In exclusive interview to Cointelegraph, Bitcoin advocate and investor Roger Ver has confirmed dragging OKEX Fintech to a Hong Kong High Court over unpaid revenues. Roger Ver accuses the Financial Technology Firm of forgery and unpaid royalties concerning the use of Bitcoin.com.
Cointelegraph: How can you explain the genesis of the case?
Roger Ver: They signed a contract to rent Bitcoin.com, and then violated that contract. They then produced a fake contract that they forged my signature on to, and violated the forged contract too.
CT: How much money is involved here?
RV: A minimum of US$570,000 USD (HK$4,421,091).
CT: Why the fiat money is being used here knowing your aversion to that?
RV: Because you can’t sue for Bitcoin in court.
CT: Will OKEX continue to be your partner after resolution?
RV: No, they broke the agreement a long time ago.
Royalty payment obligation
According to Roger Ver, in December 2014 he rented out Bitcoin.com to OKEX to offer online infrastructure and services for local and international Bitcoin trading platforms.
The Hong Kong Based Fintech firm was obligated to redesign the website, collect revenues from advertising and augment the website’s ranking worldwide with Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
The parties consented to use Okcoin.com as the domain name. OKEX was consequently required to pay Roger a US$10,000 (HK$77,557) monthly royalty. This agreement was to run for a period of five years, says Ver.
What broke the camel’s back
However, as Roger Ver told CT, OKEX failed to honour their side of the agreement by declining to pay the monthly flow of revenue after 3 months into the five year contract. Allegedly, they then forged a new contract and tried to enforce that. What broke the camel’s back was, they again breached the second alleged forged contract.
Roger Ver is asking the Hong Kong High Court to award him a compensatory damage amount of US$10,000 (HK$77,557), for the remaining 57 months of the contract bringing the total amount to US$570,000 (HK$4,421,091). The contract actually commenced on December 15, 2014.
Considering the huge success of Bitcoin.com, this is a crucial case and a litmus test for the courts on issues concerning Bitcoin.