logo-loader

CryptoCann™ Report: Winklevoss twins sue BitInstant founder; Cresco Labs hires award-winning designer to up its cannabis game

Last updated: 11:52 02 Nov 2018 EDT, First published: 11:37 02 Nov 2018 EDT

Winklevoss twins

The Crypto Report

Legal drama is swirling around the cryptoverse and some high-profile figures have gotten swept up in it.

Gemini founders and brothers Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss are suing BitInstant founder Charlie Shrem for more than US$32 million in Bitcoin, according to a New York Times report.

The Winklevoss brothers gave Shrem, their advisor at the time, US$750,000 and then an additional US$250,000 to buy Bitcoin on their behalf. The brothers are alleging that Shrem did not give them the full value of Bitcoin at the time.

READ: CryptoCann™ Report: Blockchain start-up ConsenSys looks to decentralize space; Walmart Canada begins selling vaporizers online

Shrem had spent a year in prison after being tangled up in the infamous Silk Road scandal, charged with violating anti-money laundering rules by working with a customer who supplied US$1 million in Bitcoin to people buying drugs.

In a statement to the New York Times, Shrem’s lawyer Brian Klein said that there is no truth to the claim and his client plans to clear his name.

Rapper T.I. is also facing a crypto-related lawsuit after a failed initial coin offering, according to a CoinTelegraph report.

A group of 25 investors in the rapper’s FLiK token are seeking US$5 million in damages, alleging that T.I. and his business partner Ryan Felton defrauded them.

The group claims to have invested $1.3 million in “worthless securities” and state that the token’s price was driven up by social media and celebrity endorsements, including a Twitter plug by comedian Kevin Hart.

T.I. has not yet responded to the allegations.

The Cann Report

Dispensaries and cannabis companies in the US have long faced obstacles when it comes to banking and other financial transactions. Many institutions have been unable to serve marijuana companies for fear of violating federal regulations.

Florida Democrats are looking to solve the problem with a state-run bank to serve the industry, according to a Marijuana Business Daily report.

READ: Biome Grow subsidiary inks 24,000kg supply deal with Province of Newfoundland and Labrador

“We cannot wait for DC to handle this,” Nikki Fried, a Democrat candidate for Florida Agriculture Commissioner, said in an interview.  “The reality is, we have no other option.”

On the other side of the table, Republican candidate Matthew Caldwell said the banking issue should be left up to the federal government.

In Chicago, cannabis company Cresco Labs raised US$100 million in October in its new private investment, according to a Fast Company report.

The company is putting full-force effort into its design, hiring award-winning designer Scott Wilson, head of Chicago minimalist design firm MNML and was former design leader at sneaker powerhouse Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE).

“If you asked me two years ago, would we be able to get the global creative director for Nike to help us bring cannabis to today’s day and age and beyond, my answer would have been, ‘no chance,'” said Cresco CEO Charlie Bachtell in an interview with Fast Company.

The company said it will look into not only packaging design, but also the way cannabis is consumed as well as the hardware used to consume it.

Cresco Labs has embraced minimalist design and modern packaging, shifting away from the tie-dyed stoner culture to bring “normalization and professionalism” into the cannabis space.

 

Contact Lenore Fedow at lenore@proactiveinvestors.com

Follow her on Twitter@LenoreMariee

 

BenevolentAI advances novel ulcerative colitis treatment through Phase 1a trial

BenevolentAI (OTC:BAIVF) chief scientific officer Dr Anne Phelan joins Proactive's Stephen Gunnion with positive safety data from the Phase 1a, first-in-human, clinical study of BEN-8744 in healthy volunteers. Phelan explained that BEN-8744 is a potent, selective PD10 inhibitor, uniquely...

23 minutes ago