CZ released on $175M bond, could return to Dubai

November 22, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Ryder Ripps ordered to pay Yuga Labs $1.6M in copyright lawsuit

October 27, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Ryder Ripps ordered to pay Yuga Labs .6M in copyright lawsuit

The NFT artists were also ordered to cover Yuga Labs’ legal fees after determining the trademark infringement constituted an “exceptional case.”

A United States district court judge has ordered nonfungible token (NFT) artists Ryder Ripps and Jeremy Cahen to pay Bored Ape Yacht Club creator Yuga Labs a total of $1.57 million in disgorgement and damages, along with legal fees, bringing an end to the long-running “copycat” NFT lawsuit.

The Oct. 25 order follows an April 21 partial summary judgement granted in favor of Yuga Labs after the firm claimed that Ripps and Cahen, the defendants, violated copyright laws by making copycat versions of its Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) collectibles.

District court Judge John Walter awarded Yuga Labs $1.37 million after concluding the NFT firm was entitled to a disgorgement of the defendants’ profits. An additional $200,000 was awarded in statutory damages relating to cybersquatting violations.

Yuga Labs v. Ryder Ripps et al - Notes from the Court's Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law

Yuga is awarded $1,375,362.92 in Ds profits, $200,000 in statutory damages, and attorneys' fees and costs (amount TBD). A permanent injunction is also issued against Ds.

1/ pic.twitter.com/2dTiuWpZSA
— NeerMcD.eth (@NeerMcD) October 26, 2023

Yuga Labs has also been entitled to recover attorney fees and costs from the NFT artists after the judge determined the trademark infringement constituted an “exceptional case.”

“A trademark case is generally considered exceptional for purposes of awarding of attorneys’ fees when a party has taken positions that can be characterized as “malicious, fraudulent, deliberate or willful,” the judge noted.

Judge Walter also knocked back the defendants’ argument that the copycat BAYC versions were “satire” and “parody” — ruling that the defendants intentionally infringed Yuga’s BAYC trademarks with a bad faith intent to profit from them.

He also noted the defendants continued to market and promote their copycat BAYC versions after the partial summary judgement was delivered against them in April.

Yuga Labs filed the lawsuit against the two artists in June 2022.

In an Oct. 16 hearing in a United States appeals court, Ripps and Cahen’s lawyers tried to argue the lawsuit should be thrown out on the grounds of free speech under California’s anti-SLAPP statute. However, the three-judge panel didn’t appear persuaded by the lawyer’s arguments.

BAYC is one of the most valuable NFT collectibles on NFT marketplace OpenSea.

*BAYC collectibles currently listed on OpenSea. Source: OpenSea*

Since April 2021, it has amassed 1.32 million Ether (ETH) or $2.38 billion in trading volume with an average floor price of 27.4 ETH ($49,200), according to OpenSea.

Magazine: Digital artist OSF gives fans a pledge of ‘art until I die’: NFT Creator

Binance seeks protective order against SEC’s ‘fishing expedition’

August 15, 2023 Coin Telegraph

bam holdings

The exchange claims the SEC's deposition and discovery requests are outside the scope of the regulators lawsuit it filed against Binance.

Binance has asked a court for a protective order against the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over what the crypto exchange claims is a "fishing expedition" from the regulator.

In an Aug. 14 court filing, Binance put forward a motion for a protective order following deposition notices and discovery requests from the SEC.

"BAM has worked in good faith, but the SEC has been steadfast in its belief that the Consent Order gives it carte blanche to investigate every aspect of BAM’s asset custody practices without any discernible limitation whatsoever," the exchange wrote.

Binance is seeking a protective order against the SEC, claiming that they are conducting a "fishing expedition".https://t.co/NquMV8ShNK
— Molly White (@molly0xFFF) August 15, 2023

Binance claimed the SEC is demanding it produce communications dating back to November 2022 for "dozens of topics — many of which have nothing to do with customer assets."

It also took issue with the SEC's request that the exchange make six of its employees and officers available for depositions including its CEO Changpeng "CZ" Zhao.

"Now, the SEC is also demanding depositions of BAM’s most senior executives despite that they do not have unique firsthand knowledge about the facts surrounding the security, custody, and transfer of customer assets, and the employees who do have been offered for depositions," it argued.

