Fintech In Japan Update

November 15, 2023

Welcome to the thirty-third edition of the Japan FinTech Observer. The theme of the previous “Last Word” about information leakage echoed strongly this week as the Nikkei reported “exclusively” that Mizuho would make a further investment in Rakuten Securities, and the latter would scrap its public listing. With the later confirmation of the transaction, after the requisite board meeting, and indication that this decision was taken because a listing within 2023 was increasingly unlikely, it serves as another indication of the dire liquidity situation at Rakuten, which is facing significant bond redemptions over the coming 18 months.

And if you were unlucky to be out and about on Saturday, you might have been unable to pay with your credit card, as a JCB subsidiary had an outage. This just weeks after an upgrade to the Zengin system caused issues with bank transfers. There could not be a better argument for the avalanche of stablecoins that will be launched over the coming twelve months.

This is what we are going to cover this week:

Venture Capital & Private Markets: SBI Investment announced its new JPY 100bn flagship fund “SBI Digital Space Fund”; SBI Holdings and SC Ventures, Standard Chartered’s innovation, fintech investment and ventures arm, plan to establish a Digital Asset Joint Venture investment company in the United Arab Emirates (UAE); Ricoh has established the JPY 5bn “RICOH Innovation Fund” as a Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) fund; SBI Holdings has concluded a capital and business agreement with Mynavi Corporation by acquiring 10.59% of Mynavi’s total number of shares issued
Banking: Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group’s US digital bank, Jenius Bank, has launched a savings account after initially offering lending products only; SMBC has also strengthened its leadership team in Asia Pacific; Musim Mas and MUFG Bank have joined forces to establish a verified deforestation-free palm oil value chain
Insurance: Agents and brokers are the primary distribution channels in Asian insurance markets, and nowhere more so than in Japan; Sumitomo Life Insurance Company has increased its investment in Singlife through a capital injection
Payments: A nationwide disruption of credit card transactions was reported on Saturday; arrests have been made in a fraud concerning JPY 171m worth of au Pay reward points; Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das has suggested linking India’s UPI with Japan’s local fast payment system
Capital Markets & Asset Management: Mizuho Securities and Rakuten Securities further strengthen the strategic capital and business alliance between the two companies originally announced on October 7, 2022, by entering into a share transfer agreement for the 29.01% of the common stock in Rakuten Securities held by Rakuten Securities Holdings; SuMi TRUST Asset Management and Osmosis Investment Management, a UK-based sustainable investment manager specializing in a resource efficient strategy, have entered into a legally binding agreement to form a strategic partnership
Digital Assets: Ginco, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking, and Progmat are starting a joint study to introduce an “infrastructure stablecoin” with the aim of improving the settlement efficiencies among the players in the crypto asset market; Oasys, a blockchain designed exclusively for the gaming community, has partnered with cross-chain payment solution Singularity; Slash Payment (Slash Fintech Limited) now supports Arbitrum; nanameue, a leading company of the democratizing of social media from Japan, has released its “YAY White Paper”
The Last Word: Real Money Flows

···

Venture Capital & Private Markets

SBI Investment, a wholly-owned subsidiary of SBI Holdings that operates and manages venture capital funds, announced that its new flagship fund “SBI Digital Space Fund” with a maximum of JPY 100bn will formally commence investments; the Fund will focus on a wide range of areas with innovative technologies and services that are expected to be growth industries in the future, including “Digital Space” such as Web3 and the metaverse, as well as “AI”, “fintech”, “healthcare”, “DX (digital transformation)”, and “climate tech”
SC Ventures, Standard Chartered’s innovation, fintech investment and ventures arm, is partnering with SBI Holdings, a Japanese financial conglomerate, to establish a Digital Asset Joint Venture investment company in the United Arab Emirates (UAE); the parties intend to capitalise the vehicle with $100 million
Ricoh has established the “RICOH Innovation Fund” as a Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) fund; aiming to generate innovation in the Business-to-Business area, this Fund executes strategic investments in start-ups that drive leading-edge digital services; the Fund will be operated by SBI Investments as the General Partner, is expected to scale to JPY 5bn, and run for 10 years
SBI Holdings has concluded a capital and business agreement with Mynavi Corporation by acquiring 10.59% of Mynavi’s total number of shares issued; SBI Holdings is advancing its “Open Alliance Strategy,” which materializes win-win relationships with numerous external companies across various industries; through this Open Alliance, SBI Holdings is collaboratively building a framework with diverse partners to provide comprehensive services that cannot be achieved by a single entity alone, in order to meet various demands from customers

