DeFI News by Thebittimes.Com

John Bigatton has pleaded guilty in Australia to a criminal charge of providing financial advice without the appropriate license for his role in promoting the failed Ponzi scheme BitConnect.  BitConnect was a Ponzi scheme masquerading as a lending platform that offered people unsustainable yields on its token, BCC. Users were able to lend the token to the platform with the promise the funds were being deployed profitably. However, the rewards were inauthentic and the scheme eventually collapsed leaving investors without access to their funds . Bigatton actively promoted this scheme from his social media as well as hosting ‘seminars’ around Australia , serving as national promoter for Australia for BitConnect . The Australia n Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) was aided in its investigation by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).  The FBI was also involved in the investigation into BitConnect founder Satish Kumbhani, who was indicted in ...

ProtonMail , a managed email service popular with the crypto community, surrendered a user’s information to Spanish authorities, leading privacy rights advocates to claim it had violated its sworn promise to protect user data. ProtonMail is based in Switzerland and uses privacy and security themes in all of its corporate messaging. Like Switzerland’s once-enviable numbered bank accounts, ProtonMail made allusions to Swiss privacy, pseudonymity, and jurisdictional Legal protections from the power of certain subpoenas. As a result of this marketing campaign, it attracted many crypto users who wanted a private email service. In this instance, the user was a member of Mossos d’Esquadra, a police force in Catalonia. Spanish authorities identified him via subpoenas to ProtonMail and Apple. The secure email service provided police with a recovery email address that revealed the pseudonym ‘Xuxo Rondinaire.’ Alongside information from Apple related to that recovery email and pseudonym, S...

The Philippine SEC announces plans to block Binance access, cautioning against unregistered investments and warning of legal repercussions for promoters . The Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission (PSEC) has initiated measures to restrict the accessibility of the Binance trading platform within the nation. According to the regulators, the exchange lacks official registration as a corporation in the Philippines. Consequently, it’s not legal ly permitted to offer securities trading services in the country.  The PSEC has set a three-month window following the advisory. This period is intended to allow Philippine investors with active investments on the platform to liquidate their positions and withdraw their funds. Is @binance going to be banned in the Philippines? Yesterday's announcement from @SEC_Philippines doesn't look good for the world's most popular exchange pic.twitter.com/5IrafZNrDN — Luis Buenaventura (@helloluis) November 29, 2023 You mi...

Crypto attorney John Deaton has offered insights into the ongoing Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) vs. Ripple lawsuit, suggesting a favorable outcome for the latter. Deaton has predicted a “99.9% legal victory” for Ripple in its ongoing case versus the SEC. Deaton’s comments were prompted by a post from Ripple Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty, indicating a strong belief that the outcome of the lawsuit weighs heavily in Ripple’s favor. The people who’ve argued that the SEC got a 50-50 victory in the @Ripple case are wrong. It was more like 90-10 in Ripple’s favor. If Ripple ends up paying $20M or less it’s a 99.9% legal victory. https://t.co/Xe6SYBiTCJ — John E Deaton (@JohnEDeaton1) November 4, 2023 Deaton contended that a settlement of $20 million or less would be a significant legal triumph for Ripple, refuting the idea that the lawsuit’s result would be an even 50/50 outcome for the SEC. The lawsuit between SEC and Ripple, initiated in December 2020, accus...

From charges to testimony to strategy, here’s everything you need to know to follow the biggest fraud trial of the decade. This morning, Tuesday October 2, in downtown Manhattan, Sam Bankman-Fried’s criminal trial for a litany of alleged financial crimes will begin.  Bankman-Fried stands accused of effectively stealing roughly $8 billion dollars worth of cryptocurrency and other funds belonging to large and small speculators worldwide. His methods were a mix of complex related-party accounting, uncanny media magnetism, and simply giving money to his friends. If convicted, Bankman-Fried would be by many measures the biggest financial fraudster since Bernie Madoff. Here’s how Sam Bankman-Fried ’s alleged crimes, as well as some pretty wild stuff adjacent to the crimes , will be presented to a jury. Caroline Ellison’s diaries reveal Alameda chaos, imposter syndrome, toxic SBF Read more: SBF leaked diaries to harass Caroline Ellison and derail trial, lawsuit claims The courtr...