Don’t Know Your Customer, a cryptocurrency business, has avoided a cybersquatting lawsuit filed by accounting behemoth Deloitte regarding its domain name.
DontKYC.com was registered for a cryptocurrency client by Web3 design and branding agency Penultimate Media Systems. The domain makes claims to be a non-profit community that uses the Binance Smart chain and provides prepaid cards with anonymizing features.
Deloitte objects to the domain owner’s use of the abbreviation DKYC on the website for its service. The accounting business claimed that because the contested domain name includes the acryonym in the same form as its own trademark, it is extremely close to that trademark.
Deloitte even claimed that DKYC’s website was illegal and stressed the purported harm that the startup’s usage of the contested domain name has caused to the reputation of the accountancy company.
According to the accounting firm, the cryptocurrency startup is encouraging anonymous financial activities, which directly conflicts with its own “knowyourclient” service, which is focused on identifying and tracing clients in the financial sector.
Deloitte failed to demonstrate that the domain was used in bad faith, according to the World Intellectual Property Organization’s judgement, which was made public via Domain Name Wire.
DKYC denies knowledge of Deloitte’s trademark and says it did research on the US Patent and Trademark Office before registering the domain name in response to the charges.
The startup is in the process of changing its name to “ShadowFi” as of May 6 2022 and refutes Deloitte’s claim that the domain name is being used improperly by highlighting the distinction between money laundering and the everyday spending services it provides.
“We stand 100% behind the prevention of financialfraud and terrorism,” said DKYC in a statement.
Operating on the Binance Smart Chain, the firm connects anonymous spending in the real world with decentralized finance (DeFi).
“Invest on the Binance Smart Chain (BSC) while funding your everyday life. Our vendor doesn’t know who we are, and we don’t know who you are. No ID required. Ever,” its website reads.
