Late last month, federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York pushed for a heavy prison sentence against one of the founders of Centra Tech, Inc. (“Centra Tech”). As discussed earlier this year on the BitBlog,...more
12/2/2020
/ Celebrity Endorsements ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Debit and Credit Card Transactions ,
Digital Currency ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Influencers ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Investment Opportunities ,
Securities Violations ,
Token Sales ,
Unregistered Securities
Late last month, SoluTech, Inc. and Nathan Pitruzello consented to a cease-and-desist order with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). From April 2018 through March 2019, SoluTech, a technology start-up...more
10/9/2020
/ Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Currency ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Transactions ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Investment Opportunities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Token Sales ,
Unregistered Securities
The U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) filed a civil forfeiture complaint detailing two hacks of virtual currency exchanges by North Korean actors. These actors stole millions of dollars’ worth of cryptocurrency or other...more
9/16/2020
/ Blockchain ,
Civil Forfeiture ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Data Breach ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
Foreign Exchanges ,
Hackers ,
Money Laundering ,
North Korea ,
Virtual Currency
Joseph Frank Abel recently pled guilty to conspiring to offer and sell unregistered securities and to filing a false tax return in connection with his role in the BitClub Network, a cryptocurrency mining scheme worth at least...more
9/15/2020
/ Bitcoin ,
Bitcoin Mining ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Currency ,
Government Investigations ,
Guilty Pleas ,
Indictments ,
Investment Fraud ,
Securities Violations ,
Tax Fraud ,
Unregistered Securities
The U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) filed a civil forfeiture complaint detailing two hacks of virtual currency exchanges by North Korean actors. These actors stole millions of dollars’ worth of cryptocurrency and...more
9/15/2020
/ Civil Forfeiture ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Data Breach ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
Foreign Exchanges ,
Hackers ,
Money Laundering ,
North Korea ,
Virtual Currency
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged two promoters for acting as unregistered brokers. The SEC action was filed in tandem with a criminal indictment by the U.S. Department of Justice against the same...more
Earlier this month, a superseding indictment was unsealed in the Southern District of New York, charging Pablo Rodriguez, Gutemberg Dos Santos, Scott Hughes, Cecilia Milan, and Jackie Aguilar for their roles in a...more
Earlier this month, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the money laundering convictions of Thomas Costanzo, a bitcoin broker. According to Costanzo, the bitcoin transfers at issue, which originated from and were...more
4/25/2020
/ Asset Transfer ,
Bitcoin ,
Blockchain ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Currency ,
Digital Wallets ,
Federal Jurisdiction ,
Financial Transactions ,
Interstate Commerce ,
Money Laundering ,
Peer-to-Peer ,
Popular ,
Virtual Currency