Looks like the article has been updated with a little more info:
UPDATE 11:17am CT: Helen Wong, an FTC attorney, told Ars that all three principals had been served with the lawsuit and that no arrests were made. The USMS, she said, was present to "keep the peace."
Initially, she explained, the case was sealed to prevent BFL from moving money around (or, in government parlance, to prevent "asset dissipation").
BFL is no longer in the hands of its principals but rather under a temporary court-appointed "receiver," a situation which will last until Monday, September 29. On that date, the judge can choose to extend the receivership or cancel it.
"The court granted the FTC's request to put the company under a temporary receivership," Wong said. "Basically everything is under the control of the receivership. The order allows us to locate documents and assets. The receiver has temporary custody of the company; everything is under his ownership until or unless the court decides otherwise."
Wong also noted that in this action—the FTC's first involving Bitcoin—seeks "full consumer redress," which, if successful, would result in refunds payable in US dollars.
I would be curious if this had anything to do with the recent selloff of the price of bitcoin recently. I would speculate that BFL had a good stash of bitcoin from mining with customer machines (prior to shipping the machines) and they could have sold them in reaction to this lawsuit. Unlike their bank assets the FTC could not effectively take control of the bitcoin that was held by BFL UPDATE 11:17am CT: Helen Wong, an FTC attorney, told Ars that all three principals had been served with the lawsuit and that no arrests were made. The USMS, she said, was present to "keep the peace."
Initially, she explained, the case was sealed to prevent BFL from moving money around (or, in government parlance, to prevent "asset dissipation").
BFL is no longer in the hands of its principals but rather under a temporary court-appointed "receiver," a situation which will last until Monday, September 29. On that date, the judge can choose to extend the receivership or cancel it.
"The court granted the FTC's request to put the company under a temporary receivership," Wong said. "Basically everything is under the control of the receivership. The order allows us to locate documents and assets. The receiver has temporary custody of the company; everything is under his ownership until or unless the court decides otherwise."
Wong also noted that in this action—the FTC's first involving Bitcoin—seeks "full consumer redress," which, if successful, would result in refunds payable in US dollars.
