Cryptocurrency company that admitted to fraud sues Coinbase

The firm, which has previously been charged with fraud by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), is seeking $ 350 million from Coinbase in a lawsuit that claims the exchange infringed its blockchain technology patent.

Veritaseum Capital claims that Coinbase has infringed a patent it owns. The company sued the exchange in a federal court in Delaware, seeking damages of «at least» $ 350 million and an injunction against Coinbase from further patent infringement.

Veritaseum founder Reggie Middleton said that last December he received a patent for «devices, systems, and methods for facilitating networked transactions.» The patent apparently covers a wide range of blockchain transaction infrastructure scenarios. Since then, he said, he has granted an exclusive license to his company Veritaseum and in July this year notified Coinbase that he believes blockchain verification mechanisms infringe on his patent.

In 2019, the SEC accused Middleton of manipulating the price of the Veritaseum token. The parties reached a settlement agreement: Veritaseum paid 9.4 million dollars in fines, and Middleton himself paid another 1 million dollars.