Cryptocurrency brokerage Mercado Bitcoin and its former owner, Leandro Marciano, were ordered by the court to return 2,182 bitcoins from former clients of the platform.
All former clients met Leandro Marciano on the BitcoinTalk forum, when he promised a 12% monthly profit with bitcoin’s image. For this, he created a profile of “Bitcoin Rain” which is the name of the application publicly offered in the market.
In 2013, the CVM even issued a stop order against such a public offering, but the deal collapsed in a different way.
This is because Leandro Marciano and the Mercado Bitcoin brokerage claimed to investors that they were the target of a hacker attack. That is, everything investors put in was lost, the founder of Mercado Bitcoin claimed at the time.
Dissatisfied, the scheme’s clients soon filed a lawsuit and the case was not decided until 2023.
Bitcoin market must return 2,182 bitcoins to former customers, value exceeds R$290 million
There were several analyzes of the case, in different spheres, but in the end, Bitcoin Rain customers, a bitcoin scam considered the first in Brazil, is coming to an end.
In analyzing the case, Judge Celso Lourenço Morgado, of the Supreme Court of São Paulo, understood that both Leandro Marciano and the Bitcoin Market are guilty of the loss of bitcoins.
According to the judge, the company served as an intermediary in the negotiations and should therefore be responsible for returning values to customers.
“Therefore, I REVIEW the applications to BE IN PART, to order the defendant jointly and severally to repay the 2182.9880751 unduly withheld bitcoins, under the terms of the grounds that form an integral part of the device. I settle the case on the merits {CPC, art. 487, I (1st and 2nd digits)}.”
It is worth remembering that each bitcoin unit is currently worth R$135 thousand, that is, cause with 2,182 bitcoins, the sum reaches BRL 295 million.
Technical expertise did not understand that there was a hacker attack on the Bitcoin Market
One of the theories supported by Leandro Marciano and Mercado Bitcoin’s defense involved the fact that a hacker attack stole customers’ digital currencies.
For example, a judicial technical expert evaluated the evidence presented by the party and did not understand that there was a problem. The technical report has been forwarded to the judiciary.
The process came to a conclusion indicating that since there was no hacker attack, what remains is just fraud against investors.
Injured investors will have to pay court costs
In determining the penalty of the Bitcoin Rain case, the TJSP judge decided that the plaintiffs of the case should also pay the expert fees. In addition, attorney fees are payable by the plaintiff, who must pay 20% of the court costs.
The defendants Leandro Marciano and the Mercado Bitcoin platform must pay the remaining 80% of the costs and experts’ fees in addition to the lawyer’s fees.
The case is one of the first bitcoin scams to have an impact in Brazil, but the decision is not yet final. This is because the parties can appeal the decision and delay the final conclusion for a few more years.
O live coins did not find Leandro Marciano’s defense for comment. Mercado Bitcoin, on the other hand, does not comment on pending lawsuits.
Source: Live Coins
Barry Siefert is an accomplished journalist and author at The Nation View. He is known for his expertise in the field of cryptocurrency, and has written extensively on the topic. With a background in finance and economics, Barry has a deep understanding of the underlying technology and market forces that drive the crypto industry.
