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Tether and Bitfinex say the decision not to appeal the Freedom of Information Law request by several media outlets was made in the interests of transparency. Tether and Bitfinex have jointly agreed to drop initial opposition to a Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request lodged in New York by a number of high-profile news publications. A statement from the USDT stablecoin issuer and cryptocurrency exchange shared with Cointelegraph notes that it is committed to transparently sharing information following a FOIL request from CoinDesk earlier this year. The companies also indicated that they would not be openly releasing documentation, claiming that the approach is not in line with its business practices: “It’s essential to clarify that transparency does not mean a wholesale release of all our documents.” Tether and Bitfinex will not appeal against the FOIL request put forward by journalists, including Zeke Faux, Shane Shifflett and Ada Hui, whom they accuse of exhibiting “certain beh...

Some believe that hybrid blockchains with both private and public aspects can solve AI’s black-box problem. Artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain are emerging digital technologies that have captured the public imagination but also raised serious concerns. So it bears asking: Can AI and blockchain be integrated in a way that benefits humanity? There are reasons to think so. As far back as 2016, Vitalik Buterin wrote that both the crypto economics and AI safety communities were “trying to tackle what is fundamentally the same problem” of how to regulate complex and smart systems with “unpredictable emergent properties.” Both rely for control on essentially “dumb” systems “whose properties once created are inflexible,” after all. Once a smart contract is implemented, it can’t be changed, for instance. The two communities “should listen to each other more,” he concluded. In the past year, with the emergence of ChatGPT and other generative AI tools, worries are growing that AI may be...

Founder and former CEO of Thodex is finally brought to Turkey after two years since the exchange halted operations. The saga of the Turkish cryptocurrency exchange Thodex continues, with the founder being finally brought back home in two years after the platform halted trading. Faruk Fatih Ozer, founder and former CEO of Thodex, has been extradited from Albania to Turkey, Cointelegraph Turkey reported. Facing charges of fraud and money laundering, the local police immediately detained the 27-year-old upon his arrival at Istanbul Airport on April 20, the Turkish state-run news agency Anadolu Agency reported. According to the report, the plane carrying Ozer took off from the Albanian capital Tirana in the morning and landed at Istanbul Airport on Thursday. The Istanbul Airport Police Department took custody of Ozer on arrival. The detained founder is expected to undergo health check-ups and then will be taken to the Istanbul Police Department. Related: Individual behind $3.4B Silk Road...

The new class action lawsuit aims to help BAYC and APE buyers get compensation from Yuga Labs due to the firm allegedly misleading investors. Troubled cryptocurrency fintech Yuga Labs is about to face more lawsuits in relation to its nonfungible tokens (NFT) collection, Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) and other projects. Rosen Law Firm, a global law firm focused on investor rights’ protection, announced on Jan. 30 that it’s planning to file a class action lawsuit against Yuga Labs.  Rosen invited purchasers of Yuga securities — including BAYC NFTs and the native token ApeCoin (APE) — to join the class action against Yuga by the lead plaintiff deadline set for Feb. 7. The Law firm emphasized that Yuga securities’ investor s that bought BAYC and APE between April 23, 2021, and Dec. 8, 2022, may be entitled to compensation without payment of any additional costs through a contingency fee arrangement. The new case targets a large number of defendants, including Yuga Labs co-founder Wylie Ar...

The CEO of Terraform Labs’ affiliate firm Kernel Labs reportedly held the largest amount in illegal proceeds from Terra. More than six months after the collapse of the Terra ecosystem, South Korean authorities continue to investigate and freeze the funds of persons involved in Terra. After seizing 140 billion won ($108 million) from Terra co-founder Shin Hyun-Seong in November, the Seoul Southern District Court has recently ruled to confiscate more assets related to Terra. The South Korean court has ordered to freeze of 120 billion won ($92 million) in assets of former and incumbent CEOs of Terraform Labs’ affiliate firm Kernel Labs, The Korea Economic Daily reported on Dec. 20. Founded in 2018, Kernel Labs is a blockchain consultancy firm focused on decentralized applications and blockchain payment systems. Kernel Labs is believed to have close ties with Terraform Labs, as CEO Kim Hyun-joong once reportedly served as vice president of engineering at Terraform Labs. According to some...

Over 40 people and companies are named as defendants in the lawsuit, including Paris Hilton, Snoop Dog, Jimmy Fallon, Justin Bieber, Madonna. Yuga Labs, creators of Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) and crypto fintech Moonpay are facing a class-action lawsuit for allegedly using celebrities to misleadingly promote and sell nonfungible tokens (NFTs).  Over 40 people and companies are named as defendants in the lawsuit , including Paris Hilton, Snoop Dog, Jimmy Fallon, Justin Bieber, Madonna, Serena Williams, Post Malone, and Diplo. The class-action was filed on Dec. 8 by John T. Jasnoch of Scott+Scott Attorneys at Law LLP in the Central District of California and claims the crypto companies used its Hollywood network to promote the digital assets without complying with disclosure requirements. The document states: "This case epitomizes these concerns as it involves a vast scheme between a blockchain start-up company, Yuga Labs, Inc. (“Yuga”), a highly connected Hollywood talent agent (...

The first and the last major attempt to encourage a comprehensive crypto framework was buried in the House of Commons on Nov. 23. In October, Toronto-based Coinsquare became the first crypto trading business to get dealer registration from the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC). That means a lot as now Coinsquare investors’ funds enjoy the security of the Canadian Investment Protection Fund in the event of insolvency, while the exchange is required to report its financial standing regularly.  This news reminds us about the peculiarities of Canadian Regulation of crypto . While the country still holds a rather tight process of licensing the virtual asset providers, it outpaces the neighboring United States in its experiments with crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs), pension funds’ investments and central bank digital currency (CBDC) efforts. An era of restricted dealers Coinsquare, which happens to be Canada’s longest-operating crypto asset trading platf...