Today on Bitcoin This Week we comment on the recent addition of a blockchain course to a prestigious London college; a Bitcoin Maven sentenced to jail for operating an illegal crypto exchange and more.
SEC Settles Case Against UBI Blockchain Lawyers
The Securities and Exchange Commission was in the news again this week as it revealed that it had settled a case against two men who it had accused of illegally selling shares in a blockchain company at an inflated price. The US regulator had taken action against lawyer T.J. Jesky, and his law firm’s business adviser Mark F. DeStefano after it spotted “unusual and unexplained market activity” involving UBI Blockchain, the company at the center of the case.
Jesky and DeStefano, it was alleged, were authorized to sell UBI Blockchain shares at a set price of $3.70 per share, but sold them for many times this amount. The District Court in New York accepted a settlement agreement between the pair and the Commission, which saw Jesky and DeStefano agree to pay back in excess of $1.4 million in profit earned on the deals, without explicitly admitting any wrongdoing.
Former Bitcoin Broker Sentenced To Jail
Also on the wrong side of the law was a former stockbroker, who was sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison, having admitted to illegally operating an unregistered Bitcoin exchange. Theresa Lynn Tetley, who has been dubbed “Bitcoin Maven” by the press, exchanged between six and nine million dollars worth of Bitcoin for customers across the United States, with little regard for anti-money laundering laws.
In exchange for turning a blind eye to the finer points of due diligence and KYC, Tetley levied a hefty charge far exceeding the going rate of legitimate licensed exchange services. It was alleged in court that in operating outside of the mainstream regulatory system, Tetley facilitated the laundering of funds from illegal drug trades on the darkweb.
Lightning Network Ready to Storm
A year and a day sometimes feels like the time it takes for a Bitcoin transaction to be verified. But that could be about to change. The much touted “Lightning Network” will be made available to 100 merchants on a trial basis in the near future, according to Coindesk.
The Lightning Network allows nodes to connect through a second layer that sits on top of the blockchain. The pilot program will be run by CoinGate, who have promised to reimburse any funds lost in the trial phase. Not everyone is convinced that the Lightning Network is the answer to Bitcoin’s scalability problem however, with Bitcoin Core’s Peter Todd being a particularly vocal critic. However, even Todd has had to admit that the technology has improved significantly this year.
London College Offering Course In Blockchain
Do you become tense and nervous when dinner party chat turns to blockchain? Well, perhaps you should go to better dinner parties, or; you could keep up with your buddies by completing an online course in Cryptocurrency Investment and Disruption, as offered by respected UK college the London School of Economics. Explore over sixty hours of content from the comfort of your own home, learning how, “cryptocurrencies and blockchain will shape the future of money”.
Bitcoin Falters On The Road To Recovery
Monday’s opening of $6775 seemed to promise another week of recovery following that of the last fortnight. However, unforeseen events were about to intervene, as has so often been the case this year. Tuesday’s news that decentralized exchange Bancor had been hacked, were quickly followed by reports that MyEtherWallet users may have been spied upon through VPN extension, Hola. $400 was shaved off the Bitcoin (BTC) price on Tuesday, sinking it to a low of $6320. There was a hint of recovery on Wednesday as it struggled to over $6400 before slipping again to close at $6360. To see current prices click here.