This is a developing story, and further information will be added as it becomes available.

Prime Trust can’t honor customer withdrawals, says Nevada regulator

June 23, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Cease and Desist

Nevada's business regulator issued a cease and desist order to the crypto custodian alleging it has a "shortfall of customer funds."

Prime Trust's financial condition is "critically deficient" and the crypto custodian has been unable to honor customer withdrawals since June 21, according to Nevada's business regulator.

In a June 21 cease and desist order, Nevada's Department of Business and Industry claimed Prime Trust's financial condition ha"considerably deteriorated" and the firm is now in an "unsafe or unsound condition" to continue business:

"On or about June 21, 2023, Respondent's [Prime Trust] was unable to honor customer withdrawals due to a shortfall of customer funds caused by a significant liability on the Respondent's balance sheet owed to customers."

The order added Prime Trust has "materially and willfully breached its fiduciary duties to its customers by failing to safeguard assets under its custody." The regulator again alleged the firm is "unable to meet all customer disbursement requests."

*Statements made by the Nevada Department of Business and Industry against Prime Trust. Source: Nevada Government*

Prime Trust has 30 days to respond to the cease and desist order and can request an administrative hearing to contest the order.

If Prime Trust fails to contest, the cease and desist order will be considered final.

On June 13, the payments subsidiary of Prime Trust, Banq, filed for bankruptcy protection in the United States.

Since then, wallet infrastructure provider and digital asset custodian BitGo confirmed on June 22 that it decided to cancel its acquisition of Prime Trust.

After considerable effort and work to find a path forward with Prime Trust, BitGo has made the hard decision to terminate its acquisition of Prime Trust. This decision was not made lightly and BitGo remains committed to our mission to deliver trust in digital assets.
— BitGo (@BitGo) June 22, 2023

Cointelegraph reached out to Prime Trust for comment but did not recieve an immediate response.

Magazine: Cryptocurrency trading addiction — What to look out for and how it is treated

Bankruptcy Court Terminates FTX Naming-Rights Agreement for Miami Heat Arena

January 12, 2023 Bitcoin.com

Core Scientific shuts down 37K mining rigs it was hosting for Celsius

January 4, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Breach

Core Scientific estimates that canceling the agreement with Celsius will provide $2 million in revenue per month as long as Bitcoin stays around $16,700.

Bankrupt cryptocurrency lender Celsius Network has agreed to let Bitcoin (BTC) miner Core Scientific shut off more than 37,000 mining rigs it had been hosting for Celsius during the miner’s bankruptcy proceedings.

Core Scientific filed a revised proposed order on Jan. 3 that incorporated “revisions acceptable to Celsius” stating “all Celsius rigs will be powered down effective January 3, 2023 and will not be restarted during the transition period.”

On Oct. 19, Core Scientific accused Celsius of failing to pay its power bills, later citing the non-payment as a major factor in the liquidity issues that led to the Bitcoin miner filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Dec. 21.

On Dec. 28, Core Scientific filed a motion seeking approval to reject Celsius’ contracts, claiming the firm’s failure to pay its power bills constituted a material breach of contract.

According to the court filings, the termination of the agreement would apparently allow Core Scientific to generate a revenue of $2 million per month from the space currently occupied by Celsius’ mining rigs.

The hosting deal’s terms allowed Core Scientific to pass on some of the power costs to Celsius, and those costs have considerably increased since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

According to the rejection motion, covering the increased power fees cost Core Scientific almost $7.8 million as of Dec. 28 and the miner noted it “cannot afford to continue shouldering the burden of Celsius’ unpaid power costs.”

The cost of production has increased for miners while the price of Bitcoin has decreased, which has eaten into miners’ bottom line and contributed to the “hash price” — the revenue Bitcoin miners can earn per unit of hash rate — falling over 75% over 2022.

*Bitcoin Hashprice Index. Source: Luxor Technologies*

Miner’s lack of profitability combined with the costs associated with expansion efforts caused many Bitcoin miners to struggle toward the end of 2022 and share prices plummeted as a result.

Core Scientific has seen their share price fall by 99.15% over the course of the year, while Iris Energy and Riot Blockchain saw falls of 91.79% and 85.09%, respectively.