LBRY’s native token LBC is in the midst of a parabolic run-up following new developments relating to its battle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The file-sharing and payments protocol lost a court case with the SEC in November of last year after a federal judge ruled that it violated securities laws when […]
The post Low-Cap Crypto Asset Surges 219% After Contentious SEC Decision – Could XRP Do the Same? appeared first on The Daily Hodl.
LBRY Inc noted that while the company is on its last legs, the underlying protocol and blockchain behind the content platform will carry on.
The firm behind the decentralized content platform LBRY said its days are likely numbered following its recent loss against the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in court.
It is specifically LBRY Inc that must die, the LBRY protocol and blockchain will continue. pic.twitter.com/SWwbqTq9In
— LBRY (@LBRYcom) November 29, 2022
The SEC initially took LBRY Inc to court in Mar. 2021 over its LBRY Credit (LBC) tokens, alleging that the firm had been conducting unregistered securities offerings since 2016.
The SEC ultimately won that battle last month on Nov. 7, after a judge deemed the tokens to be securities in a major blow to the industry.
Providing an update on the state of the business via Twitter on Nov. 30, LBRY Inc explained that the company “will likely be dead in the near future,” however the underlying protocol and blockchain will carry on:
“We'd like to be upfront about the fact that LBRY Inc. will likely be dead in the near future. We expect the LBRY mission to continue on, but the company itself has been killed by legal and SEC debts.”
LBRY Inc essentially provides a blockchain-based alternative to YouTube that offers less stringent censorship policies on its hosted content. The platform also facilitates direct tips in LBC to content creators as opposed to the standard advertising revenue share model.
In the SEC’s case against LBRY, it alleged that LBC was designed for pure speculation, while LBRY had argued that the tokens served key utility functions for its platform such as tipping, publishing, purchasing and boosting video content.
Despite the SEC winning the court dispute, LBRY suggested on Twitter earlier this week that the government agency has continued to be difficult to deal with in terms of settlement negotiations.
Responding to a post about its Nov. 29 status report on its ongoing SEC negotiations, the company noted that it offered the SEC “everything we have” but this proposal was still rejected.
Defense lawyer and former federal prosecutor James Filan questioned whether this was due to the SEC seeking out more drastic stipulations on future LBC sales.
“Let me guess. That’s because they want a Consent Judgment that also includes a specific agreement that every sale, even on the secondary markets, is a sale of a security,” he said.
In response, the LBRY Inc team simply supplied an emoji showing their lips are sealed.
— LBRY (@LBRYcom) November 29, 2022
It is also worth noting that Filan, who has 131,000 followers on Twitter, has remained up to date with the LBRY case due to his long running commentary on the ongoing dispute between the SEC and XRP creators Ripple Labs.
Related: LBRY alleges Apple forced it to censor certain terms amid COVID-19 pandemic
The cases are of a similar nature to each other in that the SEC has aggressively pushed to get both LBRY and XRP deemed as securities in court. Given that these are some of the first major crypto and securities related court cases, the outcomes could be seen as reference points for future rulings in the future.
After Elon Musk lamented the winding back of Apple's Twitter advertising, crypto company LBRY replied about its own troubles with Apple and censorship.
Blockchain-based file-sharing and payment network LBRY has alleged that tech giant Apple forced it to filter out certain search terms during the COVID-19 crisis in an apparent rejection of free speech.
In a Nov. 28 post on Twitter, LBRY alleges it was asked to censor anything related to COVID-19, especially vaccines and the human origins of the virus, or face having its apps removed from the Apple store.
"We had to build a list of over 20 terms to not show results for, only on Apple devices. If we did not filter the terms, our apps would not be allowed in the store," the crypto company alleged.
LBRY is a decentralized content-sharing platform that allows artists, filmmakers, writers and other content creators to retain full artistic and financial control over their work. Its Odysee video-sharing website is one of its best-known apps, but it's unclear if this app was involved in the alleged censorship.
The blockchain firm made the revelation in a response to a post from Elon Musk, who said that Apple has "mostly stopped" advertising on Twitter due to concerns about the social media platforms' content, prompting LBRY to share its experience with Apple during the COVID-19 pandemic.
During Covid, Apple demanded our apps filter some search terms from being returned. If we did not filter the terms, our apps would not be allowed in the store.
— LBRY (@LBRYcom) November 28, 2022
Apple may make good products, but they have been opposed to free speech for some time.
LBRY also alleges when some of its users included images of "Pepe the Frog" in videos, Apple "Rejected" them.
Pepe the Frog is an Internet meme of a green anthropomorphic frog originating in 2005, which has since been adopted by protest groups in Hong Kong and used in political-based ideology.
The crypto company said that "Apple may make good products, but they have been opposed to free speech for some time.”
Cointelegraph reached out to Apple for comment but has not received a reply by the time of publication.
