The state of cryptocurrency regulation in Russia has taken another twist as a local court has ordered the country’s largest bank to resume account support for a Bitcoin (BTC) trader. Sverdlovsk regional court, a court in Russia’s fourth-largest city of Yekaterinburg, has ordered Sber, formerly known as Sberbank, to unblock account services to a client involved in Bitcoin trading, according to an official announcement on Monday. The client’s bank accounts processed multiple transactions associated with trades on cryptocurrency exchanges from May to August 2020. Sber blocked the individual from access to their bank accounts, citing suspicious transaction activity and Anti-Money …

An ongoing lawsuit involving crypto project Nano has taken another turn this week when the developers sought a sanction after the plaintiff dropped the case. The Nano team is after $701,000 in attorney fees and costs as a sanction after a token buyer dropped his proposed class action. On Tuesday, its legal team told a California federal court that some of the claims against them had been “legally baseless,” according to Law360. Token buyer Alec Otto had accused the Nano developers of fraud, violating securities laws and other offenses in connection with the loss of millions of tokens following the …

Powers On... is a monthly opinion column from Marc Powers, who spent much of his 40-year legal career working with complex securities-related cases in the United States after a stint with the SEC. He is now an adjunct professor at Florida International University College of Law, where he teaches a course on “Blockchain, Crypto and Regulatory Considerations.” Well, well, well. It seems that some of those class-action law firms that ferret out possible securities claims in search of fees and recovery for investors, sometimes wrapped self-righteously in the flag of investor harm and rights, are properly receiving a cold shoulder …

A Coinbase user has filed a class action lawsuit seeking $5 million in damages because of an allegedly misleading Dogecoin campaign. In the legal document, David Suski, the plaintiff, said he was deceived into trading $100 of Dogecoin (DOGE) for an entry into a $1.2 million sweepstakes offer on Coinbase. The document claims that Coinbase failed to communicate that a person could enter the sweepstakes without purchasing $100 of Dogecoin. The first day Dogecoin was available for trade on Coinbase, June 3, 2021, the company sent out an email to users about the sweepstakes stating “Trade Doge, Win Doge.” The …

Amid the ongoing regulatory uncertainty to cryptocurrencies in India, a high court in the country’s capital is taking action to regulate advertising by local crypto exchanges. The Delhi High Court has issued notices to local authorities and crypto firms in an effort to enforce guidelines for crypto exchanges advertising on national television, the New Indian Express reported Wednesday. The court is seeking responses from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, as well as major Indian crypto exchanges CoinDCX and WazirX, and aims to discuss the issue in August. According to the …

Bithumb’s Hong Kong affiliates are reportedly facing a civil suit for breach of contract. According to a Tuesday report by the Korea Times, the suit is being initiated by a former Bithumb partner in Thailand, which is accusing the South Korean-headquartered exchange of unilaterally halting its business in Thailand and causing major losses. The Thai firm — which remains unnamed — is reportedly preparing to file a lawsuit against Bithumb’s Hong Kong subsidiaries, including Bithumb Global Holdings and GBEX, as well as top company executives in July. According to the plaintiff firm, Bithumb’s Hong Kong-based entities were allegedly involved in …

The ongoing lawsuit between Ripple Labs and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, continues with the regulatory body claiming that XRP token holders are targeting its members on social media platforms with allegedly false statements. In a Thursday motion addressed to Judge Sarah Netburn in the Southern District of New York, the SEC has requested a conference to discuss quashing the motion from Ripple to subpoena the former director of the regulatory body’s division of corporation finance, William Hinman. The SEC argued that Ripple’s motion, if granted, would set a precedent for the company to be allowed “a …

Los Angeles-based rapper The Game, also known as Jayceon Taylor, is facing a $12 million judgment for his role in Paragon Coin Inc — a crypto firm alleged to have engaged in an unregistered initial coin offering (ICO) four years ago. Taylor publicly endorsed the Paragon Coin ICO on social media back in 2017. Paragon touted its PRG tokens as a currency for the cannabis industry and raised $70 million from the public between April 15, 2017, and Oct. 15, 2017. Plaintiffs’ first filed a complaint against the offering in 2018, however, Tyler was initially let off the hook as …

A New York judge has issued a temporary restraining order to block an alleged attempt from Roc-A-Fella Records Inc (RAF) co-founder Damon Dash to sell a tokenized version of Jay-Z's first album “Reasonable Doubt” along with its copyright. Dash however has claimed he was only trying to sell his stake in RAF. Rapper Jay-Z co-founded RAF with Damon Dash and Kareem Burke back in 1996. The record label has split ownership between the three, with the company owning the full copyright to the album in question. RAF asserted that Dash was attempting to auction off a tokenized version of the …

A new DApp offers an escrow service for transactions involving cryptocurrencies, as well as a decentralized arbitration service that delivers resolutions quickly and inexpensively — irrespective of how complicated the dispute is. PayrLink says its solution is vital because we’re increasingly living in a world where everything happens online, meaning that it’s hard to trust anyone. As the project’s whitepaper explains: “The days of meeting people, shaking their hands, doing a deal is long gone. We need to feel safe and private when doing transactions online.” Although blockchain technology serves as a powerful tool because of how it delivers transparency, …

A recent court ruling said that video hosting giant YouTube is not responsible for cryptocurrency-related scams posted on its platform. Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak failed to support his lawsuit against YouTube over an advert using his image to promote a fake Bitcoin (BTC) giveaway, Bloomberg reports. Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Sunil Kulkarnia said in a tentative ruling Wednesday that YouTube and its parent firm Google are protected by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act — a federal law shielding internet platforms from responsibility for content posted by users. Wozniak sued YouTube in July last year over a …

Ripple has scored another win in its ongoing legal battle against the United States Securities and Exchange Commission as the court has denied the SEC access to Ripple’s legal advice. Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn of the District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled Sunday to deny the SEC’s motion to compel Ripple to produce memos discussing XRP sales with the firm’s lawyers. According to the SEC, Ripple could have been aware that XRP could be a security from its legal advisors before moving forward with its token sale back in 2013. The SEC filed a motion on …