···

Banking

In July, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMFG) began providing personal loans to U.S. residents through Jenius Bank, a division of Manufacturers Bank, a California state-chartered bank that is a wholly-owned subsidiary of SMBC Group; Jenius Bank has now launched the Jenius Bank Savings Account, designed to empower customers to achieve their financial goals with greater ease and flexibility; following these two product launches, Jenius Bank plans to offer a mobile app in the coming months
Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation has appointed Junwei Wu and Sukrit DEWAN to leadership roles in Asia-Pacific; Junwei Wu is joining as head of structured credit for Asia-Pacific, based in Singapore; the team in which Wu and Dewan operate is a new one for the bank
Musim Mas and MUFG Bank have joined forces to launch a POC (Proof of Concept) to trial the application of Web3 in establishing a verified deforestation-free value chain with independent smallholders in the Sambas region of Kalimantan, Indonesia

···

Insurance

Agents and brokers are the primary distribution channels in Asian insurance markets, and nowhere more so than in Japan, according to McKinsey’s report on Asia’s P&C Insurance
Sumitomo Life Insurance Company has increased its investment in Singapore Life (Singlife) through a capital injection; as a long-term strategic investor, Sumitomo Life has fully underwritten the allotment of shares to existing shareholders, solidifying Singlife’s financial foundation and supporting its business growth; with this capital injection, Sumitomo Life’s stake in Singlife has increased from 23.22% to 27.00%

···

Payments

A nationwide disruption of credit card transactions was reported on Saturday, with East Japan Railway’s ticketing machines and major convenience stores temporarily experiencing an inability to accept credit card payments; major credit card firm JCB said a subsidiary that handles card settlement data experienced system trouble, apparently causing the disruption
A 37-year-old man and five others have been arrested on suspicion of fraudulently acquiring JPY 171m worth of au Pay reward points through fictitious purchases via thousands of accounts, according to Tokyo police
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das has suggested linking India’s UPI with Japan’s local fast payment system; this proposal follows the successful linking of UPI with Singapore’s fast payment system; Das believes that such linkages between fast payment systems can leverage fintech to make cross-border payments more efficient and cost-effective

···

Capital Markets & Asset Management

Mizuho Financial Group announced that Mizuho Securities, a consolidated subsidiary of Mizuho Financial Group, and Rakuten Securities Holdings, a consolidated subsidiary of Rakuten Group, have today agreed to further strengthen the strategic capital and business alliance between the two companies originally announced on October 7, 2022, by entering into a share transfer agreement for the 29.01% of the common stock in Rakuten Securities held by Rakuten Securities Holdings; the Rakuten Securities Holdings board of directors has resolved to temporarily withdraw its Tokyo Stock Exchange listing application; after the share transfer to Mizuho Securities, Rakuten Securities Holdings will hold a 51% stake in Rakuten Securities, and Rakuten Securities will continue to be a consolidated subsidiary of the Rakuten Group and Rakuten Securities Holdings
SuMi TRUST Asset Management and Osmosis Investment Management, a UK-based sustainable investment manager specialising in a resource efficient strategy, have entered into a legally binding agreement to form a strategic partnership; this follows the July announcement of a non-legally binding agreement that we have previously reported on

