A New York judge has thrown out an investor’s proposed class action lawsuit against the development team of altcoin Nano (XRB), according to court documents filed Oct. 22. The lawsuit accused the devs of luring him to trade the coin on a platform that lost hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of the cryptocurrency. Initially, the lawsuit was filed in April by an American individual, Alex Brola, who reportedly bought $50,000 worth of XRB on Dec. 10, 2017, through Silver Miller law firm. The suit accused Nano’s core team of violating U.S. securities laws by selling unregistered securities and negligently …

A New York federal court has ordered cryptocurrency hedge fund Gelfman Blueprint, Inc. (GBI) and its CEO Nicholas Gelfman to pay over $2.5 million for operating a fraudulent Ponzi scheme, according to an official announcement published Oct. 18. GBI is a New York-based corporation and denominated Bitcoin (BTC) hedge fund incorporated in 2014. As stated on the company’s website, by 2015 it had 85 customers and 2,367 BTC under management. The order is the continuation of the initial anti-fraud enforcement action filed by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) against GBI in September 2017. The CFTC charged GBI for …

Canada’s largest digital currency exchange QuadrigaCX is blaming legal action from a major bank for delays when customers cash out funds, the Globe and Mail reported Oct. 8. Vancouver-based crypto exchange QuadrigaCX was launched in 2013 and is known as the first exchange in Canada to be licensed by the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC). At press time, Quadriga’s daily trading volume is around $600,000 per CoinMarketCap. Quadriga reportedly states that it has been experiencing difficulties accessing $21.6 million of its funds since January when the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) froze five accounts belonging …

This week, a United States federal district judge ruled that an allegedly fraudulent crypto token meets the definition of a commodity. That brought the case under the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) purview, which has long argued that virtual currencies constitute commodities. Here what it means — and how the watchdog has been supporting its stance on cryptocurrencies’ legal status. Are cryptocurrencies commodities or securities? Well, they can be both The regulatory approach to cryptocurrencies in the U.S. is complex. While the Congress holds supreme power over federal regulatory agencies like the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the CFTC, …

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed charges against international securities dealer 1pool Ltd., which was offering Bitcoin-funded security-based swaps, according to an SEC announcement published September 27. Per the SEC, the case involves the Marshall Islands-based corporation 1pool Ltd., which provides cryptocurrency-related services and stands behind 1broker.com, and its Austria-based CEO Patrick Brunner. The complaint alleges that the parties violated federal securities laws in connection with security-based swaps funded with Bitcoin (BTC). The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and seeks permanent injunctions, disgorgement plus interest, and penalties. The SEC …

A U.S. federal district judge has ruled that an allegedly fraudulent crypto token meets the definition of a commodity, bringing the case under regulators’ purview, Finance Feeds reports September 27. Judge Rya W. Zobel of the Massachusetts District Court ruled Sept. 25 against a motion to dismiss a case that had been launched by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) against an allegedly fraudulent crypto scheme known as “My Big Coin Pay Inc.,” reported to have been based in the state of Nevada. The CFTC had sued tech entrepreneur Randall Crater, and other relief defendants tied to his firm, for …

Brave browser, developed by Mozilla co-founder Brendan Eich, has filed privacy complaints in Ireland and Britain against Google, Reuters reported September 13. Brave is an open-source blockchain-powered browser, which blocks ads and website trackers. The browser is designed to improve online privacy by sharing less personal data with advertising customers, yet targeting web ads by analyzing anonymized user browsing behavior. The complaint reportedly states that Google and the advertising technology (adtech) industry practice “wide-scale and systematic breaches of the data protection regime” in the way they publish personalized online ads. The complaint further explains that while a user is visiting …

Nalin Kotadiya, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) official and former Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA), has been remanded in custody for ten days in connection with a $1.3 million Bitcoin (BTC) extortion case, the Times of India reported September 10. A special anti-corruption court has reportedly remitted Kotadiya in police custody for a ten day custodial interrogation after he was arrested by the city crime branch and the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). Kotadiya was allegedly involved in a $1.3 million BTC extortion case. In April, the CID began investiging the reported kidnapping and extortion of 200 BTC from an …

Ripple Labs Inc. has announced it has reached a settlement “of all outstanding litigation” between R3 HoldCo LLC, R3 LLC, and XRP II, LLC, according to a press release published September 10. Per the statement, the details of the settlement will remain confidential while “both sides look forward to putting these disputes behind them.” The litigation between Ripple Labs and R3 Consortium began in September 2017, when the consortium filed a lawsuit in Delaware and New York against Ripple Labs. R3 then claimed that Ripple had violated a prior purchase agreement between the two companies for XRP tokens. The agreement …

The U.S. Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has won a court order to permanently bar the operator of the New York-based firm CabbageTech Corp. for cryptocurrency-related “bold and vicious fraud,” Bloomberg reported August 24. Earlier this year, Patrick McDonnell, cryptocurrency promoter and operator of CabbageTech Corp., was charged with “fraud and misappropriation in connection with purchases and trading of Bitcoin (BTC) and Litecoin (LTC).” McDonnell subsequently argued that the CFTC did not have the authority to regulate his commercial operations; however, New York district judge Jack B. Weinstein rejected his claim. In July, Weinstein reportedly held a nonjury trial where …

The U.S. District Court, Northern District of California has ruled to deny a motion to remand against Ripple, its subsidiary XRP II, and Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse, according to an official document issued August 10. The original lawsuit was first initiated by XRP investor Ryan Coffey in a San Francisco court on May 3, 2018, claiming that he lost $551.89 while trading XRP tokens. The class action was filed by law firm Taylor-Copeland, alleging that Ripple sold XRP tokens in violation of both the U.S. the Securities Act and the California Corporations Code. The plaintiff also claimed that XRP is …

A Chinese Bitcoin (BTC) investor has sued local crypto exchange OKCoin for allegedly preventing him from getting Bitcoin Cash (BCH) after the BTC fork, local news agency Legal Weekly reports July 31. The case is reportedly the first legal action in China that involved last year’s fork of Bitcoin. The investor, known under the pseudonym Feng Bin, filed a lawsuit against OKCoin, accusing the exchange of blocking him from receiving 38.748 BCH that he was due after Bitcoin’s hard fork in August 2017. In the lawsuit, Feng Bin states that he attempted to sell the Bitcoin Cash when the digital …