Bitcoin Daily: TV Show Creator Sues Facebook For Bitcoin Ad Scam; Vancouver Cracks Down On Bitcoin ATMs

Dutch billionaire John de Mol, who created the reality TV program “Big Brother,” is suing Facebook for allowing fake ads which used his name and image to commit bitcoin-related fraud that swindled 1.7 million euros ($1.9 million) from its victims.

De Mol’s lawyers accuse the social media giant of failing to prevent the ads, as well as not responding fast enough to complaints. The lawyers are requesting that the court order Facebook to automatically block ads featuring De Mol and crypto, which they say have damaged his reputation.

But Facebook’s lawyer said the company cannot monitor all ads on its platforms at all times.

“The people who push these kinds of ads are persistent, they are well-funded and they are constantly evolving their deceptive tactics to get around our systems,” said Rob Leathern, a manager at Facebook, according to Reuters.

In other news, Vancouver’s mayor is suggesting the ban of bitcoin ATMs, as the city’s police called them an “ideal money laundering vehicle.”

While the city council has already regulated usage and operation of crypto ATMs, authorities expect to receive 840 reports related to cryptocurrency in 2019 — a 300-percent increase since last year, reports Hard Fork. As a result, the province of British Columbia is planning to have a money laundering inquiry to look into the matter further.

Aion Network has announced the launch of the world’s first JVM-compliant blockchain virtual machine.

“We made the strategic decision to leave the JVM intact so we could fully leverage the mature ecosystem around it. Leaning on a hardened language like Java was crucial since a major obstacle for a business interested in blockchain is the cost and time needed to train their teams on unfamiliar frameworks, languages, and tools. The AVM removes those obstacles and provides developers with a familiar and reliable development experience. We’re very excited about the projects already building on the AVM and can’t wait to see them go live. Aion strives to bring blockchain to the mainstream and the AVM is the first big step towards that vision,” the company, a nonprofit dedicated to creating tools to promote blockchain technologies, wrote in a blog post.

And Azarus has raised $1.8 million to build out its blockchain-based “Smart Challenge” platform, which allows gamers to compete for digital assets.

Galaxy Digital via its Galaxy EOS VC Fund, Kleiner Perkins, and SVK Crypto, among others, participated in the round.

“Azarus’ implementation of blockchain tech and the EOSIO protocol is precisely what we look to invest in from the Galaxy EOS VC Fund: a scalable and consumer-friendly gaming platform that demonstrates the promise of blockchain technology,” Sam Englebardt, co-founder of Galaxy Digital and the firm’s co-head of principal Investments, said in a statement, according to Venture Beat. “We have tremendous confidence in the team’s vision and ability to execute.”