, has said that the district court of Limassol city has formally granted the plaintiffs’ petition to recall their lawsuit against Vinnik and even ruled “to compensate the defendant for all legal costs incurred by him.” Musatov added: “The case against Alexander collapsed …

The lawyer for Alexander Vinnik, the alleged former operator of defunct cryptocurrency exchange BTC-e, said his defendant will go on a hunger strike this Monday, Russian state-owned news outlet TASS reported Nov. 23. According to Timofey Musatov, the head of the lawyers representing Vinnik, the reason given for the hunger strike is that “he [Vinnik] was stripped of the right for defense in France and, consequently, in Greece.” The lawyer also noted that “it became clear that the [French-issued] European arrest warrant expired.” In 2017, Greece’s supreme court ruled to extradite Vinnik to the U.S., where he faces charges of …

Users who filed a class action lawsuit against U.S. cryptocurrency exchange and wallet provider Coinbase will now go to court Jan. 31, 2019, new court documents filed Nov. 20 confirm. The lawsuit, which Jeffery Berk filed earlier this year to address alleged insider trading of Bitcoin Cash (BCH) among Coinbase officials in 2017, failed to make it to trial in October. As Cointelegraph reported, District Judge Vince Chhabria threw out Berk’s claims due to the failure to “describe the scope or content of Coinbase’s duty.” Now, an amended version of the lawsuit focuses on the exchange purportedly falling foul of …

Crypto exchange Quoine and major liquidity provider B2C2 are the opposing parties in Singapore’s first court case involving Bitcoin (BTC), which began Nov. 21, Singapore-based English-language daily The Straits Times reports. The case concerns an alleged reversal of crypto transactions in the spring of 2017. In a legal battle at the Singapore International Commercial Court, B2C2 alleges Quoine reversed seven Bitcoin to Ethereum (ETH) trades it attempted to perform in April 2017. The reversal, which Quoine in court documents said was due to a technical glitch, involves a total of 3,085 BTC (today around $13.7 million), which B2C2 is now …

A $19.6 million disputed sum between Canada’s largest crypto exchange QuadrigaCX and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) has been handed into the custody of the Ontario Superior Court, per a court document filed Nov. 9. On Oct. 8, Canadian newspaper the Globe and Mail reported that Vancouver-based QuadrigaCX had been experiencing difficulties accessing $16.3 million of its funds since January, when CIBC froze five accounts belonging to the exchange’s payment processor, Costodian Inc., and its owner, Jose Reyes. The bank purportedly froze the accounts due to an inability to identify the funds’ owners. CIBC subsequently requested the court …

Judge Jed Rakoff has ruled to end the freeze on Charlie Shrem’s assets in a lawsuit brought against him by the Winklevoss brothers, Bloomberg reports Nov. 8. In a case unsealed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York earlier this month, the Winklevoss twins allege that Shrem took part of their $250,000 investment in his exchange BitInstant to buy 5,000 bitcoins (BTC). The Winklevosses argue that Shrem used the Bitcoin he acquired with their money to furnish a lavish lifestyle after having served a year in prison for helping users of the now-defunct Silk Road …

The Texas State Securities Board has issued an emergency cease and desist order to an Australia-based cloud mining company AWS Mining PTY LTD for selling unregistered securities, according to an official notice filed Nov. 6. Per the document, AWS Mining along with its multiple agents and Chief Marketing Officer Josiah Kostek have violated the Texas Securities Act by luring the state’s residents in purchasing AWS’ unregistered cloud mining power contracts and promising a “200 percent passive return on every investment.” The company’s website also reportedly offers investors to join a multi-level marketing matrix for $20, after which they could earn …

On November 2, details of a crypto lawsuit featuring major industry players: Bitcoin Foundation founder Charlie Shrem on one side, and the Winklevoss twins on the other, were made public. The case alleges that Shrem “stole” around 5,000 Bitcoin (BTC) from Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss in 2012. Brief introduction to both sides of the conflict Charlie Shrem Charlie Shrem is an American entrepreneur and renowned Bitcoin advocate. He started investing in Bitcoin in 2011, when he was a college senior. Later the same year, he co-founded the now-defunct BitInstant, one of the first crypto exchanges. The service turned out to …