···

Digital Assets

Ginco, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking, and Progmat are starting a joint study to introduce an “infrastructure stablecoin” with the aim of improving the settlement efficiencies among the players in the crypto asset market by leveraging the “Progmat Coin” platform: a stablecoin issuance and management platform that is fully compliant with the Japanese stablecoin regulations; this collaboration aims to issue two stablecoins by the summer of 2024: “XJPY”, denominated in JPY, and “XUSD”, denominated in USD
Oasys, a blockchain designed exclusively for the gaming community, has partnered with cross-chain payment solution Singularity; the collaboration will offer users a seamless payment experience across the Oasys ecosystem, solidifying its commitment to providing unparalleled convenience, ease of use and utility to gamers
Slash Payment (Slash Fintech Limited) now supports Arbitrum
nanameue, a leading company of the democratizing of social media from Japan, has released its “YAY White Paper” explaining Yay!’s tokenomics created using the unique cryptocurrency “YAY”; with this, they aim to foster a future where people can seamlessly utilizes tokens in the Yay! community, thus realizing their own SocialFi ecosystem

···

Other Media

···

The Last Word: Real Money Flows

We are as excited as anyone else about the “Five Year Startup Plan” that the Kishida administration is pushing, although we prefer to judge its success by the actual implementation steps taken rather than the written word. In the meantime, Dealroom and Flow Traders have tallied up the venture capital investments by country up to September, highlighted in the graph above. For further analysis, consider putting these absolute numbers in relation to GDP.

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February 17, 2025

The Dawn of DeFi: The Hidden War for a Decentralized Future

👉 DON'T FADE THIS ARTICLE~ Crypto Michael AKA "The Dinarian"

The below article is NOT financial advice, it is being broadcast for entertainment purposes only. You should DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH and NEVER invest any more than you are willing to lose. On that note, THIS ARTICLE AND THE UNDERLYING ASSET DISCUSSED COULD CHANGE YOUR LIFE FOR THE BETTER FOREVER! You SHOULD pay close attention as this MAY BE THE MOST IMPORTANT article you could ever have read, unless you were fortunate enough to read the Bitcoin whitepaper and had invested in it back in 2008. The asset I am about to present to you, COULD EASILY FLIP BITCOIN! ESPECIALLY WITH TODAYS ADMINISTRATION IN PLACE!
~ Namasté 🙏 Crypto Michael AKA "The Dinarian"

Attempted Theft of the World's Most Valuable Property, SEC Lawfare & The ETHgate Scandal

It is widely accepted that the media often spreads misinformation and hides any truth that challenge the establishments narratives. Well, this is one of those hidden truths...

Loans without Banks, Trades without Exchanges, Contracts without Lawyers. Peer to Peer Capital Markets disrupts traditional finance by removing middlemen and counter-party risk, enabling you to become your own bank by holding the keys to it all in your own privately held digital wallet.

To what lengths do you think the establishment would go to defend their control of the financial system? A system seemingly ripe with market manipulation, naked shorts, money laundering and regulatory capture.

The Myth of Open Source

For context, in the realm of open source, major corporations can engage in Intellectual Property theft by using open source projects to gain insights, technology, or legal protections without fully reciprocating to the community. Companies might contribute code to an open source project, only to later use that same code in commercial products, extending it with enhancements, essentially using open source as a low-cost R&D resource. Patents are crucial here, serving as a defense mechanism. Although open-source licenses cover copyrights, they don't extend to patents, meaning that companies holding patents can enforce legal protections against unauthorized commercial use, ensuring that any commercial application of their patented technology within open-source software requires proper licensing or recognition. This protection has historically led to the hyper-growth of industries like mobile phones and the internet, where patented technologies could be safely shared and built upon, promoting innovation and market expansion.

Validating Inventorship

In fields such as technology, pharmaceuticals, and manufacturing, patents are vital for safeguarding new inventions, with Nikola Tesla's extensive patent portfolio serving as a testament to his contributions to science.

However, Tesla's revolutionary inventions, like the Wardenclyffe Tower which aimed at providing free wireless energy, faced fierce opposition due to their potential to disrupt established control over energy markets. Financially sabotaged by investors like J.P. Morgan, legally challenged through "the war of currents" by Thomas Edison's promotion of the less efficient Direct Current system, and undermined by media smear campaigns, Tesla's work was systematically suppressed. After his death, the FBI's seizure of his documents further suggests efforts to control or conceal his ideas that could disrupt centralized energy distribution, illustrating how innovation can be stifled to maintain existing power structures.

