Coinbase Faces Another Class Action Lawsuit: Investors Allege Illegal Offerings

The American cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase, is embroiled in yet another class-action lawsuit. This lawsuit alleges that investors were misled into purchasing tokens classified as unregistered securities. Filed last Friday, the class action also contends that the exchanges business model is unlawful.

Another Class Action Against Coinbase

According to the lawsuit, Coinbase's listed tokenssuch as Solana, Polygon, Near Protocol, Decentraland, Algorand, Uniswap, Tezos, and Stellar Lumensare considered securities, rendering their listings on the exchange illegal.

The lawsuit further claims that in its user agreement, the exchange acknowledged its role as a securities broker, thereby categorizing the digital assets it offers as investment contracts or securities. Additionally, the lawsuit states that Coinbase Prime, the platform dedicated to institutional clients, also operates as a securities broker.

$COIN is facing a new class-action lawsuit for alleged investor deception.- Plaintiffs argue the exchange's business model is illegal and accuse Coinbase of selling unregistered securities.- Cryptocurrencies cited include Solana, Polygon, Near Protocol, Decentraland, pic.twitter.com/NYpVeND5Gf

This latest lawsuit is among several class actions the San Francisco-based company has faced in recent years. A similar lawsuit filed in 2022 also claimed the exchange listed 79 tokens as unregistered securities.

The primary plaintiffs in this recent lawsuit are six individual investorsGerardo Aceves, Thomas Fan, Edwin Martinez, Tiffany Smoot, Edouard Cordi, and Brett Maggard, residents of California and Florida. The case has been filed at the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, San Francisco Division.

The plaintiffs are seeking full rescission, statutory damages under state law, and injunctive relief via a jury trial.

Coinbases Legal Troubles

Coinbase is also contending with charges from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which accuses the exchange of operating as an illegal trading platform by offering unregistered crypto asset securities. The regulatory lawsuit also alleges that the platform acts as an exchange, brokerage, and clearing agencydistinct roles under current U.S. lawswithout the necessary registrations.

In response, Coinbase has counter-sued the SEC, demanding clear regulations for the cryptocurrency industry. Moreover, Consensys, the company behind Metamask, recently sued the SEC, aiming to establish Ether as a non-security and to challenge the regulator's ambiguous authority over the Ethereum blockchain.

