Bitcoin Cash (BCH) advocate and veteran of the crypto space Roger Ver is being sued by bankrupt lender Genesis for allegedly failing to settle options trades. According to a filing at the New York State Supreme Court, Ver has 20 days to answer a complaint from Genesis regarding his alleged failure to settle $20 million […]
The post Bitcoin Cash Backer Roger Ver Sued for $20,000,000 by Bankrupt Crypto Broker Genesis appeared first on The Daily Hodl.
Roger Ver, commonly known as “Bitcoin Jesus,” has 20 days to answer the summons from Genesis unit GGC International before being required to pay by default.
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) advocate Roger Ver has 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, filed the suit against Ver in the New York State Supreme Court on Jan. 23, claiming that the BCH proponent has failed to settle crypto options transactions that expired back on Dec. 30.
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 to pay the total amount by default. At the time of writing, the BCH proponent has not yet responded to the case.
The Genesis website states that GGC International is a company based in the British Virgin Islands. The firm is owned by Genesis Bermuda Holdco Limited, under Genesis Global Holdco, an entity included in the bankruptcy filing.
Roger Ver had not responded to Cointelegraph’s request for comment at the time of writing.
Last year, Ver also made headlines for allegations of defaulting on a debt. CoinFLEX CEO Mark Lamb claimed that Ver owes the firm $47 million USD Coin (USDC) and was bound by a written contract. On June 28, Ver also denied these claims without directly mentioning the company.
Related: Genesis bankruptcy case scheduled for first hearing
On Jan. 20, the crypto lender filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the Southern District of New York. The firm began a court-supervised restructuring to move the business forward. The process will be led by a special committee that aims to provide an outcome that is optimal for both Genesis clients and Gemini Earn users.
Meanwhile, Genesis creditors are setting their sights on Digital Currency Group (DCG), the parent company of Genesis Global. On Jan. 24, Genesis creditors filed a securities class action lawsuit against DCG and its founder and CEO, Barry Silbert. The creditors alleged that the firm violated federal securities laws by offering unregistered securities.
“The use of the designation "VERSE" constitutes an infringement of our client's trademarks under German trademark law,” Block’s legal counsel said in a letter to Bitcoin.com.
Digital payments company Block Inc. is pursuing legal action against Roger Ver’s Bitcoin.com over alleged trademark infringement involving its newly launched Verse token, which concluded a $33.6 million private sale in May 2022.
In a letter addressed to Bitcoin.com CEO Dennis Jarvis and the company’s legal counsel Joseph Collement, lawyers representing Block claimed that Bitcoin.com’s use of “Verse” constituted trademark infringement under German trademark law. The letter, dated Aug. 10, 2022, was a follow-up to a July 4, 2022 notice in which Block’s legal counsel, Bird & Bird, first laid out its trademark infringement case in Germany. A person familiar with the matter shared the letter with Cointelegraph.
The alleged trademark violation stems from Block’s acquisitions of Verse Technologies Inc. and Decentralized Global Payments S.L. in 2020. “The portfolio of Verse and Decentralized also included a peer-to-peer payment app under the name "VERSE". Since the takeover, our client has been operating this app,” the letter read.
Block’s legal counsel explained that the “VERSE” app is available in Europe, including Germany, and can be accessed on both Apple and Android devices. The letter detailed Block’s rights over a figurative mark that contains the word “Verse” as well as the “VERSE” word mark, with priority for computer and application software for mobile devices.
“The use of the designation "VERSE" constitutes an infringement of our client's trademarks under German trademark law,” the letter concluded, adding:
“Our client therefore has claims against you to cease and desist from the infringing acts. Furthermore, our client has claims for information about the scope of the infringing acts as well as claims for compensation for all damages that our client has incurred or will incur as a result of the infringement. Finally, our client is also entitled to reimbursement of the costs incurred by us in connection with this letter.”
Block’s legal counsel requested that Bitcoin.com sign a declaration of discontinuance and undertaking by Aug. 17, 2022, or face further legal action. It also requested that Bitcoin.com “cease and desist” its Verse token operations in the European Union or face a contractual penalty of $10,400 (€10,000) “for each case of contravention.” Block also requested to be reimbursed for legal fees of $3,906.54 (€3,744.50).
