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Media CoverageThe lawsuit against Haru Invest and Delio, following their 'withdrawal suspension,' expands overseas.
Legal action by investors related to the withdrawal suspension of Haru Invest and Delio is expected to expand beyond domestic investors to include foreign investors as well. Decent Law Firm, a law firm specializing in virtual assets and startups, is preparing a collective legal response for foreign investors affected by the Haru Invest and Delio crisis. According to the virtual asset (cryptocurrency) industry on the 16th, Decent Law Firm announced through social media the day before, "We have gathered to represent Haru Invest and Delio users who wish to recover their assets through legal procedures," adding, "Regardless of whether you reside in Korea, you can participate in individual or group lawsuits or seek redress through a collective lawsuit." Decent Law Firm, founded last year, provides specialized legal services in the digital asset sector, including virtual assets, NFTs (non-fungible tokens), tokens, fractional investments, asset management, and exchanges. Hyeonsu “Elliot” Jin, managing partner at Decent Law Firm, stated, "After posting the announcement last night, we received many inquiries and applications by early morning." He further explained, "Around 10 people from countries like Australia, France, Canada, and the United States have contacted us directly through our website, email, and Telegram." Jin added, "One of the investors mentioned they had invested about 7 billion KRW (approximately 22 Bitcoins)." Most of the inquiries received by Decent Law Firm so far are from investors related to Haru Invest. Jin said, "Most of the inquiries have been regarding Haru Invest," and noted, "While Delio seems to have many domestic investors and institutional investors, Haru Invest appears to have a significant number of foreign investors as well." Haru Invest is a virtual asset management company established by the domestic blockchain accelerator Blockcrafters. The company is registered in Singapore and has a Korean branch, Haru Invest Korea. According to its website, Haru Invest has secured over 80,000 members from 140 countries. Jin added, "We will need to keep an eye on the situation," and further mentioned, "We will serve as a communication channel for foreign investors who are not aware of the ongoing situation in Korea."
2023-06-16 MONEY TODAY -
Media Coverage
Haru Invest and Delio, which suspended coin withdrawals, have been sued on fraud charges.
Haru Invest and Delio, companies that operate virtual asset deposit services and have halted customer withdrawals, have been sued by users on charges of fraud, among other allegations. (omitted) Criminal complaints and civil lawsuits are expected to follow this situation. Some domestic users are also preparing to file lawsuits through other law firms. Additionally, since Haru Invest is based in Singapore and provides global services, overseas users are also preparing legal action. Decent Law Firm, a law firm specializing in virtual assets, is gathering participants for a lawsuit through channels such as Twitter and Telegram, regardless of whether they reside in Korea. Industry experts estimate that the total damages from this incident could reach between 300 billion and 400 billion KRW.
2023-06-16 edaily -
Media Coverage
Virtual asset deposit services face a crisis of mass bankruptcies.
Companies offering so-called 'virtual asset deposit' services, which pay interest by managing deposited virtual assets, are on the brink of collapse, raising alarms. The problem is that it's difficult to pinpoint the cause of this crisis. The virtual asset industry is tense, fearing that the aftermath of this situation could lead to a wave of bankruptcies across the domestic virtual asset market, potentially ushering in a dark period. (omitted) Legal experts point out that users of virtual asset deposit services are at high risk of losing their principal due to the current crisis. Haru Invest, the company at the center of this issue, operates through a foreign entity and is an unregistered business in Korea, meaning it is not under the jurisdiction of the government or financial authorities. Pureun “Ian” Hong, managing partner at Decent Law Firm, stated, "Companies like Haru Invest, which offer virtual asset deposit services, are essentially operated by Koreans domestically but have established foreign entities to avoid government regulation and oversight. While they've exploited this regulatory blind spot, the risks have been borne entirely by the investors," criticizing the situation.
2023-06-15 biz.chosun -
Media Coverage
KakaoTalk neglects misleading banner ads with exaggerated profit claims.
With approximately 41.45 million active users in May, KakaoTalk is indiscriminately attracting gambling-like advertisements to generate banner ad revenue. Particularly, exaggerated advertisements from services like "Random Box" on the Wooju Market suggest that consumers could win luxury items, which calls for special caution from users. (omitted) Hyeonsu “Elliot” Jin, managing partner at Decent Law Firm, stated, "Advertising products that are not actually provided as if they can be won through a random box, or omitting negative customer reviews and fabricating false 'satisfied' reviews, violates the Act on the Consumer Protection in Electronic Commerce. This requires caution." Advertising that exaggerates the features of a product to boost sales is considered misleading, and advertisements using information that is not factual are classified as false advertising.
2023-06-12 NBN NEWS -
Media Coverage
Binance and CZ face potential 'criminal penalties' if found guilty of securities fraud.
With the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing a lawsuit against Binance, its domestic expansion is now facing significant obstacles. As the possibility of criminal penalties for Binance in the U.S. is being discussed, South Korean financial authorities, currently reviewing the executive change report for Gopax (which Binance acquired), are closely monitoring the situation. (omitted) Hyeonsu “Elliot” Jin, managing partner at Decent Law Firm, explained, "Binance is accused of engaging in wash trading, commingling customer assets with corporate funds (potentially embezzlement), and illegally raising funds through the issuance of its own coins (BNB, BUSD) (fraud charges). This makes it criminally problematic, unlike Coinbase." However, Jin added, "Dropil was a case where there was intent to defraud investors from the beginning, but it's unclear in what specific way Binance deceived investors."
2023-06-09 etoday -
Media Coverage
Binance US halts dollar deposits following SEC crackdown; users advised to exercise caution when using the exchange.
Binance has decided to halt dollar deposits and withdrawals in response to the ongoing regulatory crackdown by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Binance explained, "The SEC is using extremely aggressive and threatening tactics toward the U.S. digital asset industry," as the reason for halting deposits. (omitted) The domestic virtual asset industry is also closely monitoring the risks stemming from Binance. In particular, attention is being paid to Binance Coin (BNB) and Binance USD (BUSD), which were issued alongside the virtual assets that the SEC considers to be securities. Heybit, a service provider offering virtual asset financial services, announced that it would terminate services related to BNB/BUSD issued by Binance as of the 30th. Some are advising caution when using the exchange, as the SEC has requested an emergency order from a federal court to freeze Binance's assets. Hyeonsu “Elliot” Jin, managing partner at Decent Law Firm, stated, "Although this is a cautious and conservative observation, if the asset freeze request is granted, Korean users might find their funds frozen, similar to the FTX incident," adding, "It would be wise for Binance's domestic users to withdraw their assets."
2023-06-09 etoday