Related: Crypto Twitter unhappy with SBF ‘puff piece’ pushed by mainstream media
Meanwhile, discussions around censorship on Twitter have continued to rage on.
Musk took over Twitter on Oct. 28 and has been teasing the release of the "Twitter Files", supposed proof of a concentrated effort by the previous Twitter administration to stifle free speech on the platform.
The Twitter Files on free speech suppression soon to be published on Twitter itself. The public deserves to know what really happened …
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 28, 2022
Musk's takeover of Twitter and subsequent plans for the platform have seen some users seek out decentralized social networks as an alternative.
Twitter co-founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey recently unveiled a new Bitcoin-powered Bluesky Social app as part of a decentralized answer to Twitter.
The Oct. 18 announcement came roughly three years after the initiative was announced by Dorsey, with the goal of allowing users should to have control over their data and be able to move it from platform to platform without permission.
On Nov. 11, 2022, FTX Trading Ltd. filed a voluntary petition for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Delaware. The news followed a few days of speculation and evidence that had shown the digital currency exchange was likely insolvent. The company’s bankruptcy filing and information concerning Sam Bankman-Fried’s (SBF) quantitative cryptocurrency trading firm Alameda Research shed […]
File-sharing and payments protocol LBRY has lost its battle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) after a federal judge ruled that the firm violated securities laws when it sold LBRY Credits (LBC). The SEC filed a suit against LBRY in 2021 alleging that the New Hampshire-based company sold LBC as an unregistered security […]
The post Crypto Protocol LBRY Loses Court Battle With SEC, LBC Token Ruled a Security – Is XRP Next? appeared first on The Daily Hodl.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has won a court case against the blockchain-powered publishing platform LBRY. According to a New Hampshire district court ruling, Judge Paul Barbadoro agreed with SEC that the project’s native asset LBC was considered an investment contract or a transferable share representing a certificate of interest. On Twitter, LBRY […]
The founder and CEO of Quantum Economics Mati Greenspan is warning that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is jeopardizing the future of cryptocurrencies by waging battle with decentralized content sharing and publishing protocol LBRY. In a newsletter, Greenspan says that the SEC’s move to press an illegal securities offering charge against LBRY could […]
The post SEC’s New Case Could Place Future of All Crypto Assets at Risk, Says Mati Greenspan appeared first on The Daily Hodl.
Quantum Economics founder Mati Greenspan has sounded the alarm over the damage the SEC’s case against LBRY could do to crypto.
Quantum Economics founder Mati Greenspan has warned the SEC’s latest action against decentralized content platform LBRY could threaten the future of all cryptocurrencies.
According to the complaint filed by the SEC on March 29, LBRY is alleged to have offered and sold millions worth of unregistered securities through LBRY Credit tokens since 2016. The company has disputed the SEC’s accusations, as they state their tokens are utility-focused and not for speculation.
In today’s newsletter, ominous titled “Don’t let them kill crypto,” Greenspan asserts that if the SEC’s lawsuit against LBRY is successful, it will have dramatic consequences:
“Should the court side against LBRY, it would literally put the future of all cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin and Ether, in question.”
Greenspan notes that the U.S has fallen far behind on crypto regulation and warns this case could set a precedent of classifying "multifaceted programmable money" as securities.
“Judges generally take their guidance from previous rulings on similar cases, so a negative ruling here could make it easier for them to kill off any project which utilizes crypto tokens. DeFi, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), smart contracts, and just about everything except possibly stablecoins.”
Greenspan believes the platform's only crime was to set up in the U.S. and told Cointelegraph the case highlights the US’s “backwards approach to forward-looking innovation.”
Although the Isreal-based commentator doesn’t think an SEC victory would stifle innovation in the crypto industry overall, it will certainly do so in the U.S.:
“It will simply drive it out of the United States. Projects like this are flourishing in Europe and some parts of Asia and the technology continues to progress globally. America is being left behind.”
LBRY has contested the SEC case, arguing that while the “SEC claims that Credits have no use other than speculation,” the Credits actually allow users to tip, publish, purchase and boost content on the platform, and the company “at no time indicated that LBRY Credits were an investment, and consistently discouraged purchasing Credits for this purpose.”
Greenspan has urged readers of his newsletter to either write a letter to congress to show support of LBRY, or visit helplbrysavecrypto.com. to get more educated about the "idiotic actions of American regulators."
Despite sounding alarm bells over a negative outcome of this case, Greenspan told Cointelegraph he is optimistic:
“Hopefully, the judge will be able to see the blatant holes in the SEC’s case. LBRY seems to have some very sound arguments so I’m quite optimistic.”
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed a complaint against the blockchain-based file-sharing and payment network called Lbry last week, as the U.S. regulator has accused the company Lbry Inc. of selling unregistered securities. However, the CEO of Lbry denies the project’s native tokens are securities and says the SEC’s logic will put a […]