Bitcoin.com is owned by early Bitcoin (BTC) investor Roger Ver, who served as CEO until Aug. 1, 2019. Bitcoin.com operates a digital asset exchange and wallet and provides daily news on the cryptocurrency market. Many in the crypto community know Ver for his strong support of Bitcoin Cash (BCH), which emerged in 2017 after departing Bitcoin’s original blockchain due to philosophical differences around scalability and transaction speed. However, its supporters believe BCH aligns more with the vision set out for Bitcoin in Satoshi Nakamoto’s 2008 white paper.
Founded in 2009 by Jack Dorsey, Block rebranded from Square in December 2021 as its focus shifted to blockchain technology and Bitcoin. Dorsey has increasingly focused on Bitcoin hardware and payment solutions since stepping down as Twitter CEO in November 2021.
Related: Get your money back: The weird world of crypto litigation
Ver and Dorsey have been involved in personal disputes over the years, including in 2019 when Ver accused Dorsey of supporting Lightning Network because of his alleged romantic involvement with Lightning Labs CEO Elizabeth Stark. Some have speculated that these personal issues are why Twitter never verified Bitcoin.com’s handle when Dorsey was CEO.
My theory for why @jack is so irrationally hot for #LightningNetwork is because he has / had a romantic relationship with @starkness, the CEO of @lightning
— Roger Ver (@rogerkver) August 10, 2019
The Verse token at the heart of the legal dispute is publicly advertised on Bitcoin.com’s Twitter page. Verse is described by its creators as a “cross-chain token” focused on expanding into low-fee Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) chains. It has a fixed supply of 210 billion tokens distributed over seven years. Its private sale, which concluded this past May, raised $33.6 million.
Crypto futures exchange CoinFLEX is reportedly seeking court approval for a restructuring plan as it faces financial trouble following a substantial default by one of its customers. Citing an email sent to CoinFLEX creditors on August 9th, Fortune reports that the embattled firm filed to the Seychelles Supreme Court an application for the reorganization and […]
The post Embattled Crypto Futures Exchange Files for Restructuring Amid Ongoing Legal Battle appeared first on The Daily Hodl.
Embattled crypto derivatives exchange CoinFLEX is announcing employee layoffs amid a legal battle with ‘Bitcoin Jesus.’ In a new blog post, CoinFLEX says it is laying off a significant number of employees across the board as a means of reducing overhead costs. “We, unfortunately, had to let go of a significant number of the CoinFLEX […]
The post Crypto Futures Exchange CoinFLEX To Lay Off Employees As It Fights Legal Battle With ‘Bitcoin Jesus’ appeared first on The Daily Hodl.
Since halting user withdrawals three weeks ago, CoinFLEX has announced plans to reclaim up to $84 million in owed funds.
Cryptocurrency exchange CoinFLEX is partially reopening user withdrawals, raising cautious optimism that the company was gradually recovering from liquidity constraints that were triggered by a high-profile client default.
Beginning at 5 am UTC on Friday, all CoinFLEX users will be able to withdraw up to 10% of their funds, the company said. All existing withdrawal requests will be canceled and returned to their respective accounts, giving users the ability to initiate new requests in accordance with the 10% limit.
The remaining 90% of user balances will be considered “locked funds,” or funds that appear on their balance but cannot be withdrawn, traded or used as collateral.
The new guidelines apply to all assets except flexUSD, an interest-bearing stablecoin, which “cannot be withdrawn until further notice,” the company said.
Roger Ver owes CoinFLEX $47 Million USDC. We have a written contract with him obligating him to personally guarantee any negative equity on his CoinFLEX account and top up margin regularly. He has been in default of this agreement and we have served a notice of default.
— Mark Lamb (@MarkDavidLamb) June 28, 2022
CoinFLEX halted withdrawals on June 23 after a counterparty reportedly failed to meet a $47 million margin call. Cryptocurrency entrepreneur and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) proponent Roger Ver was later named as the counterparty, though he denied owing the firm any money.
“Not only do I not have a debt to this counter-party, but this counter-party owes me a substantial sum of money, and I am currently seeking the return of my funds,” Ver tweeted on June 28.
Later estimates showed that CoinFLEX’s shortfall was as large as $84 million — a sum the company hoped to retrieve via arbitration in Hong Kong, its native jurisdiction.