Could this type of suppression still be happening today?

The Genesis of Decentralized Finance

Reggie Middleton first introduced Distributed Finance what would later become known as Decentralized Finance (DeFi), in 2013 when he invented and patented technologies under the title "Devices, systems, and methods for facilitating low trust and zero trust value transfers." This included groundbreaking concepts like programmable Smart Contracts, Swaps, Tokenized Assets, NFTs, Stable Coins, Digital Wallets, and even underpin Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs).

https://patents.google.com/patent/US11196566B2/en?oq=US11196566+

Called by many as "The Most Valuable Property in the World", his patents US11196566B2, US11895246B2, JP6813477B2, JP7204231B2, JP7533974B2, & JP7533983B2 have been cited over 138 times by major financial institutions, underscoring their foundational role in the blockchain industry.

His patents cover:

Trustless Peer-to-Peer Value Transfers: Systems for enabling decentralized and secure value transfers between parties without the need for intermediaries. Applicable to cryptocurrency transactions, DeFi platforms, and digital payment systems.
Decentralized Financial Systems (DeFi): Methods and devices that facilitate decentralized trading, lending, borrowing, and yield generation. Impacting decentralized exchanges (DEXs) like Uniswap, SushiSwap, and similar platforms.
Smart Contracts: Implementation of self-executing contracts on blockchain networks, used to automate agreements and enforce conditions without intermediaries. Essential for platforms such as Ethereum, Cardano, and other Layer-1 and Layer-2 blockchain protocols.
Tokenized Asset Trading: Methods for creating, transferring, and trading tokenized assets, including cryptocurrencies, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and digital securities. Platforms like OpenSea, Rarible, and asset tokenization platforms may fall within the scope.
Cryptographic Security and Wallet Systems: Systems for securing digital assets using cryptographic methods, including cold storage, multi-signature wallets, and multi-party computation (MPC). Potential overlaps with services offered by companies like Coinbase, Kraken, Gemini, and institutional custody providers.
Decentralized Identity and Verification Systems: Technologies for managing and verifying digital identities on decentralized networks, including for KYC (Know Your Customer) purposes. Likely touching on identity solutions like Civic, BrightID, and Blockstack.
Blockchain-Based Voting and Governance: Systems for implementing decentralized voting, governance, and consensus mechanisms, foundational to DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organizations). Relevant to governance platforms like Aragon, Snapshot, and MakerDAO.
AI Economic Agentic Computing: First introduced by the VeADIR Platform refers to the application of autonomous agents in economic systems, where software entities can make decisions, negotiate, and execute transactions independently. These agents use artificial intelligence to analyze market data, predict trends, and optimize economic activities like trading, resource allocation, and supply chain management. Used by OpenAi, Claude Sonnet, Meta and xAI.

The societal value of these patents to disrupt traditional financial models and fintech business practises, by essentially removing the banks as middlemen, create significant economic incentives to suppress his work.

True Decentralization

Current Decentralized Exchanges (DEXs) often fall short of being truly decentralized due to various practical and structural limitations. Although DEXs leverage blockchain technology and smart contracts to enable trading without a central authority, aspects like governance, liquidity, and user interface can introduce centralization. Governance tokens might be concentrated in the hands of a few, influencing decision-making unevenly. The frontend, controlled by developers, represents a centralized point of control or potential failure. Liquidity pools can be dominated by a handful of large providers, leading to centralized liquidity dynamics. Some DEXs implement regulatory compliance like KYC/AML, which inherently involves centralized oversight. The use of layer-2 solutions for scalability might also undermine decentralization if not fully autonomous.

However, patents like US11196566B2 and US11895246B2 could pave the way for true decentralization by introducing innovations in blockchain interoperability and decentralized governance mechanisms. These patents potentially offer solutions for more evenly distributed control over exchange operations, enhancing the autonomy and distribution of decision-making, thus moving closer to genuine decentralization in the DEX ecosystem, which can be expanded to other industries like Healthcare, Supply Chain, or any other industry that trades value.

