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  • UK judge says there’s no “reasonable grounds” for success with Bitcoin landfill hard drive case

    UK judge says there’s no “reasonable grounds” for success with Bitcoin landfill hard drive case

    • Upon hearing the judge’s decision, Howells said “it’s the great British justice system striking again”
    • Howells lost his hard drive in 2013 when it was accidentally thrown away at the tip
    • He has been trying to engage with Newport City Council for 12 years to recover his hard drive, but says he’s been “largely ignored”

    James Howells has lost his case to recover a lost Bitcoin hard drive from a Welsh landfill that’s now worth around $740 million.

    Howells accidentally threw out his hard drive containing 8,000 Bitcoin in 2013 during a household clearout. At the time, he had two hard drives of the same size: one was blank while the other contained his Bitcoin.

    He mistakenly put the one containing the Bitcoin into a black bin bag, which his then-girlfriend took to the tip. At the time of his loss, his assets – that he mined in 2009 – were worth around $1.3 million.

    In October, Howells sued Newport City Council for $646 million in damages after being denied access to the landfill due to environmental concerns.

    Now, Judge Keyser KC, the Circuit Commercial Judge for Wales, has dismissed Howells’ case, stating that there are no “reasonable grounds” for succeeding at a full trial, reports the BBC.

    A 12-year battle

    Upon hearing the decision, Howells said he was “very upset,” adding “it’s the great British justice system striking again.”

    Over the past 12 years, Howells said he has been trying to engage with Newport City Council to recover his lost hard drive, but has been “largely ignored.”

    A court filing states Howells hard drive is located in Cell 2, Area 2 of the Docksway landfill. Yet, despite promises to safely excavate the Newport site and to modernize the landfill, the council have rejected Howells’ requests to dig due to “environmental concerns.”

    Howells’ lawyers claim that the council have “simply ignored” that 10% of Bitcoin could bring “a huge and desperately needed investment in the local community.”

    The judge’s decision comes as Bitcoin soared past $100,000 for the first time at the beginning of December, pushing to an all-time high of more than $108,000.

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  • US prosecutors urge judge to hand Bitfinex hack mastermind five-year sentence

    US prosecutors urge judge to hand Bitfinex hack mastermind five-year sentence

    Samourai Wallet co-founder released on $1M bond
    • The Bitfinex crypto hack resulted in the theft of 120,000 Bitcoin
    • Ilya Lichtenstein used a series of sophisticated methods to hide the stolen funds between 2016 and 2022
    • He told his wife and co-conspirator about the hack in 2020 who then helped him to hide the stolen assets

    US prosecutors have told a judge that the mastermind behind the Bitfinex exchange hack should receive five years in prison.

    Ilya Lichtenstein, who pleaded guilty last year after stealing 120,000 Bitcoin, was arrested in 2022. His wife and co-conspirator Heather Morgan was also taken into custody, in connection to the 2016 Bitfinex crypto hack. During their arrest, police seized Bitcoin worth around $71 million at the time of the hack.

    According to Bloomberg, a court filing was submitted to the US District Court of Columbia, US prosecutors say Lichtenstein should receive a longer sentence than Morgan, also known as rapper Razzlekhan.

    Last week, federal prosecutors recommended that Morgan receive an 18-month prison sentence given her “substantial assistance” in the case and the fact that she didn’t know her husband had hacked into Bitfinex.

    Prosecutors argued that a stronger sentence for Lichtenstein would help deter young cybercriminals from attempting the same thing. According to them, this online activity is “normalized in a way that trivializes the impact on the victims.”

    By giving a tougher sentence, prosecutors believe it will “help to break this cycle.”

    Sole responsibility for the hack

    While it was initially believed that both of them were involved in the exchange’s hack, Lichtenstein was identified as the primary person responsible.

    It was only in 2020 that Morgan found out about what her husband had done and admitted to helping him hide the stolen crypto. Following the hack, Lichtenstein transferred around 120,000 Bitcoin into a self-custody wallet under his control.

    Over the next few years, he withdrew 25,000 Bitcoin, laundering the stolen funds through darknet markets, non-compliant virtual currency exchanges, and mixers and tumblers, including Bitcoin Fog, Helix, and ChipMixer.

    With Morgan’s help, the pair used the stolen funds to buy nonfungible tokens (NFTs), gold, and Walmart gift cards.

    Prosecutors have not pushed the judge to give Lichtenstein the maximum sentence due to his assistance in other criminal cases. For instance, in February, Lichtenstein testified as a government witness in a money-laundering trial against Bitcoin Fog.

    The pair are scheduled to be sentenced in November.