Related: Voyager Digital files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, proposes recovery plan
The bear market of 2022 has rocked the crypto industry in profound ways after the Terra (LUNA) — now called Terra Classic (LUNC) — ecosystem collapse triggered extreme volatility and contagion across the space. High-profile names such as Three Arrows Capital, Voyager Digital and now Celsius have filed for bankruptcy in the wake of collapsing asset prices.
Not mentioning CoinFLEX by name, Roger Ver said he had not “defaulted on a debt to a counter-party,” and alleged the platform owed him “a substantial sum of money.”
Roger Ver, an early Bitcoin investor and Bitcoin Cash proponent, has pushed against claims from crypto investment platform CoinFLEX regarding an alleged $47-million debt.
In a Tuesday tweet, Ver — not mentioning CoinFLEX by name — said he had not “defaulted on a debt to a counter-party,” and alleged the crypto firm owed him “a substantial sum of money.” The denial followed rumors on social media that the BCH proponent was involved in the platform halting withdrawals due to “a high-networth client who has holdings in many large crypto firms” not covering their debts.
CoinFLEX CEO Mark Lamb took to Twitter shortly after the statement to claim the company had a written contract with Ver “obligating him to personally guarantee any negative equity on his CoinFLEX account and top up margin regularly.” According to Lamb, CoinFLEX served Ver with a notice of default and was “speaking to him on calls frequently about this situation with the aim of resolving,” claiming the firm did not owe him anything.
“It is unfortunate that Roger Ver needs to resort to such tactics in order to deflect from his liabilities and responsibilities,” said the CoinFLEX CEO.
Roger Ver owes CoinFLEX $47 Million USDC. We have a written contract with him obligating him to personally guarantee any negative equity on his CoinFLEX account and top up margin regularly. He has been in default of this agreement and we have served a notice of default.
— Mark Lamb (@MarkDavidLamb) June 28, 2022
Related: Su Zhu’s cryptic statement as rumors swirl of 3AC liquidations and insolvency
Cointelegraph reported on Tuesday that a CoinFLEX account — held by a “high-integrity person of significant means” — incurred $47 million in losses after being allowed to reach negative equity without being liquidated. The platform planned to fix its liquidity shortage by issuing a new token, Recovery Value USD (rvUSD), starting June 28, with user withdrawals expected to resume on June 30.
The price of CoinFLEX’s native token (FLEX) has fallen more than 84% in the last 30 days, dropping from $1.19 to $0.80 following Lamb’s and Ver’s statements on Twitter.
Cointelegraph reached out to Roger Ver and Mark Lamb, but did not receive a response at the time of publication. This story may be updated.
The challenges faced by Terra, Wonderland and a handful of other DeFi projects exposed the need for investors to do more research and avoid cult personalities.
Satoshi Nakamoto left a large pair of shoes to fill after releasing the code for Bitcoin (BTC) to the world, helping to establish the network, then vanishing without so much as a trace.
Over the years, the crypto ecosystem has seen many developers and protocol creators rise in stature to become crypto messiahs for faithful holders who eventually have their best-laid plans end in catastrophe when the protocol is hacked, rugged or abandoned by whimsical developers.
2022 is hardly halfway complete and the year has already seen a particularly bad stretch of good intentions gone awry, which have collectively helped plunge the market into bear-market territory. Here’s a closer look at each of these instances to help provide insight into how similar outcomes can be avoided in the future.
Satoshi may have successfully remained anonymous while launching Bitcoin, but in most instances since then, having anonymous developers has turned out to be a red flag.
Many anonymous developers cite personal safety reasons for taking this route. While this is a valid reason in some cases, sometimes anon developers are hiding from previous misdoings or pre-planning to cover their tracks in the case of future offenses.
A flagrant example of this was Squid Game (SQUID), a Netflix-show-inspired memecoin that rallied 45,000% within a few days after launch, only for traders to realize that they were unable to sell the tokens on any exchange.
Investors eventually discovered that all the developers were anonymous and all social media channels were blocked from comments.
The crypto community has grown to be rather distrustful of anonymous developers and this can be seen in the negative reaction to the revelation that the founder of the Azuki nonfungible token (NFT) project was involved with three other NFT projects that were ultimately abandoned, leaving their holders with little to show except worthless jpegs.