Who is Reggie Middleton?

Reggie Middleton, through his BoomBustBlog, became a notable figure in financial analysis, particularly for his early and accurate predictions regarding the collapses of Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns during the 2008 financial crisis. His blog was renowned for providing in-depth, contrarian insights into economic trends, investment opportunities, and corporate vulnerabilities. Reggie won the CNBC's stock draft consecutively for two years, and appeared on major financial news networks like CNBC, BBC and Bloomberg where he discussed market trends, his forecasts, and the implications of financial strategies adopted by major firms. His track record has undeniably positioned him as a significant voice in the financial commentary space.

Reggie's work gained public attention when he appeared on the Keiser Report and CNBC in 2014, premiering his innovations built on the Bitcoin blockchain called "Ultracoin", two years before Ethereum captured the crypto limelight.

His vision was to create sound markets for a financial ecosystem where loans could be issued without banks, trades executed without exchanges, and contracts enforced without lawyers, aiming to disintermediate traditional finance by removing the middleman that doesn't add value.

In 2014, Reggie pioneered a simple Apple trade using a Pure Bitcoin Wallet: The Ultracoin Client.

Ultracoin later renamed VERI short for “Veritaseum” meaning "of truth", was the

first to market in tokenizing precious metals, offering VeGold, VeSilver and even tokenized fiat currencies or so called "Stablecoins". Veritaseum also introduced VeRent creating yield through P2P lending, and the revolutionary VeADIR platform, an autonomous, blockchain-powered research platform that independently evaluates and acts on dynamic research in real-time, communicates in machine language, and operates by purchasing, analyzing, and distributing insights on various assets while allowing VERI token holders to access and trade this research.

In 2018 he created the worlds first Gold Denominated Blockchain Mortgage

with traditional written note, mortgage as well as a smart contract on a public blockchain, both of whom incorporate each other by reference. The transaction had traditional title insurance and the note was recorded with the county clerk. The mortgage was denominated in Veritaseum's VeGold product, a digital form of gold in bearer form, fully transferable and redeemable upon demand.

Merely a few examples of groundbreaking products offered by Veritaseum.

Coinbase's Challenge: The Patent Infringement Suit

Coinbase, a dominant force in the cryptocurrency exchange market, enlisted the services of Perkins Coie, one of the largest patent law firms, to contest the validity of Reggie Middleton's patents.

They launched an Inter Partes Review (IPR) at the Patent Trials and Appeals Board (PTAB), arguing that Middleton's patents lacked novelty. An overwhelming 85% of patents are invalidated through this process. However, Coinbase's challenge was denied along with the appeal, thereby upholding and strengthening the validity of Reggie's patents.

This IPR challenge came after Veritaseum sued both Coinbase and Circle USDC for $350 million each over patent infringement. Unfortunately, Reggie's patent attorney and close friend passed away during this suit, so the cases has been dismissed without prejudice, meaning they can be negotiated or the cases reopened at any time. This leaves Coinbase in a precarious position, especially if shareholders have not been properly informed of this risk.

This lawsuit details how Coinbase's infrastructure, specifically its Ethereum and Solana validator nodes, engage with client devices to facilitate transactions. Exhibit #3 meticulously outlines the patent's claims, detailing the roles of computing devices, the use of memory for key pair storage, network interfaces for transaction terms, and the generation and dissemination of transaction data records. It provides concrete examples such as the processing of NFT transactions on Ethereum and the management of transaction fees on Solana, supported by in-depth references to code and API interactions. Furthermore, the exhibit explains the verification of transactions through an external state, illustrating how Coinbase's technology aligns with the patent's principles for decentralized transaction processing without a central authority.

SEC's Intervention: A Turning Point

In 2019, with promising negotiations on the horizon with both the Jamaican and the Nigerian Stock Exchanges for digital asset platforms, Reggie's world was turned upside down.

