Tezos ICO Promoters Face Class-Action Lawsuit in the US

American lawyers, world renowned for their rabid litigiousness, now appear to have set their sights on the ripe target of ICOs and their massive spoils. After a Boston-based law firm Block & Leviton LLP announced last month the launch of an investigation on behalf of investors in the Tezos ICO, it has now been revealed that San Diego-based Taylor-Copeland Law has beaten it to the punch by filing a class-action against the project's promoters in California.

Founded by husband and wife team Arthur and Kathleen Breitman, Tezos is an independent Smart Contract Smart Contract A smart contract is a piece of software that automatically executes a pre-determined set of actions when a certain set of criteria or met. One of the key tenets of smart contracts is their ability to perform credible transactions without third parties and are self-executing, with their conditions written into the lines of code that form themAdditionally, these transactions are both trackable and irreversible. For example, a smart contract could be used to give royalty payouts to a musical artist A smart contract is a piece of software that automatically executes a pre-determined set of actions when a certain set of criteria or met. One of the key tenets of smart contracts is their ability to perform credible transactions without third parties and are self-executing, with their conditions written into the lines of code that form themAdditionally, these transactions are both trackable and irreversible. For example, a smart contract could be used to give royalty payouts to a musical artist Read this Term platform built as an alternative to Ethereum Ethereum Ethereum is an open source, blockchain-based distributed computing platform and operating system featuring smart contract functionality. Created in 2014, Ethereum now stands as the second largest cryptocurrency by market cap at the time of writing.As a decentralized cryptocurrency network and software platform, Ethereum represents the most prominent altcoin. Ethereum also enables the creation Distributed Applications, or dapps. Understanding EthereumEthereum boasts its own programming language, Ethereum is an open source, blockchain-based distributed computing platform and operating system featuring smart contract functionality. Created in 2014, Ethereum now stands as the second largest cryptocurrency by market cap at the time of writing.As a decentralized cryptocurrency network and software platform, Ethereum represents the most prominent altcoin. Ethereum also enables the creation Distributed Applications, or dapps. Understanding EthereumEthereum boasts its own programming language, Read this Term. It raised about $232 million earlier this year and is now worth over $580 million (65,703 BTC + 361,122 ETH).

The lawsuit alleges that the organizers sold unregistered securities and engaged in fraudulent activity. Besides the Breitmans, the defendants include Dynamic Ledger Solutions Inc, Strange Brew Strategies, and the Tezos Foundation.

As previously reported, the Breitman couple are already locked in a legal battle against the president of a Swiss foundation that they established to handle the raised funds, Johann Gevers. Both sides accuse the other of having conflicts of interest while trying to control the ICO money. The structure of the holding management is under dispute, with the Breitmans trying to replace Gevers and gain more control over the way that the money is run through a new foundation that they wish to create.