View Details

Winklevoss’ Feud with Genesis Leads to Earn Users’ Class-Action Request

<p>On Monday, Cameron Winklevoss, the Co-Founder of the crypto exchange Gemini, accused the CEO of Digital Currency Group, Barry Silbert, of “bad faith stall tactics” in resolving the payment of a $900 million debt.</p><p>Winklevoss' Allegations against DCG and Genesis</p><p>The publicly posted letter from one of the Winklevoss twins to Silbert alleged that Gemini had waited six weeks trying to bring Genesis Global Capital and its parent company Digital Currency Group for a <a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/cryptocurrency/crypto-lender-genesis-seeks-1b-emergency-loan/" target="_blank" rel="follow">discussion on the repayment</a> but failed.</p><p>“For the past six weeks, we have done everything we can to engage with you in good faith and collaborative manner in order to reach a consensual resolution for you to pay back the $900 million that you owe, while helping you preserve your business,” Winklevoss’ letter stated. “However, it is now becoming clear that you have been engaging in bad faith stall tactics.”</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Earn Update: An Open Letter to <a href="https://twitter.com/BarrySilbert?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BarrySilbert</a> <a href="https://t.co/kouAviTho4">pic.twitter.com/kouAviTho4</a></p>— Cameron Winklevoss (@cameron) <a href="https://twitter.com/cameron/status/1609913051427524608?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 2, 2023</a></blockquote><p>Winklevoss revealed that Gemini had sent two payment proposals to Silbert and his companies but has yet to receive a response or willingness to resolve the issue. He added: “Every time we ask you for tangible engagement, you hide behind lawyers, investment bankers, and process. After six weeks, your behavior is not only completely unacceptable, it is unconscionable.” </p><p>According to Winklevoss, the Digital Currency Group’s subsidiary, Genesis owes $1.675 billion to Gemini, which belongs to “Earn users and other creditors.”</p><p>Additionally, Silbert responded to the allegations, tweeting that DCG “did not borrow $1.675 billion from Genesis” and the company never missed an interest payment deadline. However, Winklevoss challenged these claims, revealing Genesis borrowed the proceeds with promissory notes.</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">There you go again. Stop trying to pretend that you and DCG are innocent bystanders and had nothing to do with creating this mess. It's completely disingenuous. So how does DCG owe Genesis $1.675 billion if it didn't borrow the money? Oh right, that promissory note...</p>— Cameron Winklevoss (@cameron) <a href="https://twitter.com/cameron/status/1609942891648126981?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 2, 2023</a></blockquote><p>Class Action Arbitration Request</p><p>In response to the public feud between Winklevoss and Silbert, three Genesis earn users have filed a class action arbitration request against Genesis Global Capital and Digital Currency Group. The Genesis earn users alleged that Genesis failed to return their and other Gemini Earn users’ assets, thus breaching the Master Agreement between the two companies. On top of that, they accused Genesis of concealing its state of insolvency from its customers.</p><p>A class-action arbitration is a dispute resolution process that a third-party arbitrator resolves. It is a voluntary and less formal process and is seen as an alternative to a class-action lawsuit.</p><p>Check out the recent London Summit session on "Reimagining Crypto Market Structure."</p><p>Moreover, Gemini and Winklevoss twins are <a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/cryptocurrency/news/gemini-winklevoss-twins-face-class-action-lawsuit-over-lending-products/" target="_blank" rel="follow">facing a class-action lawsuit</a> by investors for failing to register its Earn products as securities.</p><p>Gemini abruptly halted the redemption of its interest-bearing crypto products, offered under Gemini Trust Earn, in mid-November, just after Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX filed for bankruptcy. The move was made as the <a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/cryptocurrency/bahamas-regulator-challenges-ftx-ceos-allegations-over-customer-funds/" target="_blank" rel="follow">FTX collapse triggered a liquidity crisis</a> at Genesis Trading, a major borrower of Gemini’s lending products.</p> This article was written by Arnab Shome at www.financemagnates.com.