The SEC accused Reggie of fraud, alleging he misled investors about the functionality of Veritaseum's VeADIR platform, which the SEC ordered to be shut down following a live demonstration. The SEC also made claims on the validity of Reggie's patent applications, which have since been approved by both the USPTO and the Japan Patent Office. Oddly enough, the SEC may actually infringe on these very patents through the disgorgement and storage of seized crypto tokens.

Despite Veritaseum's cooperation with the SEC over a two-year period, along with a detailed response addressing the SEC's allegations, and not one token holder claiming to be defrauded, these allegations still led to a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) that froze millions in assets, destroying the company's operations, and forcing a consent judgment "neither confirming or denying the allegations". The SEC would top it all off with a gag order that barred Reggie from publicly discussing the matter.

Keep in mind, the SEC is claiming jurisdiction by calling Utility Tokens "Digital Asset Securities" but recently SEC Commissioner @HesterPeirce stated:

"...by using imprecise language we've been able to suggest the token itself is a security, apart from that investment contract, which has implications for Secondary Sales, it has implications for who can list it...

We've fallen down on our duty as a regulator not to be precise. So, tucking into a footnote that yes we admit that now that the TOKEN ITSELF IS NOT A SECURITY, that is something we should have admitted long ago and then started wrestling with the difficult questions."

This calls into question if the SEC even had jurisdiction to bring forth this case to begin with. The Veri Community would later challenge the SEC's unproven allegations against Reggie with

a Dossier supporting the Vacating or Setting Aside of this case, and suggesting possible misconduct by the SEC.

Allegations of SEC Misconduct:

Misrepresentation of Facts: Assertions that the SEC deliberately mischaracterized the
functionality of the VeADIR platform, along with the patents and their value, by labeling them as lacking novelty and part of fraudulent activities.
Misleading Evidence: The SEC's use of declarations from Patrick Doody and Roseann Daniello, which contained misleading information about the personal ownership of a Kraken account used to misappropriate funds. Doody would later correct his statement, but the SEC did not update the court with this new information, potentially misleading the judicial process.
Conflict of Interest: Doody's undisclosed financial interests in the digital asset space through Lily Pad Capital LLC could suggest a bias in his testimony, which was pivotal in obtaining the TRO.
Coercion and Intimidation: Witnesses like Lloyd Cupp and John Doe provided affidavits claiming coercion by SEC attorneys to alter their testimonies, pointing towards witness tampering and intimidation.

FOIA Responses: The SEC's FOIA department initially denied any communications with Kraken, only later admitting to subpoena issuance, suggesting an attempt to obscure facts.
RICO Allegations: A 95 page RICO Dossier, supported by extensive evidence, alleges that the SEC's actions could resemble an organized crime syndicate, with systemic coercion, misrepresentation, and procedural misconduct aimed at Reggie Middleton.
Bar Complaint: The Veri community lodged a Bar Complaint against the SEC's Lead Attorney
over the use of misleading evidence, coercion and intimidation of witnesses.

Summary Articles of the B ar Complaint and RICO Dossier

Comparisons with the SEC Misconduct in the DEBT Box Case

The DEBT Box case shares a troubling parallel with the Veritaseum case. In both cases a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) freezing funds was issued using dubious evidence which suppressed the ability to defend themselves. This behavior was already admonished by five US Senators

in a letter to Commissioner Gary Gensler in which the SEC presented misleading claims in this now high-profile cryptocurrency case.

"Regardless of whether Commission staff deliberately misrepresented evidence or unknowingly presented false information, this case suggests other enforcement cases brought by the Commission may be deserving of scrutiny. It is difficult to maintain confidence that other cases are not predicated upon dubious evidence, obfuscations, or outright misrepresentations."

Given the similarities in alleged procedural misconduct between the cases, it raises systemic questions about the SEC’s litigation approach in cryptocurrency matters.

This parallel underscores a potential agency-wide issue that could involve either implicit biases against crypto companies or an explicit strategy to pursue aggressive, potentially misleading tactics in court.

