NFT News by Thebittimes.Com

UK court filings submitted today reveal that Craig Wright has been referred to the country’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to face an investigation into whether he committed perjury during his court battle with The Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA). This is despite the court admitting that it still doesn’t know where he is. In today’s High Court-approved judgment, Mr Justice Mellor said evidence shows that Wright has left his Wimbledon residence and appears to have left the UK . According to Mellor, the evidence suggests that the Australian computer programmer “has been said to be traveling and was last established to be in the time zone of UTC +7.” Read more: Craig Wright ’s assets frozen because judge doesn’t know where he is This timezone covers much of Southeast Asia, including Cambodia and Thailand, along with Siberia, China, and Mongolia .  COPA, which successfully sued Wright and found he was not Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto, claimed, “Dr. Wrig...

Crypto exchange HTX has skipped a Dutch court hearing after being accused of ignoring a scam victim and has been ordered to reveal the scammer’s identity — or face a hefty fine. According to the Netherlands’ financial crime unit, a scammer stole €1.2 million ($1.3 million) from a local with an HTX wallet that has been connected to several other Crypto investment scams. HTX allegedly ignored the Dutch victim’s reports, leading them to contact authorities and seek legal action. The scammer’s full name, address, zip code, and place of residence must be handed over, an Amsterdam court ruled in a hearing earlier this month. HTX didn’t attend. HTX was fined €500,000 ($550,000) and can be ordered to pay €100,000 ($110,000) more each day it doesn’t comply, up to €2 million ($2.2 million). HTX hacked week after Poloniex — now Justin Sun only posts as AI Read more: Justin Sun in no hurry to tell China about HTX hack HTX is owned by Tron founde...

The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has denied Sam Bankman-Fried’s request for release , citing concerns over his previous attempts to tamper with witnesses and the need to maintain the integrity of the judicial process. The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit denied Sam Bankman-Fried‘s appeal for release , mandating his continued incarceration as his legal battles unfold. The court’s decision, articulated by Clerk of Court Catherine O’Hagan Wolfe in a letter dated Nov. 21 is a clear indication of the judiciary’s stance on Bankman-Fried’s case. Wolfe stated, “[w]e have reviewed the Defendant-Appellant’s additional arguments and find them unpersuasive.” This ruling underscores the weight of Bankman-Fried’s alleged misconduct and the court’s commitment to a fair and uncompromised judicial process. The court pointed out Bankman-Fried’s attempts to influence the trial, noting that, “[t]he record shows t...

Lawyers for FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried have filed a new request to temporarily release him from prison to prepare for legal battles. Defense attorney Mark Cohen asked Judge Lewis Kaplan, who is presiding over the case, to grant Bankman-Fried temporary release , stating that it’s necessary to prepare his defense. Lawyers asked the judge to temporarily release the former head of FTX on Oct.2, the day before the start of the trial. “We submit that we are finding it exceedingly difficult as a practical matter to adequately prepare for trial with the restrictions on access currently in place,” Mark Cohen, defense attorney The government provided the defense with 50 witnesses and thousands of materials and exhibits, Cohen said. However, not all of them can adequately represent his client’s interests unless he is able to confer with them and prepare to confront witnesses and evidence outside the courtroom. You might also like: FTX sues SBF’s parents over misapp...

Brad Garlinghouse hinted that the eagerly-awaited Hinman documents could tip the balance in Ripple’s favor. With just one day until the Hinman documents are due to be unsealed, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse suggests the documents will be “well worth the wait." In a June 12 Twitter reply to a question raised by crypto YouTuber Jungle Inc, Garlinghouse said that while he did not want to “overstep,” both he and Ripple's chief legal officer Stuart Alderoty see the documents as being worth the 18-month fight to get them unsealed.  Wish I could go in depth now, but we've waited this long (18+ months), I don't want to overstep… suffice it to say @s_alderoty and I believe they were well worth the wait. — Brad Garlinghouse (@bgarlinghouse) June 12, 2023 The Hinman documents refer to internal SEC messages concerning a 2018 speech given by former SEC Director William Hinman. In the speech, Hinman said that while cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) may star...

