Xapo CEO Wences Casares has been appointed to PayPal’s board of directors, the pioneering online payments firm announced today.

The former founder of digital wallet firm Lemon Inc, acquired by LifeLock in 2013, Casares would go on to launch bitcoin security startup Xapo, which has raised more than $40m in two public funding rounds.

In the official release, PayPal lauded Casares for his past entrepreneurial efforts and position as a “cryptocurrency thought leader”.

While he did not cite bitcoin specifically, Dan Schulman, president and CEO of PayPal, aimed to position Casares as an addition to the team that would help the company with its forward-looking initiatives.

Shulman stated:

“Wences’s unique line of sight into the future of commerce is ideally aligned with PayPal’s vision of transforming the management and movement of money for people around the globe.”

Though Xapo remains one of the most high-profile firms in the industry, it did see its star dim somewhat in 2015 amid a lawsuit by online identity firm LifeLock, the previous employer of Casares and four other members of its executive team.

LifeLock has argued that the defendants “spent months” developing Xapo while employed by LifeLock and using LifeLock resources. Xapo would later file a cross-complaint.

As of 4th January, Xapo had successfully argued that the case should be moved from California to Argentina, as the work was done by “Argentine citizens”, a motion granted by Judge of the Superior Court Peter Kirwan that effectively halts case developments.

Following the news, Casares will join PayPal’s Compensation Committee.

LifeLockPayPalXapo

Nearly eight months after being sentenced to life in prison for his role in the operation of the now-defunct dark market Silk Road, Ross Ulbricht is seeking a new trial.

In a new filing submitted to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, Ulbricht's defense – which declared its intent to appeal in June – argued that the court hid key evidence, particularly the actions of federal agents Carl Mark Force IV and Shaun Bridges amid the US government's investigation of the Silk Road.

The defense also questioned the legality of some of the searches and seizures conducted during the federal investigation, and said that Ulbricht's rights to due process and a fair trial had been denied.

Ulbricht was sentenced to life in prison in May after being convicted in February of last year. He was found guilty of narcotics trafficking, money laundering and computer hacking charges.

The brief for defendant-appellant can be found below:

BRIEF FOR DEFENDANT-APPELLANT

Dread Pirate RobertsRoss UlbrichtSilk Road

UPDATE (13th January 05:04 BST): Cryptsy has posted a notice on its website stating that it has suspended withdrawals and trading following what it described as an "attack". The move comes amid reports on social media of a phishing attack that targeted customer email accounts and cell phone numbers.

The controversy surrounding the digital currency exchange Cryptsy has shown little sign of abating amid problems with customer withdrawals, allegations of fraud and mismanagement, user frustration and a lack of clarity from the exchange.

Founded in 2013, Cryptsy is a digital currency exchange that lists bitcoin and a variety of alternative cryptocurrencies, or altcoins, and for months, customers of the exchange have voiced concerns about delayed withdrawal requests. Some customers claim that their funds have been unavailable for weeks or more at a time.

Many of these complaints have filtered throughout social media, sparking speculation that the exchange is set to follow in the footsteps of Mt Gox, the Japanese bitcoin exchange that shut its doors and later declared bankruptcy after potentially losing hundreds of millions of dollars in customer funds.

In some instances, according to testimonials from Cryptsy customers, withdrawals have been successfully made in lower-volume altcoins – a move that has reportedly resulted in disparate prices between exchanges and may have resulted in Cryptsy being removed from exchange-oriented services like Coinmarketcap.

At this time, it is unclear how much money is being held by the exchange or the total amount of outstanding withdrawal requests, though some have speculated that the amount may be in the millions of dollars.

Services cut ties

In light of the problems, some cryptocurrency services are moving to sever ties with Cryptsy, citing both the problems with withdrawals as well as problematic exchange rates.

As reported last week, digital currency pricing website Coinmarketcap moved to delist Cryptsy amid the ongoing issues. At press time, the exchange remains unlisted on the site.

Altcoin mining pool service Multipool.us announced on 4th January that it was suspending its auto-deposit integration with Cryptsy.

The site said in a statement at the time:

"We have attempted several times now to contact Cryptsy to get a status on BTC/LTC withdrawals but have received no response. According to reports from our users and users on other sites, it appears that Cryptsy has not processed BTC or LTC withdrawals in over a month. Other currencies may be working but are now highly inflated on Cryptsy."

"We consider Cryptsy to be a defunct exchange and recommend our users avoid it," the message continued.

More recently, cryptocurrency trading software developer Coinigy announced that it would remove the exchange from one of its pricing tools.

NOTICE: Cryptsy will be removed from ArbMatrix tomorrow evening as exchange rates are out of whack. Take note! #Bitcoin #Cryptsy

— Coinigy (@Coinigy) January 12, 2016

Offices vacated

Last week, bitcoin news site Bitcoinist reported that the offices of Project Investors, Inc. – one of the firms tied to the exchange – had been vacated.