View Details

Gemini, Winklevoss Twins Face Class-Action Lawsuit over Lending Products

<p>Crypto exchange Gemini and its owners, Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, were sued by investors with a class-action lawsuit over the interest-bearing accounts, which promised up to 7.4 percent <a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/terms/y/yield/" target="_blank" id="cfaa38df-248b-415d-a58f-1c65a6b5fdac_1" class="terms__main-term">yield</a> to customers for lending cryptocurrencies.</p><p>Gemini Faces Class-Action Lawsuit for Lending Products</p><p>Brendan Picha and Max J. Hastings filed the class-action lawsuit in the US Southern District Court of New York for themselves and “others similarly situated.” The lawsuit accused the exchange and its owners of fraud and violations of the Exchange Act.</p><p><a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/cryptocurrency/gemini-gains-crypto-licenses-in-italy-and-greece/" target="_blank" rel="follow">Gemini abruptly halted</a> the redemption of its interest-bearing crypto products, which were offered under Gemini Trust Earn, in mid-November, just after Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX filed for bankruptcy. The move was made as the FTX collapse triggered a <a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/cryptocurrency/crypto-lender-genesis-seeks-1b-emergency-loan/" target="_blank" rel="follow">liquidity crisis at Genesis Trading</a>, a major borrower of Gemini’s lending products.</p><p>“When Genesis encountered financial distress as a result of a series of collapses in the crypto market in 2022, including FTX Trading Ltd. (“FTX”), Genesis was unable to return the crypto assets it borrowed from Gemini Earn investors,” the court filing stated, adding: “[Gemini] refused to honor any further investor redemptions, effectively wiping out all investors who still had holdings in the program, including plaintiffs.”</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">This is when they file for good old Chapter 11 protection so they can spend creditors money “<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Gemini?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Gemini</a> & its founders Tyler & Cameron Winklevoss are facing a class-action lawsuit over claims the crypto exchange sold interest-bearing accounts without registering them as securities.” <a href="https://t.co/lkOoN6kx3N">https://t.co/lkOoN6kx3N</a></p>— Simon Dixon (@SimonDixonTwitt) <a href="https://twitter.com/SimonDixonTwitt/status/1608088015397847043?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 28, 2022</a></blockquote><p>The plaintiffs believe that if the interest-bearing crypto products were registered as securities in accordance with the US securities law, the investors would have disclosures to understand the risks better.</p><p>An advertisement of Gemini Earn.</p><p>Regulators against Crypto-Lending Products</p><p>In the US, regulators are reportedly investigating the <a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/terms/c/crypto-lending/" target="_blank" id="f93b5d7e-2219-4a1d-a7a8-bbcf45e69e8c_2" class="terms__secondary-term">crypto lending</a> products such as interest-bearing accounts. Though the regulators did not formally indict any company yet, they <a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/cryptocurrency/news/blockfi-to-pay-100-million-for-settlement-with-sec-and-states/" target="_blank" rel="follow">settled with now-bankrupt BlockFi for $100 million</a> with a condition of not taking new US customers. In addition, federal and state regulators are reportedly <a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/cryptocurrency/news/celsius-network-reportedly-faces-us-federal-investigation/" target="_blank" rel="follow">investigating the offerings of Celsius</a>, another crypto-lending service provider.</p><p>Meanwhile, several crypto-lending companies were severely exposed to the crypto mammoths that collapsed this year. <a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/cryptocurrency/crypto-lender-blockfi-files-for-bankrupty-protection-in-the-us/" target="_blank" rel="follow">BlockFi filed for bankruptcy</a> due to its deep ties with FTX and is now fighting for the <a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/cryptocurrency/blockfi-sues-sam-bankman-fried-over-robinhood-stock-collaterals/" target="_blank" rel="follow">rights of Bankman-Fried-owned Robinhood shares</a>. Furthermore, Singapore-based Vauld halted activities and is currently ongoing restructuring.</p> This article was written by Arnab Shome at www.financemagnates.com.

View Details

Binance.US Sued for Selling Unregistered LUNA Securities

Binance.US has been sued in a class-action lawsuit for the sale of unregistered security tokens from the Terra blockchain protocol. (Read More)

View Details

Terra fallout: Stablegains lawsuit, Hashed loses billions, Finder wrong and more...

Yield generation app Stablegains is facing a lawsuit after losing around $44 million worth of user funds in the Terra collapse when it previously said it allocated funds “across a number of stablecoins”.

View Details

OneCoin Investors Entirely Dismiss Class Actions Lawsuit

They determined that it would be very difficult to obtain a judgment against the defendants.

View Details

Temasek and FTX's Backers Face Growing Class Action, More Plaintiffs Allege Fraud

A class action lawsuit involving Singapore state investor Temasek and the collapsed American cryptocurrency exchange has gained momentum. Recently, additional plaintiffs have been added to the lawsuit, intensifying the scrutiny of the alleged violations.

According to a report by The Straits Times, the amendment to the class action lawsuit was filed by five plaintiffs in the US District Court for the Northern District of California. The plaintiffs, Leandro Cabo, Vitor Vozza, Kyle Rupprecht, Warren Winter, and Sunil Kavuri, are accusing Temasek, Sequoia Capital, SoftBank, and Sino Global Capital of abetting FTX's multi-billion dollar fraud.

More Allegations

In particular, the plaintiffs are accusing the defendants of perpetrating, conspiring, aiding, and abetting the fraud allegedly conducted by the former executives of the now-bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange, FTX. The lawsuit has raised questions about the level of due diligence carried out by the four companies.

In February, Temasek, alongside 17 other financial institutions, venture capitalists, and accounting forms, was sued for allegedly conspiring with FTX to defraud investors. The state investor had invested a substantial amount in FTX before the exchange collapsed and eventually filed for bankruptcy last November.

Thus, the Singaporean investments giant was forced to write off USD $275 million investment in FTX. Additionally, in May, Temasek was forced to cut the pay of its investment team and senior management, despite finding no misconduct, to mitigate the impact of the losses.