Core Scientific has rejected a multi-million-dollar administrative claim from Celsius Network, arguing it's owed an even higher amount from the crypto lender. Bankrupt Bitcoin (BTC) mining firm Core Scientific has objected to paying a $4.7 million administrative claim put forward by crypto lender Celsius Network, leading to a battle between the firms over contractual obligations. According to the objection, which was filed in Texas bankruptcy court on May 5, Core Scientific has asked that Celsius Network’s $4.7 million administrative claim s be rejected as the firm cannot prove it is entitled to one. “Celsius’ request for allowance and immediate payment of the Celsius alleged admin claim ignores that Core has substantial claim s against Celsius, which Core believes exceed the Celsius alleged admin claim ,” wrote the objection. For context, Core first signed a contract with Celsius in 2020 to host its cryptocurrency holdings in Core’s data centers. However, due to an increase in ...

After the SEC’s crack-down on Kraken, Coinbase’s legal head outlined the differences between Kraken’s staking product and its own. The staking services offered by cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase are “fundamentally different” to what was offered by its peer exchange Kraken — which recently came under fire from the United States securities regulator — according to Coinbase's head lawyer. Paul Grewal, Coinbase’s chief legal officer, made the comments in his response to a shareholder question regarding its staking services during a Q&A session on the exchange’s fourth-quarter results, noting: “The staking products that we offer on Coinbase are fundamentally different from the yield products that were described in the reinforcement action against Kraken. The differences matter.” The first point of difference Grewal highlighted was that Coinbase users retain ownership of their cryptocurrencies at all times. In its user agreement last updated Dec. 15, 2022, Coinbase states that it m...

Plaintiffs have alleged that the products have not been registered, which prevented them from receiving disclosures to better assess the risks of using Gemini Earn. Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, founders of Gemini cryptocurrency exchange, are reportedly facing a new lawsuit from investors over interest -earning program Gemini Earn. Disgruntled investors have filed a lawsuit against Gemini founders, accusing the firm of fraud and violations of the securities laws, according to a report by Bloomberg. Filed on Dec. 27 in Manhattan federal court, the complaint states that Winklevoss brothers refused to “honor any further investor redemptions” after halting those due to exposure to troubled trading firm Genesis Global Capital. The plaintiffs alleged that the products have not been registered, which prevented them from receiving disclosures to better assess the risks of using Gemini Earn. Launched last year, Gemini Earn platform was designed to generate as much as 8% in interest on their...

The community is hopeful that the assertion by the CFTC will put to bed claims that staked coins are securities according to the Howey Test. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has again labeled Ether (ETH) as a commodity in a Dec. 13 court filing — in contrast to statements from chief Rostin Behnam on Nov. 30 suggesting that Bitcoin was the sole cryptocurrency that should be viewed as a commodity. According to the CFTC, as per their filing today, ETH is a commodity . This really should put any Security designation to rest. pic.twitter.com/PkHWredNK4 — Hal Press (@NorthRockLP) December 13, 2022 In its lawsuit against Sam Bankman-Fried, FTX, and sister company Alameda Research, the regulator on multiple occasions referred to Ether, Bitcoin (BTC) and Tether (USDT) "among others" as "commodities" under United States law. “Certain digital assets are “commodities,” including bitcoin (BTC), ether (ETH), tether (USDT) and others, as defined under Section 1a...

Despite dismissing the case, the judge acknowledged the lawsuit reflects a potentially dangerous trend of fraudulent-like promotional schemes. A federal judge in California has dismissed a class action lawsuit against reality TV star Kim Kardashian, boxing champ Floyd Mayweather and the founders of EthereumMax, explaining that the submissions failed to meet the “heightened pleading standards” for fraud claims. The judge has, however, left room for the plaintiffs to refile the proposed class action lawsuit if certain provisions are amended. In the original Jan. 7 Court filing submitted by Scott+Scott Attorneys At Law, the plaintiffs argued that Kardashian, Mayweather, and also former NBA superstar Paul Pierce didn’t disclose they were being paid to promote EthereumMax (EMAX). The plaintiffs alleged that they promoted it with the objective to “artificially inflate the price of the token” through the use of “false or misleading statements.” Kim Kardashian promoted EMAX in a Jun. 2021 p...