Is The Fox Guarding the Hen House?

In a significant development, the Attorney Grievance Committee (AGC) has decided to forward a complaint against SEC attorney Jorge Tenreiro to the SEC's Office of General Counsel (OGC) for investigation. This controversial move suggests a potential conflict of interest, given that the OGC is part of the SEC, the very agency where Tenreiro was recently promoted to Chief Litigation Counsel. The complaint, filed by the Veri community, accuses Tenreiro of misconduct including alleged coercion, witness tampering, and misrepresentation during SEC investigations. The Veri Community argues that this decision undermines the integrity of the legal process, as the OGC's role is to provide legal advice and defend the SEC, not to independently investigate its own employees. This raises questions about the impartiality and transparency of the disciplinary process for attorneys, especially when it involves high-profile figures like Tenreiro.

"As noted in re Rowe, 80 N.Y.2d 336 (1992), the public’s confidence in the legal profession depends on transparent and impartial disciplinary processes. Delegating oversight to the SEC, where Mr. Tenreiro remains a senior official and where the OGC has a clear institutional stake, jeopardizes this confidence and risks the appearance of protectionism.”

The VeriDAO has submitted a response letter to the AGC along with creating a PDF generator
to help the estimated 100 complainants and anyone else interested in requesting the AGC to reconsider this action.

Legal and Judicial Trials

The legal battles would only continue for Reggie. The case of Hall v. Middleton, in which Hall, a 1% shareholder sued Reggie, raises concerns of judicial bias and procedural mishandling. In this case, Reggie was denied Due Process and barred from presenting crucial evidence or calling witnesses due to his former attorneys' "Office Failures" that missed deadlines to submit evidence without the knowledge of Reggie or the firm Brundidge & Stanger that outsourced his counsel as detailed in their affirmations.

"In my many years of practice it is a rare instance where I have witnessed an attorney intentionally not file critical documents as required by Court Order without the permission or knowledge of his client, who had an established and fully developed attorney client-relationship with said attorney, and then misrepresent that the requirements of the Court Order were being satisfied. This is one of those instances and I hope not to see another."
~ Carl Brundidge

The judge ruled that Reggie must:

Pay a $1M fine to his company Veritaseum Inc., in which he owns 99%
The plaintiff was awarded costs of $495k against Veritaseum Inc.
The Judge ordered Patents (filed before the creation of Veritaseum Inc.) to be assigned to the company without compensation.

Attorney's "Office Failures":

Sheridan England missed critical deadlines, resulting in the striking of exculpatory evidence. England’s inaction or inadequate defense exacerbated Middleton’s legal vulnerability, directly leading to adverse outcomes.

Judge Schecter’s Conduct:

Ignoring Exculpatory Evidence: Despite knowledge of its existence, Schecter struck Middleton’s post-trial memorandum.
Procedural Bias: The judge’s decisions systematically favored Hall, including allowing him to collect attorney fees from Middleton personally, contrary to the principles of derivative law.
Forced Patent Transfers: Schecter’s order to transfer patents to an underfunded entity (Veritaseum) which were court restrained by the same judge, rendering them defenseless against attacks and IP theft.

This ordeal was compounded when Reggie was held in Contempt for using personal funds (while Veritaseum’s funds were court-restrained) to successfully defend his patents against an IPR challenge by Coinbase in the PTAB of the USPTO in an attempt to invalidate these patents. The Forced Patent Expropriation to Veritaseum without compensation or the ability to defend them could be seen as coordinated as it benefited very large competitors seeking to avoid licensing fees or infringement claims, or possibly even IP Theft.

Judicial Complaint: A formal complaint has been filed with the NYS Commission on Judicial Conduct by the Veri Community.

ETHgate: The Broader Conspiracy Allegations

Parallel to Middleton's struggles, "ETHgate" emerged, involving allegations by Ethereum co-creator @StevenNerayoff. Nerayoff claimed a government conspiracy aimed at controlling or monopolizing cryptocurrency development by targeting key figures. This narrative suggested that by attacking innovators (like Reggie Middleton as the Veri Community contends), the SEC might have indirectly cleared a path for Ethereum, which, despite its decentralized claim, benefited from a regulatory environment less scrutinized than its competition.

