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A group of judges, lawmakers and industry experts in South Korea are forming a new group aimed to discuss legal issues surrounding blockchain technology. Called the Blockchain Law Society, the group is holding its founding conference on Aug. 24 in the Seoul Central District Court, during which participants will discuss both regulatory issues around blockchain and how to utilize the tech in the legal space. According to a press release published Monday, Jung-yeop Lee, the presiding judge of the district court in the city of Daejeon, founded the organization as an industry-led initiative intended to foster dialogue within the country’s justice and legislative arms, as well as elsewhere in society. “Blockchain Law Society was founded not only to study blockchain technology from a legal aspect, but also to promote interdisciplinary collaborations across diverse areas, such as economics, computer engineering, field business,” the announcement said. Initial topics to be addressed at th...

A 21-year-old bitcoin dealer from California is being prosecuted for allegedly committing numerous counts of illegal money transmission and money laundering. According to an announcement from the Department of Justice in the Southern District of California, Jacob Burrell Campos was ordered to be held without bail at a hearing on Friday in connection to the charges. Based on a court filing against him entered on Aug. 8 and unsealed over the weekend, the prosecutors alleged that, from January 2015 to April 2016, Burrell sold about $750,000 worth of bitcoin to 900 individuals in the U.S. via his bitcoin exchange service. The document said Burrell had not registered the exchange as a licensed money transmitter and intentionally failed to implement anti-money laundering measures. As such, he was accused of one count of illegal money transmission and one count of money laundering. Further, the prosecutors said in order to fund his “illegal” bitcoin exchange, Burrell committed a t...

Chinese police from multiple cities have arrested three individuals who allegedly stole bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies worth around $87 million. Chinese news agency Xinhua reported on Saturday that the three were busted on Aug. 15 in the provinces of Hunan and Changchun and the country’s capital Beijing after a months-long investigation launched by the police. According to the report, a self-declared victim, identified by the surname Zhang, first filed a complaint to the police in the northwestern city of Xi’an in March, alleging his computer had been hacked and crypto assets worth around $14.5 million stolen. The police investigation, which received assistance from several unnamed internet companies, later located a suspect with the surname Zhou, who they claimed had made a remote attack to transfer the funds from Zhang’s computer. As the investigation continued, the police further identified two alleged accomplices of Zhou that they said were highly experienced hackers. ...

Chinese police from multiple cities have arrested three individuals who allegedly stole bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies worth around $87 million. Chinese news agency Xinhua reported on Saturday that the three were busted on Aug. 15 in Hunan, Changchun provinces, and the capital city Beijing, respectively, after a months-long investigation launched by the police. According to the report, a self-claimed victim, identified by his surname Zhang, first filed a complaint to the police in the northwestern city Xi’an in March that his computer was hacked and lost crypto assets worth around $14.5 million. The police investigation, with assistance from several notable but unnamed internet companies, later located a suspect with the surname Zhou, who allegedly broke into Zhang’s personal computer remotely to transfer the funds. As the investigation went on, the police further identified Zhou’s two other accomplices, who are both alleged to be highly experienced hackers. The police...

Unikrn, a Seattle-based e-sport betting startup that conducted an initial coin offering (ICO) last year, is now facing a class action suit accusing it of violating securities law in the U.S. Las Vegas resident and lead plaintiff John Hastings filed the case at a court in Washington State on Aug. 13, alleging that Unikrn and its founder Rahul Sood sold unregistered securities to the public via the ICO for its blockchain-based UnikoinGold Tokens (UKG). Hastings, a participant in the ICO, argued that the UKG tokens should be treated as securities since investors were led to expect that the tokens “would increase in value and become worth more than the virtual currencies invested.” He further claimed that Unikrn has “crafted a flimsy façade that UKG Tokens are not securities by claiming they are ‘utility tokens.'” Sood said in a news report from Geekwire on Thursday that Unikrn is “aware of the lawsuit,” but declined to give further comment on the case. As previously reported b...

A 22-year-old cryptocurrency millionaire has lost more than 5,500 bitcoins in an alleged investment scam in Thailand – one that drew public attention due to the alleged involvement of a Thai film actor. According to a media report from Bangkok Post on Monday, a group approached and solicited Finnish businessman Aarni Otava Saarimaa in June 2017 over investment in several Thai stocks, a casino in Macau and a new cryptocurrency called Dragon Coin. The group claimed that upon issuance, Dragon Coin could be used at the casino, the report said. They also brought Saarimaa to the Macau casino in order to demonstrate the legitimacy of the project. Saarimaa, who bought into the scheme, transferred a total of 5,564 bitcoins to the group, the report indicted. Having seen no returns months after the investment, Saarimaa filed a complaint to Thailand’s Crime Suppression Division (CSD) in January, together with his local business partner who believed the investment plan was a scam. The CS...