Bitcoin investor Roger Ver files OKCoin liquidation application in court

Crazy Review : OKCoin, headquartered in China, has recently been interviewed by government regulators along with other Bitcoin exchanges, and the dispute with Bitcoin investor Roger Ver last year has escalated again. Because the institution's exchange in Hong Kong refused to enforce the court's previous compensation ruling, the investor decided to file a liquidation application with the Hong Kong court. It is not clear what the outcome will be.

Translation: Annie_Xu

Bitcoin investor Roger Ver has escalated his attack on Chinese bitcoin exchange OKCoin, attempting to apply for liquidation in a Hong Kong court.

The exchange’s legal battles have been ongoing for months and have resulted in a record of court defeats. OKCoin did not respond to the ruling, prompting Ver to take further action that could ultimately lead to the exchange’s closure.

Ver first sued OKCoin in September, seeking $570,000 in damages and compensation for breach of contract related to a dispute over the Bitcoin.com domain name.

The conflict escalated when the exchange was accused of counterfeiting and other misconduct, something that exchange representatives quickly denied.

Ver eventually sued OKCoin’s Hong Kong office. Meanwhile, Ver and attorney Daniel Kelman accused the exchange and its CEO Star Xu of forging Ver’s signature. The lawsuit is awaiting trial.

According to court documents, OKCoin never admitted to breach of contract in court. On November 17, the court issued a final interlocutory judgment, awarding $570,000 to Ver.

Roger Ver

However, according to Ver and Kelman, OKCoin has yet to respond to the court ruling and further requests.

As a result, the two said they intend to ask the Hong Kong court to liquidate the local OKCoin exchange to obtain compensation. According to Kelman, a liquidation application is currently being drafted.

"OKCoin stopped responding, and it became a one-sided discussion, which is equivalent to saying you can sue us, sue us directly, and don't say anything, so they didn't give us a choice."

Documents collected by the media show that after the November verdict, OKCoin’s legal representatives in Hong Kong responded in a Dec. 23 letter asking them to abandon the original court ruling. According to Kelman, they responded and asked them to pay compensation, but never received a response.

On January 24, a court notice was delivered to OKCoin’s Hong Kong office, reiterating the court’s judgment of $570,000 plus accrued interest of $13,867.

According to Ver, his Hong Kong legal representative also received the notice letter, but the exchange never responded to the letter.

The notice letter was valid for 21 days and expired on February 13.

OKCoin said in a statement:

"This case is still in the legal process and there is no result to discuss."

Next step

The case attracted great attention on social media last year and gradually disappeared from the public eye.

Emails released at the time describe an increasingly contentious exchange between Ver and OKCoin representatives, exacerbated by allegations of forged contract signatures, which Ver has consistently stressed are true.

Changpeng Zhao, a former OKCoin executive, backed Ver’s allegations that the exchange faked trading volumes and manipulated its August 2014 audit results.

At the time, Xu made several refutations of Zhao's claims.

At the time, Ver said he would take the case to court and formally filed the lawsuit in September. Things went quiet after that, Ver turned Bitcoin.com into a Bitcoin-centric content platform and mining pool, while OKCoin continued its trading business.

However, depending on the court's ruling, the latest developments may once again enter the public eye.

If the application is successful, the Hong Kong court will force the exchange to go into liquidation, which could turn things around.

Kelman said, "No matter how many customers have signed agreements with their company in Hong Kong and how much money customers have on the exchange, the court will liquidate it and order the return of all funds. All customers are creditors unless OKCoin goes to court to resolve this matter."

As for what will happen next, it is still uncertain.

OKCoin, which owns exchanges in China and Singapore, could be affected by the Hong Kong outcome if the judge approves the liquidation. OKCoin could ask to have the lawsuit moved to China, where its headquarters are.

The timing of these latest developments couldn’t be worse for the company. OKCoin and other cryptocurrency exchanges have recently come under pressure from Chinese regulators, including the People’s Bank of China.

Since then, OKCoin has halted margin trading, increased trading fees, and halted withdrawals pending upgrades to its internal systems.