The term "ETHgate" encapsulates the belief that Ethereum's "Free Pass" from regulatory scrutiny might not just be due to its technological merits but also due to strategic regulatory maneuvers, where attacking smaller or less established DeFi projects could safeguard larger, more influential platforms like Ethereum.

Back in 2021, @JohnEDeaton1 from @CryptoLawUS explained XRP's side of Ethereum's "Free Pass". More recently, further SEC RICO Claims are insinuated in "RIGGED from the start" a documentary by @Fruition_News , along with posts by @KuwlShow and the XRParmy involving the SEC, Ethereum, a16z, and Consensys surrounding the Bill Hinman speech. Active FOIA requests by @EleanorTerrett seek to shed light on meetings between Hinman and Ethereum members.

Given the SEC protection of ETH and the high probability of Ethereum infringing on Reggie Middleton's patents as meticulously detailed in Exhibit #3 of the Coinbase case, is it ridiculous to believe Reggie Middleton could have been targeted?

Community Support: The Backbone of Resilience

Despite the SEC's narrative labeling them as "The Defrauded," the Veritaseum community rallied around Reggie.

SmartMetal with embedded NFT avalaible through VeriDAO.io

Financially devastated and with his funds frozen, Reggie faced foreclosure and was threatened with jail time after contempt charges for defending his patents using personal funds. In a remarkable show of support, the Veri Community rallied, raising an impressive $149,000 in less than two weeks to cover the fine while the case is under appeal.

They funded legal battles largely through donations and more recently with innovative means like NFT silver rounds called SmartMetal using Reggie's patented technologies, underscoring their belief in his vision. The first minted round was auctioned off for an astonishing $14,000 won by "M S"

"There is no better witness to the veracity of any defense than the alleged defrauded defending the alleged fraud at their own expense"
~ The Veri Community

This community support was not just financial but also moral, with efforts such as an Amicus Brief in the case against XRP, a No Action Letter (NAL) seeking clarity on secondary market sales of tokens, a Bar Complaint against the SEC's newly promoted Chief Litigation Counsel, and the @dao_veri's

#ProjectSunlight The SEC RICO Revelation.

A Call for a New Regulatory Paradigm

Reggie Middleton's saga is emblematic of the challenges faced by pioneers in the blockchain and DeFi arenas. His patents, now granted, underscore their foundational nature, yet the path to their recognition was marred by legal battles, suggesting a systemic issue where the regulatory framework might not fully comprehend or support emerging tech. His resilience, supported by an unwavering community and the validation of his intellectual property, underscores the need for a regulatory environment that fosters rather than stifles innovation. As blockchain technology continues to evolve, Reggie's story serves as a critical reference for balancing innovation with legal and ethical governance, ensuring that the future of finance remains open to all, not just those with the resources to navigate the legal maze.

For more information visit https://veridao.io/

I know what everyones question is, "HOW CAN I GET MY HANDS ON THE $VERI TOKEN BEFORE EVERYTHING GETS REVERSED AND RELEASED BACK TO THE COMMUNITY?"

Your in luck: Mark is a trusted source, longtime Veri Vet that beta tested the VeADIR platform. Simply follow the thread below. I highly advise picking up a few, and tuck them away! This is the token that could literally FLIP BITCOIN $100k and beyond!

The information provided in this video, including but not limited to documents regarding legal matters, is for informational purposes only. It does not constitute legal (or any other) advice, and no warranties or representations are made regarding the accuracy, completeness, or fitness of the information for any specific purpose. VeriDAO and its operators do not act as attorneys or legal, financial or technical professionals or advisors and are not responsible for any actions taken or decisions made based on the content provided. Users should seek independent legal counsel for any legal advice or guidance. By watching this video, you agree that VeriDAO and its operators shall not be held liable for any damages or legal consequences arising from the use or misuse of the information contained herein.

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