SDNY Judge Dismisses Class Action Against Coinbase for Selling Unregistered Securities

Coinbase wins dismissal of lawsuit claiming it sold tokens illegally

A U.S. judge on Wednesday dismissed a proposed class action lawsuit by Coinbase Global Inc customers who accused the cryptocurrency exchange of selling unregistered securities and failing to register as a broker-dealer.

U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer in Manhattan said customers who transacted on the Coinbase and Coinbase Pro trading platforms could not show that the company sold or held title to the 79 tokens, a form of digital asset, they traded.

Why America Should Ban Crypto

In the U.S. in recent years, privately owned companies have issued thousands of new cryptocurrencies, large and small. These have later become publicly traded without any governmental pre-approval of disclosures.

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Such wretched excess has gone on because there is a gap in regulation. A cryptocurrency is not a currency, not a commodity, and not a security. Instead, it’s a gambling contract with a nearly 100% edge for the house, entered into in a country where gambling contracts are traditionally regulated only by states that compete in laxity. Obviously the U.S. should now enact a new federal law that prevents this from happening.

Accused insider trader had one-way ticket, considered flight risk

Commonwealth prosecutors feared a man, accused of insider trading, would leave and not return to Australia, having discovered he had a one-way ticket overseas.

Cameron Waugh appeared in Perth’s Stirling Gardens Magistrates Court on Wednesday, where he’s facing six charges of insider trading.

Seeking a 12-week adjournment, Crown prosecutor Rhionagh Rowley said the socialite’s bail conditions specifically prevented him leaving the country.

Prosecutors discovered he had a one-way ticket to South Africa dated for the same day as his dramatic arrest, which Ms Rowley described as an “extreme concern”.

Ex-PWC Partner Accused of Shocking Confidentiality Breach In Banker MeetingPricewaterhouseCoopers LLP is facing allegations of a “shocking breach” of confidentiality by one of its former partners over a “quiet coffee” with a banker.

The ex-partner held an “illicit meeting” with a banker advising law firm Slater & Gordon Ltd. spilling details of strategy and financial conditions of the then distressed Quindell Plc, now called Watchstone Group Plc., lawyers for the AIM-listed tech firm said in UK court filings.

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Watchstone is seeking £63 million ($77.6 million) in its London suit. Lawyers said Slater & Gordon would have agreed to pay at least £700 million, instead of £637 million, in the 2015 deal for Quindell’s legal services arm had it not taken advantage of the information.

Tom Brady’s business empire faces FTX drama after NFL retirement

Brady was front and center in FTX’s marketing efforts — once appearing in a Fourth of July video in which he used a flamethrower to melt a block of ice with a cryptocurrency token inside. When FTX filed for bankruptcy, Brady quietly deleted all of his tweets related to the company.

Last month, court filings revealed that Brady held more than 1.1 million common shares of FTX at the time of its bankruptcy, while Bündchen has more than 686,000 common shares. Forbes estimated that Brady’s stake was worth $45 million before FTX’s collapse rendered it worthless.

In December, longtime New England Patriots fan Michael Livieratos sued Brady, alleging the NFL legend’s involvement with FTX led him to dump nearly his entire life savings into the bankrupt platform.

UK unveils wide-ranging plans to regulate crypto industry

The UK has set out a sweeping new regulatory regime for the cryptocurrency industry that aims to bring the rules governing the issuance, trading and lending of crypto tokens closely into line with those for traditional financial assets such as stocks and bonds.

The proposals to “robustly” regulate the sector, which are subject to a consultation, are the clearest sign yet that the government is determined to transform the UK into a hub for the crypto industry, despite a year of turmoil that saw the value of many popular crypto assets plummet and the collapse of leading crypto exchange FTX. The government’s embrace of crypto comes amid concerns that Brexit threatens London’s dominance as Europe’s leading financial centre.

Who Is Gautam Adani and What Is Hindenburg Research?

Allegations of stock manipulation and accounting fraud from New York-based investor Hindenburg Research against Adani Group are piling pressure on the Indian conglomerate and its 60-year-old founder. Gautam Adani is one of Asia’s richest men and at one point last year was second only to Elon Musk in the world. Unlike Musk, Adani is relatively unknown outside his home country. Here’s some background on him and what’s going on.

Why Venture Capitalists Won’t Be Punished for Investing in FTX

While I strongly believe VC funds and their managers carry significant responsibility to their LPs and must do their best to make investment decisions based on solid due diligence and according to fund policies, my prediction is the FTX-related VC probe is unlikely to amount to much from a regulatory perspective.

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There’s no scenario in which a VC fund can guarantee a unicorn (a privately held startup company with a value of over $1 billion) or even modest positive returns – and that’s OK. Investors who are not comfortable with those odds shouldn’t be in the VC market. There will always be winners and losers, just like with the stock market. So instead of opening the litigation floodgates, let’s hold the fraudsters accountable and allow responsible VC funds to continue to invest in innovation.