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  • UK High Court Judge rules against Craig Wright over Bitcoin copyright claims

    UK High Court Judge rules against Craig Wright over Bitcoin copyright claims

    UK High Court rules against Craig Wright over Bitcoin (BTC) copyright claims

    The UK High Court has delivered a damning verdict against Craig Wright, a controversial figure claiming to be the elusive creator of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto.

    Judge James Mellor, in a written judgment, asserted that Wright had lied “extensively and repeatedly” throughout the trial, further accusing him of presenting “fabricated” evidence to support his claims.

    COPA wins against Craig Wright

    Judge Mellor’s ruling serves as a culmination of a protracted legal battle that has spanned several years.

    The lawsuit, brought forth by the Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA), aimed to challenge Craig Wright’s assertions of ownership over the intellectual rights to Bitcoin’s code and whitepaper.

    Wright’s purported attempts to lay claim to these foundational aspects of the cryptocurrency ecosystem have been met with scepticism and legal resistance from various quarters.

    Wright’s litigious nature, characterized by numerous lawsuits against developers and individuals critical of his claims, has raised concerns within the Bitcoin community.

    However, Mellor acknowledged the adverse impact of Wright’s aggressive legal strategy on Bitcoin developers, stating that Satoshi Nakamoto, known for a collaborative and non-confrontational approach, would unlikely resort to litigation.

    Fabrications and forgeries of documents

    The judgment highlighted Wright’s alleged fabrications and forgeries of documents on a significant scale, all in support of his central claim to be Satoshi Nakamoto.

    The judge characterized Wright’s actions as “clumsy” and underscored the pivotal role these falsehoods played in shaping the trial’s outcome.

    COPA, formed with the primary objective of defending the open nature of the cryptocurrency ecosystem, contested Wright’s assertions, arguing that such claims could stifle innovation and deter developers from contributing to the Bitcoin network.

    Throughout the trial, evidence emerged casting doubt on the authenticity of Wright’s claims.

    Documents submitted by Wright’s defence purportedly supporting his identity as Satoshi Nakamoto were scrutinized, revealing inconsistencies and anomalies.

    Fonts that did not exist at the alleged time of their creation and metadata indicating recent document alterations were among the discrepancies cited in Judge Mellor’s judgment.

    Perjury charges loom over Craig Wright

    The legal saga surrounding Craig Wright has been closely monitored by the cryptocurrency community, given its potential ramifications for the future of Bitcoin and the broader blockchain space.

    While Craig Wright has announced on X that he will be appealing the ruling, the ruling represents a significant setback for his ambitions, with the possibility of perjury charges looming over him.

    In response to the verdict, COPA hailed the decision as a victory for open innovation and the principles upon which Bitcoin was founded.

    The alliance reiterated its commitment to safeguarding the decentralized nature of the cryptocurrency ecosystem, vowing to continue its efforts to protect against unwarranted copyright claims.

    As the dust settles on this legal showdown, the broader implications of Judge Mellor’s ruling reverberate across the cryptocurrency landscape.

    The verdict not only underscores the importance of transparency and integrity within the community but also serves as a cautionary tale against attempts to monopolize or control foundational elements of decentralized technologies like Bitcoin.

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  • Ripple secures a ‘huge win’ as Judge rules XRP is ‘not’ a security

    Ripple secures a ‘huge win’ as Judge rules XRP is ‘not’ a security

    ripple wins sec case xrp not a security
    • Judge Analisa Torres rules XRP token is a not a security.
    • Coinbase will resume trading in XRP in the next few minutes.
    • XRP nearly doubled in value following the ruling today.

    “XRP” – the native token of Ripple Labs nearly doubled in value on Thursday after the crypto company secured a “huge win” against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

    U.S. judge rules XRP is not a security

    Judge Analisa Torres of a U.S. District Court concluded the case today that has been dragged for three years now with a ruling that XRP is “not” a security.

    Defendants’ motion for summary judgement is GRANTED as to the Programmatic Sales, the Other Distributions, and Larsen’s and Garlinghouse’s sales, and DENIED as to Institutional Sales.

    The decision is a victory not just for Ripple but the crypto market at large that surpassed $1.20 trillion just hours after the ruling.

    Bitcoin was seen trading above $31,500 and Ethereum topped the $2,000 level.

    Coinbase to resume trading in XRP

    Reacting to the ruling, Coinbase – the largest U.S. crypto exchange also confirmed on Twitter that trading will resume in XRP later today.

    Note that the win Ripple has secured against the SEC on Thursday bodes well for other crypto companies as well that are currently facing intense regulatory scrutiny. That includes Coinbase itself.

    Also this morning, the Financial Times confirmed that Jacobi Asset Management is all set to debut the Europe’s first Spot Bitcoin ETF on the Euronext Amsterdam before the end of 2023. That also helped buoy the cryptocurrencies today.

    In the U.S., heavy weights including BlackRock are awaiting approval for a similar exchange-traded fund.

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