According to the media outlet, an anonymous source had learned that Project Investors left the building at 160 Congress Drive, Delray Beach, Florida.

When reached for comment, a representative for Cohen Commercial Management, the property's management firm, confirmed that Project Investors had departed the premises. According to the representative, the company left about a month ago.

A Cryptsy support staffer reportedly told customers in the exchange's online chatroom that the move was planned and is aimed at "cutting expenses".

The actions come amid divorce proceedings involving Vernon that cite Project Investors and other entities owned or controlled by Vernon as a third-party defendant.

Unconfirmed reports have also alleged evidence that the exchange is being investigated by the US government.

Cryptsy has not responded to requests for comment.

Question mark image via Shutterstock

AltcoinsCryptsycustomer problems

A leading Japan-based think tank is considering ways it could build on its existing exploration of blockchain technology.

First announced in late 2015, Nomura Research Institute (NRI) is already working on private proof-of-concepts (P0Cs) with parent firm Nomura Securities and Japan-based online bank SBI Sumishin Net Bank (SBI Sumishin). The Tokyo-based firm is exploring the technology’s use cases in Japan, a region where there have been relatively few blockchain industry developments.

In a new interview with CoinDesk, Kazumitsu Yokokawa, head of the financial services research and technology group at NRIAmerica, said:

"Blockchain could be used for many industries, including retailers and enterprises, and we are interested in exploring these."

Yokokawa said NRI sees a business case in exploring blockchain tech given the demand by groups like Nomura and SBI Sumishin for research into applications in securities and banking.

Still, he inferred NRI is looking at these partnerships strategically as it seeks to gather its own expertise in the subject area.

"The purpose of these PoCs is to come up with practical ways to use blockchain in the future for these industries beyond financial industry."

For its part, NRI sees itself as an enabler of exploration in the industry due to its ability to identify "innovative blockchain vendors" and to coordinate between these groups and more established financial organizations.

"Blockchain study requires both innovative technologies and financial knowledge. SBI Sumishin, Dragonfly Fintech and NRI as a team will provide these essential elements of industry knowledge and cutting-edge technology for blockchain PoC," Yokokawa said.

Following the completion of its initial PoCs, Yokokawa said NRI will make its own determinations on how to move forward with the program.

For now, however, he stated that the firm is comfortable with its leadership position in the space, concluding:

“We are the first and only one [working with blockchain] in the securities market in Japan. In the banking industry, we are also early adopters."

Image via Shutterstock

BankingJapanNomuraNRI

The European Union’s top law enforcement agency has announced a new crackdown on distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack group DD4BC.

Europol said today that one individual had been arrested and another detained as part of an effort called Operation Pleiades. The group, which demands bitcoin payments after threatening DDoS attacks, has been known to target a wide range of Web-based services focused on bitcoin, including mining pools.

Authorities in Bosnia and Hezegovina, Germany, France, Japan, Romania, Switzerland, the UK and the US either supported or directly contributed to the action, according to the agency.

Europol said in a statement:

"Operation Pleiades resulted in the arrest of a main target and one more suspect detained. Multiple property searches were carried out and an extensive amount of evidence was seized."

The agency indicated that it had identified "key members of the organised network" located in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The operation comes months after the Swiss government issued a warning about the group following a string of attacks in Australia, New Zealand and Switzerland.

DD4BC has also reportedly targeted mainstream financial services.

Police image via Shutterstock

DD4BCDDoSEuropol

We are excited to announce that CoinDesk has been acquired by Digital Currency Group (DCG), a leader in the bitcoin and blockchain industry and one of CoinDesk’s earliest investors and supporters.

Since CoinDesk launched in 2013, our audience has trusted us to be the leading publication of record for the digital currency industry. As this industry evolves and new players emerge, it’s clear that the informational needs of the individuals and companies in this space are increasing.

DCG's resources and vision will enable the CoinDesk team to keep pace with those growing needs and continue delivering the top-quality journalism our readers have come to expect. In addition, DCG’s expertise in marketing, sales and product development will enable our team to expand its current offerings, including events and premium content.

We ran our inaugural conference, Consensus 2015, last September in New York City. It was a resounding success (just check out the feedback and see who attended), with many commenting it was the best industry conference they had ever seen.

In addition to delivering a high-quality speaker lineup and editorial content, our goal for Consensus 2015 was to provide attendees and sponsors with networking opportunities that couldn’t be found at any other industry gathering.

We are happy to announce that we will be expanding on those efforts to host Consensus 2016 on 2–4 May in New York City in collaboration with DCG and Coin Center.

We’ve already confirmed several speakers and registration is now open.

AcquisitionsConsensus 2016Digital Currency Group