Josh Garza, the CEO of the now-defunct cryptocurrency mining company GAW Miners, has been sentenced to 21 months in prison after pleading guilty to a wire fraud charge. As part of the sentence, Garza was given 6 months home confinement…
Tag: US & Canada
US, Canadian Securities Regulators Are Involved in Over 200 Crypto Probes
The North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) announced that there are “more than 200 active investigations” by state or provincial-level agencies into initial coin offerings (ICOs) and other crypto-related investment products. NASAA, composed of securities regulators from the U.S., Canada,…
Crypto Isn’t Just Money – It’s a Defense Against Discrimination
Sonya Mann works in communications and marketing at the Zcash Foundation, a financial privacy non-profit. She is a former technology journalist. For Americans, it can be easy to discount the social relevance of censorship-resistant digital assets like bitcoin. Unlike people…
California Judge Orders Accused Hacker to Pay Bail in Crypto
A Serbian and Italian national has been ordered to pay bail in cryptocurrency while he faces charges that he hacked the computer network of a San Francisco game company. According to a news release from the United States Attorney’s Office, an…
Tezos ICO Class Action Looms After Motion to Dismiss Denied
A federal court judge in California has blocked a move that sought to dismiss a class action lawsuit alleging that the initial coin offering (ICO) conducted by the Tezos Foundation violated securities laws in the U.S. The decision came Tuesday,…
US Judge Delays Crypto Fraud Ruling Pending CFTC Response
A federal judge has postponed any decision on a crypto fraud case brought by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) against alleged scammer Patrick McDonnell. Judge Jack Weinstein of the Eastern District of New York wrote in a court order Thursday…
Alabama Securities Watchdog Hits 3 ICOs with Cease-and-Desists
The Alabama Securities Commission (ASC), the U.S. state’s securities regulator, has joined its counterparts in Texas and New Jersey in hitting out at initial coin offerings (ICOs) that are soliciting local residents. According to a cease-and-desist order entered on May…
The Crypto Community Must Use the Blockchain to Self-Police
Yaya J. Fanusie is the director of analysis at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Center on Sanctions and Illicit Finance. He tweets at @signcurve. Self-policing illicit activity on the blockchain may soon be a necessity for the cryptocurrency space.…
How to Defend Yourself Against Pump-and-Dump Crypto Scams
Tanzeel Akhtar is an independent British journalist whose work has been published in the Wall Street Journal, CNBC, FT Alphaville, Investing.com, Forbes, Euromoney and Citywire. “Pump and dump” schemes have been around since long before cryptocurrency was invented. What’s striking…
What It’s Really Like to Talk to the SEC About Your ICO
It didn’t take long for Scott Nelson to realize he was only non-lawyer in the conference room. There amidst attorneys from various government agencies, including the SEC, the CEO of blockchain startup Sweetbridge and long-time logistics tech specialist was prepared…