Bitcoin Cash (BCH) advocate Roger Ver was sued by a unit of crypto lending firm Genesis over unsettled crypto options amounting to $20.8 million. GGC International, a part of the bankrupt crypto lender, made the allegations and filed the suit against Ver in the New York State Supreme court on Jan. 23. The firm claims that the BCH proponent has failed to settle crypto options transactions that expired back on Dec. 30, 2022. Ver was given a total of 20 days to answer the summons. Should the BCH advocate fail to answer within that time frame, he will be obliged …

The Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee of the European Parliament has voted for measures requiring banks holding cryptocurrencies to set aside a punitive amount of capital. In a Jan. 24 notice, the European Parliament announced the committee had voted overwhelmingly in favor of amendments to its Capital Requirements Regulation and Capital Requirements Directive applying to banks holding crypto. According to a draft law, banks would be required to hold a “risk-weighted exposure amount” of up to 1,250% of capital based on exposure to crypto. On Tuesday 24/01 @EP_Economics adopted changes to Capital Requirements Regulation (w/ 41/1/14) & Directive (49/2/7) #CRR …

Over the last couple of years, numerous reports have surfaced regarding governments worldwide exploring the issuance of their very own central bank digital currency. In fact, to date, nine countries have rolled out an active CBDC offering. In this regard, China’s digital yuan witnessed widespread use during the 2022 Winter Olympics. Other countries that have initiated similar projects include the Bahamas, the Marshall Islands and Nigeria. However, it is being reported that Nigeria’s eNaira has witnessed poor uptake so far, and the others have fared somewhat similarly. Moreover, India too has launched a pilot scheme for its digital rupee, while …

Troubled cryptocurrency company Digital Currency Group (DCG) is facing more legal issues as its subsidiary Genesis Capital got slapped with a new class action lawsuit. A group of Genesis creditors filed a securities class action (SCA) lawsuit against DCG and its founder and CEO Barry Silbert, alleging violations of the federal securities laws. The lawsuit was filed by Connecticut-based law firm Silver Golub & Teitell (SGT) on behalf of individuals and entities who entered into digital asset lending agreements with Genesis. The law firm is known for handling major industry lawsuits, including a class action suit filed against Coinbase in …

Bankrupt crypto lending firm BlockFi has plans to sell off $160 million in loans backed by around 68,000 Bitcoin mining machines as part of bankruptcy proceedings, according to reports. In a Bloomberg report on Jan. 24, two people “familiar with the matter” claim that BlockFi started the process of selling off the loans last year. The crypto lender filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Nov. 2022, citing its significant exposure to the now-defunct crypto exchange FTX for its downfall. However, some of these loans have already defaulted since then and could be undercollateralized given the decline in the price of …

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are becoming an increasingly popular solution to serving defendants in blockchain-based crimes that would otherwise be unreachable, according to crypto lawyers. The last year has seen an increase in litigation delivered over NFTs in cases where those accused of blockchain crime wereuncontactable through traditional methods of communication. In November 2022, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida granted a United States law firm The Crypto Lawyers its request for its client to serve a defendant via NFT. While the defendant's identity was unknown, the plaintiff accused the defendant of stealing cryptocurrency to the …

Megan Crowell, the chief people officer at crypto lending firm BlockFi, has petitioned a court to allow bonuses for “key employees” amid Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. In a Jan. 23 declaration for United State Bankruptcy Court in the District of New Jersey, Crowell said without giving certain financial incentives, BlockFi might be unable to retain employees in a “highly competitive” crypto industry. According to the BlockFi executive, many staff were “highly likely to leave the company” amid the Chapter 11 process without “competitive compensation”, potentially adding to costs down the road. “The war for talent remains active, and the Participants …

The European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation, or Europol, has reported authorities took control of crypto wallets containing more than $19 million in cryptocurrency as part of enforcement actions against crypto firm Bitzlato. In a Jan. 23 announcement, Europol reported that roughly 46% of assets — 1 billion euro, or $1.09 billion at the time of publication — moved through Bitzlato were linked to illicit activities. The government agency’s analysis suggested that Bitzlato received more than 2.1 billion euro in cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin (BTC), Dash (DASH), and Dogecoin (DOGE), much of which was converted into Russian rubles. “While the …

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission has followed the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and others in filing parallel charges against the crypto user allegedly behind a multimillion dollar exploit of decentralized exchange Mango Markets. In a Jan. 20 notice, the SEC alleged Avraham Eisenberg manipulated Mango Markets’ MNGO governance token, allowing him to steal roughly $116 million worth of cryptocurrency from the platform. According to the complain, Eisenberg allegedly executed a series of large MNGO purchases in order to artificially raise the price of the token relative to USD Coin (USDC), then drained the assets from Mango Markets. “Eisenberg …

James Bromley, one of the lawyers representing debtors in FTX’s bankruptcy case, has criticized social media activity against his law firm promulgated by posts from former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried. In a Jan. 20 hearing in the District of Delaware, lawyers spoke on motions dealing with potential conflicts of interest between Sullivan & Cromwell, the law firm tasked with the investigation of FTX’s bankruptcy, and the crypto exchange. Bromley, a partner at Sullivan & Cromwell, pushed back against the narrative that the law firm would be unable to act as a disinterested examiner given it had previously provided legal services to …

Several crypto industry commentators have laid skepticism on FTX CEO John Ray’s vision to potentially reboot the crypto exchange, citing trust issues and “second-class” treatment of customers as some reasons why users may not “feel safe to go back.” Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried tweeted on Jan. 20 praising John Ray for looking at a reboot of FTX, suggesting it is the best move for its customers. I'm glad Mr. Ray is finally paying lip service to turning the exchange back on after months of squashing such efforts! I'm still waiting for him to finally admit FTX US is solvent …

Three men reportedly drove their car into the metal barricade outside Sam Bankman-Fried’s parent’s home where he is currently under house arrest, SBF’s lawyers claim. In a filing to the federal court, the lawyers for the former FTX CEO said the three men got out of the car after hitting the barricade and told a security guard guarding the home: “You won’t be able to stop us.” The unidentified trio were then able to drive away before security guards could record the car’s license plate. According to a Reuters report, the incident was described in a Jan. 19 court filing …