Here are some of the major developments from the world of crypto over the past few days
Marathon Digital, an American cryptocurrency mining company, is going to court after its shareholders claimed that CEO Fred Thiel and other top officials had violated fiduciary obligations, unfairly benefited themselves, and wasted company resources.
On July 8, 2023, a shareholder complaint was submitted to the United States District Court for the District of Nevada against Fred Thiel and nine other Marathon officials. The CEO and other top executives have been accused of a breach of fiduciary duties, unjust enrichment and wasting corporate assets.
Five claims have been made against the firm executives, which include infractions of the US Securities Exchange Act, breaches of fiduciary obligations, unjust enrichment, and mismanagement of business assets.
The plaintiffs have also demanded a potential payment from Thiel, Merrick Okamoto, Simeon Salzman, and Hugh Gallagher for wrongdoing that resulted in a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) complaint being filed against the defendant.
The legal team defending the shareholders didn’t ask the defendants for a precise amount, leaving the level of compensation up to the court.
Additionally, the shareholders want to improve the board’s oversight of operations, nominate at least four shareholder candidates for the board, and do away with the former method of electing directors.
Chainlink Launches Cross-Chain Protocol
Several top banks around the world are collaborating with Chainlink to explore applications for the Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP).
The company responsible for the Chainlink protocol and its native currency has launched its cross-chain protocol in order to facilitate communication between conventional financial institutions and public and private Blockchains.
Chainlink Labs Chief Product Officer Kemal El Moujahid revealed in a post on the Chainlink blog on July 17, 2023 that CCIP has gone live in early access on Ethereum, Avalanche, Polygon, Arbitrum, and Optimism
On July 20, CCIP will be available to developers on each of these platforms on their respective testnets, he said.
Ripple’s Partial Victory Paves Way For Crypto Clarity, Says CFTC commissioner
Caroline Pham, one of the five commissioners of the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has said that Ripple’s partial triumph has paved the way for crypto regulatory clarity in the US.
Pham remarked in an interview with Bloomberg TV on July 17, 2023 that recent significant court rulings on the classification of crypto assets will eventually result in regulatory certainty.
“You know, last year I said that we were going to see regulatory clarity first in the courts around the definition of a security, and I think we’ve seen that with some very big court opinions that have been released,” she said.
Pham further expressed excitement about taking part in regulatory working groups and expressed the hope that other American authorities, such as the SEC, would collaborate to develop a “holistic approach” to cryptocurrency regulation.
Pham’s remarks follow a significant partial victory for San Francisco-based fintech company Ripple in a current legal dispute where the SEC accused the company of selling unregistered securities.
On July 14, Southern District of New York Judge Analisa Torres issued a decision stating that XRP was not a security when sold to ordinary investors on digital asset exchanges.