Following recent secrecy surrounding its finances, Blockchain.com is facing prosecution for failing to register checking accounts. The last time it was filed was for 2020, but it was only sent this month. The case was heard on September 25 at Cardiff Magistrates’ Court.
Accounts, although related to a business’s tax return, are different from taxes and primarily include financial statements demonstrating that the business is in good standing. According to court documents, the company is scheduled for another hearing on November 25. A conviction for failure to report accounts can result in an unlimited fine.
In the UK, “unlimited fines” refers to the fact that magistrates were once limited to imposing fines of £5,000, even for very serious, or “level five”, offences. In 2015, this cap was removed and penalties can now include prison terms of up to 6 months.
Blockchain.com chairman Nic Cary and chief operating officer Al Turnball were summoned by Companies House in May for failing to file the company’s accounts on time. The current legal proceedings relate to its failure to file accounts for the financial year ending December 2022.
The $7 billion company was one of the first to provide a digital wallet space for Bitcoin, when it was founded in 2011 in York, England. Currently, tens of millions of people use its wallet services to store and send cryptocurrencies, with investors including Google Ventures and Baillie Gifford.
According to Blockchain.com, which employs hundreds of people worldwide, it has seen “a significant reduction in the group’s workforce as a whole (which has) taken some time to stabilize.” The company laid off 150 people in July 2022 and another 110 in January 2023.
“Blockchain.com takes our compliance with licensing and regulatory requirements around the world seriously,” a spokesperson said. Decrypt. “We have sorted through all the necessary documents related to this entirely administrative matter and are confident that it will be concluded quickly.”
Speaking after Companies House promised to strengthen its enforcement policies – and the government granted it new powers in March – director of intelligence Martin Swain said: “Where our advice and support does not are not enough to encourage users to comply with or discourage misuse of our records, we will not hesitate to use these new powers available to us.
Edited by Stacy Elliott.
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