Temasek's Unfolding Saga

In a report by Finance Magnates, Temasek said in its defense that it had examined FTX's operations and financial records prior to investing in the company. It stated that at an initial glance, FTX appeared to be financially viable. However, an influx of customer withdrawals made it difficult to maintain liquidity in the exchange and caused a significant decline in the value of its assets.

Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said: "It is disappointing when there is a loss, as in the case of Tamasek's investment in FTX. Even more so because the loss arose from what turned out to be a very badly managed company and from possible fraud and mishandling of customers funds."

Meanwhile, sources from Bloomberg reveal that Ryan Salame, the former Co-Chief Executive at FTX Digital Markets, might take a guilty plea as early as next month. Salame could reportedly face charges related to the violation of campaign laws. As reported by the media publication, Salame was a megadonor to politicians in the US.

View Details

FTX Lawsuit Against Shaq Takes a Wild Turn: Court Documents Allegedly Thrown at NBA Star’s Car

In a recent court submission, legal representatives for basketball icon Shaquille O’Neal, commonly referred to as Shaq, claim he was not duly served in the FTX class-action lawsuit. As per the document, servers allegedly hurled the court documents at Shaq’s car, ultimately landing on the public street near his Georgia residence. Shaq’s Legal Team Fights [...]

The post FTX Lawsuit Against Shaq Takes a Wild Turn: Court Documents Allegedly Thrown at NBA Star’s Car appeared first on Crypto Breaking News.

View Details

Former FTX Legal Advisors Face Fraud Conspiracy Allegations

The class action suit alleges that the former FTX law advisors assisted in both proposing and executing shadowy strategy

Continue reading at DailyCoin.

View Details

ZachXBT's research cited in Canadian NFT rug pull class action lawsuit

According to court documents, the Boneheads team has been accused of breach of contract, misappropriating funds and misleading investors.

View Details

Investors Accuse Elon Musk of Insider Trading in Dogecoin Lawsuit

A group of investors in a class action suit have accused Elon Musk, Tesla and SpaceX's CEO, of adopting several manipulative techniques to influence the price of Dogecoin in order to trade at a profit at their expense, Reuters reported on Thursday. They alleged that Musk deliberately shot up the price of the memecoin by over 36,000% over two years and then let it crash, costing them billions of dollars in losses.

Dogecoin Investors Hit Elon Musk

According to Reuters, the allegations are contained in a court document filed on Wednesday night before a federal court in Manhattan. The Dogecoin investors requested leave to include the allegations in a third amendment to the class action lawsuit that began in June last year.

Furthermore, the group alleged that the Twitter owner engaged in profitable trading at their expense using several Dogecoin wallets controlled by Tesla or him. He also allegedly paid online influencers and used his Twitter followership to influence the coin.

Moreover, the investors alleged that Musk used his appearance on NBC’s ‘Saturday Night Live’ in 2021 and other publicity tactics to influence the price of the digital asset.

Elon Musk and Dogecoin

Dogecoin was created in 2013 by two software engineers Jackson Palmer and Billy Markus as a parody of popular internet meme ‘doge’, which is based on the Shiba Inu dog. The cryptocurrency uses the same proof-of-work technology as Litecoin.

Musk, currently the world’s richest person after Bernard Arnault, is a well-known supporter of the memecoin. In the past, he often tweeted about the coin and even suggested in 2021 that his electric car company Tesla will accept dogecoin as payment option on a test basis.

I will keep supporting Dogecoin

In April this year, Musk even briefly replaced Twitter’s blue bird logo with dogecoin’s Shiba Inu logo for a few days, sending the price of the cryptocurrency higher. In the proposed amendment to the lawsuit, the investors claim that Musk sold about $124 million of Dogecoin after the action, causing a 30% jump in the memecoin’s price.

Musk, known to regularly engage with his followers on Twitter, a social messaging platform he acquired last year, is yet to comment on the report.

Revolut hits 30M users; crypto trading on TP ICAP; read today's news nuggets.

View Details