Bitcoin Daily: US Prosecutors Seek Prison Time In ICO Fraud Case; Judge Orders Telegram To Pay $625K To Crypto Firm For Legal Fees

American prosecutors want prison time for a co-founder of Centra Tech, an entity that had received endorsements from well-known people for a 2017 initial coin offering (ICO), CoinDesk reported.

Robert Farkas admitted culpability in June to charges brought in connection to the fraudulent offering, according to the report. U.S. prosecutors said in a sentencing submission that “a substantial sentence of imprisonment would be reasonable and just in this case.” They pointed out that Farkas took part in an effort that directly brought about losses totaling tens of millions of dollars for backers who numbered in the hundreds.

In other news, Telegram Messenger has to pay almost $625,000 to Lantah LLC, a small digital currency company it sued in 2018 over a digital currency ticker and trademark dispute, Cointelegraph reported.

Lantah LLC had been defending the suit as of May 2018 following the time that Telegram landed $1.7 billion via an ICO for the native currency of its Telegram Open Network blockchain infrastructure, the report stated.

A U.S. district judge allowed $618,240 in legal fees for just over 1,030 hours of work charged out at $600 for each hour in an early November ruling. The small crypto firm had sought renumeration at a $900 per hour rate, yet the judge decreased the charges to reportedly arrive at market pricing for that kind of work.

Additionally, Lantah was awarded just under $6,740 in fees that Telegram did not oppose.

Meanwhile, an Australian lawmaker is advocating for use of blockchain technology, ZDNet reported.

Andrew Bragg, an Australian senator, has hinted at the notion that the technology could be a solve for decreasing complexities connected with following financial regulations and providing transparency. Bragg said at the digital Future of Financial Services 2020 conference that “the future is technology by blockchain,” according to the report.

In addition, the Australian lawmaker underscored the importance of bolstering the country’s worldwide competitiveness in the financial space.