Legendary video game company the Atari Group will conduct an initial coin offering aimed at launching a cryptocurrency casino. Atari was founded in 1972 in Sunnyvale, California, though ownership has changed hands several times since then. The company currently belongs to Atari Interactive, a subsidiary of the French publisher, Atari, SA. Its stock is listed on NYSE Euronext Paris with a current market cap of just under $50 million. And now the company’s entering crypto. According to the company’s March 10th press release: “In 2018, the Group had granted an Atari brand license to Infinity Networks, Ltd (“INL”), to develop …

Welcome to Cointelegraph China Focus. Focus is a new talk show series launched by Cointelegraph China that covers the hottest topics from around the world. Cointelegraph China Focus invites blockchain industry leaders from all around the globe to participate in discussions. The show is hosted by Vadim Krekotin, the co-founder and CEO of Cointelegraph China. Jeffrey Wernick is a postgraduate student at the University of Chicago studying economics and finance. He has studied under several Nobel laureates, is a successful entrepreneur and is a seasoned private investor in various asset classes. He is also a strong believer of and early …

Alternet Systems Inc (ALYI), an energy storage, military application, and electric motorcycle firm, has entered into a new partnership to launch a cryptocurrency dedicated to funding electric vehicle projects in Sub-Saharan Africa, according to a March 11 announcement. While Alternet did not name the company it has partnered with, Alternet Systems revealed that the cryptocurrency has successfully been minted on the Ethereum blockchain. Alternet Systems plans $100 million ICO ALYI plans to raise $100 million through an initial coin offering (ICO), adding that the planned token sale has “received interest from an investor that may underwrite the $100 million offering.” …

In a world where blockchain technology is rapidly breaking barriers and disrupting industries one at a time, the emergence of new models to replace classical crowdfunding ventures is just a matter of time. More than a decade after Bitcoin’s introduction, we’ve witnessed new crowdfunding models replacing the initial public offering for funding blockchain-fueled projects — the initial coin offering, decentralized autonomous organization DAO, the security token offering and the initial exchange offering. History indicates that if you have honey, the bees will follow. However, countless illicit schemes and scam projects have caused some misguided investments. So, why have there been …

On March 3, District Judge Charles Pannell dismissed a lawsuit claiming securities fraud charges against rapper ‘T.I.’ for selling FLiK tokens for his company’s initial coin offering (ICO) during August 2017. The judge failed to find concrete evidence of securities violations or negligent misrepresentation as T.I. made no claims regarding the value of the FLiK tokens: “The plaintiffs have merely alleged that Harris encouraged his Twitter followers to visit the website for the FLiK ICO. They have not provided any statements from Harris about the value of the FLiK tokens. The facts as pleaded do not rise to the level …

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged actor Steven Seagal for promoting an initial coin offering (ICO) without disclosing that he was paid for it. He was ordered to pay back over $330,000 to the commission. In March 2018, Steven Seagal was contracted by ICO project “Bitcoiin2Gen” (B2G) to promote the sale on his social media channels, as well as appearing as a brand ambassador in the project’s marketing materials. While he was promised $250,000 in cash and $750,000 in B2G tokens, the Feb. 27 disclosure by the SEC maintains that he only received $157,000 from his promotional deal. …

After facing multiple delays, Filecoin (FIL) is now looking toward a mainnet launch in Q3 2020 — which will be supported by a Gemini exchange custody solution. Filecoin will send ICO participants their FIL coins on Gemini’s custody platform after the project’s expected Q3 launch, Gemini said in a Feb. 25 announcement. A file storage solution The Filecoin project is a decentralized storage system based in the cloud. Its InterPlanetary File System, or IPFS, requires FIL coins as payment to miners in exchange for storage space. “Filecoin believes this decentralized model will reduce storage costs and offer a compelling alternative …

The United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission has recently weighed in on the Security and Exchange Commission’s ongoing legal battle with Telegram by filing a letter that contained its views on the case. According to the submitted document, the CFTC’s Office of General Counsel believes that all digital currencies are commodities, thus implying that Telegram’s Gram token is not a security and therefore not subject to registration under the Securities Act of 1933. With that being said, the CFTC did concede that the Commodity Exchange Act does afford certain securities with the status of being commodities — to which security …

You need nothing short of “a miracle” to succeed with an initial coin offering (ICO) in Australia, a local industry leader told the government this week. At a Select Committee on Financial Technology and Regulatory Technology hearing on Feb. 20, Dr. Jemma Green said her blockchain firm had succeeded despite, not thanks to, government policy. Dr. Green is the executive chairman and co-founder of Australian blockchain energy firm Power Ledger, which develops blockchain-based software for decentralized energy trading. ZDnet reported her remarks on the day of the hearing. Tax system not “fit for purpose” Dr. Green appeared before the committee …

Almost three years after its ICO, Decentraland has opened its platform — a virtual world in which participants buy and sell fake land, as well as construct buildings. Over the past ten days, Decentraland gamers have purchased over $1 million worth of digital anchorage on the Ethereum-based virtual reality product, Bloomberg said in a Feb. 20 article. Decentralanders use the project’s native crypto asset, MANA, as payment within the game. Users interested in Decentraland Conducting its ICO during the crypto craze of 2017, Decentraland raised over $20 million selling its MANA token. Reminiscent of the popularity seen in the Crypto …

Following a two-hour hearing, a New York federal judge has extended the restraining order that prohibits Telegram from distributing its Gram tokens. On Feb 19, Judge P. Kevin Castel of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York reserved judgment on the US Security and Exchanges Commission (SEC)’s request for a preliminary injunction regarding Telegram’s 2019 Gram sale. The SEC believes that the Gram token - which the company described as a utility token for the forthcoming Telegram Open Network (TON) - is a security. The regulator shut down Telegram’s ICO last October and an injunction from …

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, recently announced its conquest over yet another unregistered ICO from 2017. The SEC went after Enigma for its 2017 ICO, labeling the capital raise as an unregistered securities offering, the governing body said in a statement on Feb. 19. Enigma settled with the SEC, agreeing “to return funds to harmed investors via a claims process, register its tokens as securities, file periodic reports with the SEC, and pay a $500,000 penalty,” the statement detailed. “This settlement, which is the culmination of an extended series of discussions with the SEC, clears the way …