Quote
CoinLab Files Breach-Of-Contract Suit Against Mt. Gox
SEATTLE (May 2, 2013) — CoinLab, the world’s first U.S. venture-backed Bitcoin company, today filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington alleging breach of contract against Japan-based Mt. Gox, the world’s largest exchange for the digital currency Bitcoin.
“While it’s unfortunate that our agreement with Mt. Gox has not proceeded as planned, our hope is that we can quickly resolve the issues and clear a path to better serve our U.S. and Canadian customers,” said Peter Vessenes, CEO, CoinLab, Inc.
CoinLab and Mt. Gox entered into an agreement in November 2012 to provide Bitcoin purchase, sale and exchange services to customers in the U.S and Canada. As an established player in the North American Bitcoin industry—registered and fully compliant with the Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN)— CoinLab provided Mt. Gox with U.S. financial and investment partnerships necessary to drive more U.S. volume and pave the way for institutional investors and high net-worth individuals to buy and hold large amounts of the digital currency.
In return, under the agreement CoinLab would handle all of Mt. Gox’s North American transactions, providing enhanced product delivery, liquidity and customer service to the North American Bitcoin market.
However, Mt. Gox did not fulfill key terms of the agreement. Mt. Gox continued to market to North American customers and failed to provide CoinLab with account reconciliation data, service access and other information essential to fulfilling the terms of agreement, eventually attempting to ban all customers who had worked with CoinLab.
“We invested multiple staff years and significant resources into making this deal a success,” Vessenes said. “While it’s disappointing to file a lawsuit, we can rest assured that we tried every other avenue to resolve the issues outside of the courtroom.”
Vessenes continued: “My continued hope is that Mt. Gox will do what’s best for U.S. and Canadian customers and settle this matter quickly, allowing our customers to transact in the U.S. with a fully licensed and registered company that meets American standards for service quality. It’s most important to me that customers are able to maintain uninterrupted flow of services, and I hope that Mt. Gox shares that goal and works to resolve this dispute.”
CoinLab is represented by Edgar Sargent, Floyd Short and Lindsey Godfrey Eccles of Susman Godfrey LLP and Roger Townsend of Breskin, Johnson, Townsend PLLC.
CoinLab, headquartered in Seattle, is the world’s first U.S. venture-backed Bitcoin company. It was funded in April 2012 by a group of progressive investors including Tim Draper, Geoff Entress, Barry Silbert, Roger Ver and Joel Yarmon.
http://coinlab.com/pressSEATTLE (May 2, 2013) — CoinLab, the world’s first U.S. venture-backed Bitcoin company, today filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington alleging breach of contract against Japan-based Mt. Gox, the world’s largest exchange for the digital currency Bitcoin.
“While it’s unfortunate that our agreement with Mt. Gox has not proceeded as planned, our hope is that we can quickly resolve the issues and clear a path to better serve our U.S. and Canadian customers,” said Peter Vessenes, CEO, CoinLab, Inc.
CoinLab and Mt. Gox entered into an agreement in November 2012 to provide Bitcoin purchase, sale and exchange services to customers in the U.S and Canada. As an established player in the North American Bitcoin industry—registered and fully compliant with the Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN)— CoinLab provided Mt. Gox with U.S. financial and investment partnerships necessary to drive more U.S. volume and pave the way for institutional investors and high net-worth individuals to buy and hold large amounts of the digital currency.
In return, under the agreement CoinLab would handle all of Mt. Gox’s North American transactions, providing enhanced product delivery, liquidity and customer service to the North American Bitcoin market.
However, Mt. Gox did not fulfill key terms of the agreement. Mt. Gox continued to market to North American customers and failed to provide CoinLab with account reconciliation data, service access and other information essential to fulfilling the terms of agreement, eventually attempting to ban all customers who had worked with CoinLab.
“We invested multiple staff years and significant resources into making this deal a success,” Vessenes said. “While it’s disappointing to file a lawsuit, we can rest assured that we tried every other avenue to resolve the issues outside of the courtroom.”
Vessenes continued: “My continued hope is that Mt. Gox will do what’s best for U.S. and Canadian customers and settle this matter quickly, allowing our customers to transact in the U.S. with a fully licensed and registered company that meets American standards for service quality. It’s most important to me that customers are able to maintain uninterrupted flow of services, and I hope that Mt. Gox shares that goal and works to resolve this dispute.”
CoinLab is represented by Edgar Sargent, Floyd Short and Lindsey Godfrey Eccles of Susman Godfrey LLP and Roger Townsend of Breskin, Johnson, Townsend PLLC.
CoinLab, headquartered in Seattle, is the world’s first U.S. venture-backed Bitcoin company. It was funded in April 2012 by a group of progressive investors including Tim Draper, Geoff Entress, Barry Silbert, Roger Ver and Joel Yarmon.
Quote
Statement Regarding CoinLab/MtGox Dispute
The complaint of May 2nd, 2013, is between Mt Gox and CoinLab Inc., and does not involve the Bitcoin Foundation. The Foundation exists to serve the best interests of Bitcoin and not the best interests of individual board members. If the best interests of Bitcoin are not being served or if the mission to standardize the protocol and protect and promote Bitcoin is in jeopardy, then the board is prepared to take thoughtful action to ameliorate.
Bitcoin is not only relevant within a single jurisdiction, but its reach is global. With strong and growing support from many countries around the world, the Bitcoin Foundation is acutely aware of its global mission.
https://bitcoinfoundation.org/blog/?p=180 The complaint of May 2nd, 2013, is between Mt Gox and CoinLab Inc., and does not involve the Bitcoin Foundation. The Foundation exists to serve the best interests of Bitcoin and not the best interests of individual board members. If the best interests of Bitcoin are not being served or if the mission to standardize the protocol and protect and promote Bitcoin is in jeopardy, then the board is prepared to take thoughtful action to ameliorate.
Bitcoin is not only relevant within a single jurisdiction, but its reach is global. With strong and growing support from many countries around the world, the Bitcoin Foundation is acutely aware of its global mission.