Another instance of an anonymous developer going rogue occurred in 2022 when it was revealed that the anonymous Wonderland (TIME) treasury manager @0xSifu turned out to be an alleged financial criminal, along with QuadrigaCX co-founder Michael Patryn.
1/ Today allegations about our team member @0xSifu will circulate. I want everyone to know that I was aware of this and decided that the past of an individual doesn’t determine their future. I choose to value the time we spent together without knowing his past more than anything.
— Daniele never asks to DM (@danielesesta) January 27, 2022
The revelation of this connection resulted in the collapse of several popular projects including Wonderland and Popsicle Finance, while a significant amount of criticism was directed at Abracadabra.Money creator Daniele Sestagalli.
Prior to the @0xSifu revelation, all three protocols were seeing increased adoption, but , each protocol is a mere shadow of its former success.
Having anonymous developers removes accountability from the equation and is increasingly becoming a red flag when dealing with multi-million dollar cryptocurrency protocols.
Finance is no stranger to cult personalities and crypto is not immune to this phenomenon.
Long-time crypto pundits will recall Roger Ver being called “Bitcoin Jesus” and hileading the charge to fork Bitcoin Core and create Bitcoin Cash (BCH). Billionaire Dan Larimer also comes to mind, and investors will recall his helping EOS (EOS) raise $4 billion during the initial coin offering (ICO) boom of 2017 to 2018. In each instance, it was a fervent flock of followers that propelled each project forward.
Neither BCH nor EOS managed to reclaim their all-time highs during the 2021 bull market despite all the hype about their future when first launched. This is possibly because a portion of the hype is centered around the personalities behind the projects.
A more recent example includes the collapse of Fantom ecosystem token prices after decentralized finance (DeFi) developer Andre Cronje deactivated his Twitter account and informed the community that he was leaving the crypto space entirely.
Cronje had become so popular that many people would buy a token just because he was involved, and when he left, many of these investors dumped their holdings, which negatively affected the tokens' prices.
Previously, Fantom's brand/marketing was Andre Cronje.
— Jack The Oiler (@Jacktheoiler) May 7, 2022
Now we don't have that identity.
It's not a suggestion to focus on branding/marketing right now, it's an absolute neccessity.
While Cronje was doing what he thought was right and had no ill intentions toward the community, his actions appear to have negatively affected the crypto market due to his popularity within the community and the dedication of his followers.
The main takeaway is to be vigilant when a developer is seen as incapable of doing wrong and remember that cult-like followings can have outcomes that ripple beyond their community.
Related: Court documents reveal Do Kwon dissolved Terraform Labs Korea days before LUNA crash
Another red flag to be on the lookout for ar decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) and DeFi protocols that operate in a manner that appears to be more centralized than their name would suggest.
It’s common for many protocols to claim that they are decentralized, yet they rely on centralized service providers like Amazon Web Service to ensure that they function properly.
Due to a major AWS outage, dYdX exchange is currently down. We are experiencing greater latency across services and impaired functionality with endpoints not working and the website not loading.
— dYdX (@dYdX) December 7, 2021
For the most up to date status updates, subscribe to: https://t.co/EvjpZdRyby
Another pertinent example is when a project that claims to offer token holders governance rights makes a major protocol decision without consulting the community for feedback and approval.
The move by Terra (LUNA) to add BTC to its treasury as collateral for the TerraUSD (UST) stablecoin made headlines and was lauded by many, but the move was never put to a vote within the Terra community to see what token holders thought.
While there is a good chance that the plan would have been approved and the collapse of Terra still would have occurred, the blame might have fallen more on the community and less on Do Kwon, the project’s leader. It’s also worth mentioning that Do Kown had developed quite the cult following and was frequently insulting a variety of people on Twitter.
One of the main tenets of the cryptocurrency sector is adherence to decentralization and failure to do so often leads to a compromised network and dissatisfied investors.
The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.
On Wednesday, the leading crypto industry firm, Bitcoin.com, announced it has concluded a private sale of its VERSE token and secured $33,600,000 from strategic investors. VERSE is meant to bolster Bitcoin.com’s growing infrastructure by providing a utility token that rewards users for contributing to the Bitcoin.com ecosystem. Bitcoin.com’s Private Token Sale Raises $33.6 Million This […]