Genesis, a bankrupt crypto lender, has successfully won a legal bid to prevent its parent company, Digital Currency Group (DCG), from selling or diminishing its ownership stake in the firm until the completion of Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. This move by Genesis is aimed at securing vital tax benefits, which hinge on its continued status...Read More
Su Zhu, the co-founder of Three Arrows Capital, is expected to be released this month based on standard provisions for good behavior. The development follows a two-day court hearing in Singapore where Zhu faced questioning for the first time. During the hearing, Zhu had to respond to lawyers representing the liquidator, providing insights into how...Read More
In the ongoing legal dispute between Binance Holdings and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the former has filed a new submission to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Binance, along with its former CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ), asserts that the SEC’s reliance on its prior settlement with the U.S. Department...Read More
The legal defense head, David Mills, representing Sam Bankman-Fried in the FTX fraud trial, has openly expressed frustration and disappointment, labeling SBF as the most challenging witness he has encountered. Mills has acknowledged that the odds of winning the trial were stacked against the former CEO, implying that the legal challenges and complexities surrounding the...Read More
Once SBF stepped down, the new leadership of FTX scoured the bankrupt exchange’s databases, looking for misplaced and poorly labeled assets. Months later, John J Ray III and his team have managed to map out about $7 billion in assets, nearly half of which are in cryptocurrencies. The IRS Wants Its Share However, the new...Read More
The individuals accused of orchestrating the $8.5 million hack of Platypus Finance, an Automated Market Maker (AMM) protocol on Avalanche in February 2023, have been cleared of criminal charges by a French court, according to Le Monde. The defendants, identified as Mohammed and his brother Benamar M., were arrested approximately one week after attacking the...Read More
Gene Borrello, a former mobster turned federal informant, was separated from the general prison population and placed in a section with ex-gang members, informants, and high-profile detainees, one of which was SBF. After leaving prison, he sat down with Tiffany Fong for an hour-long interview, which is available on her YouTube channel. A shorter version...Read More
The bankrupt estate of FTX has made a bold move to challenge the United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS), seeking court approval to reduce a $24 billion claim against it to zero. According to FTX, this move is crucial to prevent the IRS claims from derailing the progression of its bankruptcy proceedings. FTX Seeks to...Read More
The legal battle between Genesis and its parent company, DCG – which also owns multiple other crypto-related ventures, seems to be coming to an end. Yesterday, a deal was struck that would put to rest a lawsuit worth $630 million between the two companies. Some Sums Forfeited Earlier this year, the Winklevoss Twins’ – whose...Read More
The renowned Spanish football club Atletico Madrid is reportedly gearing up to take legal action against WhaleFin, a Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange. The dispute centers around a breach of contract involving unpaid sponsorship fees amounting to €40 million ($44 million). Atletico Madrid Seeks $21 Million in Damages in Lawsuit Atletico Madrid, the esteemed Spanish football club,...Read More
Sam Bankman-Fried, who was convicted by a jury after only a few hours of deliberation, is currently waiting for his indictment in a cell at the MDC. Adjusting to a New Paradigm The former FTX CEO faces up to 120 years in prison, depending on Judge Kaplan’s decision. Until his sentencing – due in March...Read More
Last year, French national Michel Aurelien, who was inspired by the BAYC collections’ success, founded the Mutant Ape variation. Although his own version was in no way endorsed or approved by YugaLabs, it nonetheless became somewhat popular in just a few months. Misleading From The Start Unfortunately for investors of the project – which has...Read More
New Jersey’s U.S. Attorney’s Office has filed a civil forfeiture action against Christopher Castelluzzo and two other members of an unnamed drug trafficking group based in New Jersey. According to the filing, the other two members of the group are Luke Atwell – a friend and business partner of Castelluzzo’s who is currently serving a...Read More
SafeMoon, a project whose goal was to “safely” moon a token – mostly by preventing holders from cashing out with large fees – plummeted once investors found out that the investment pools were not actually locked as promised within the same month that the project reached a market cap of $5.7 billion. Founders’ Trial Underway...Read More
Amir Bruno Elmaani, famously known in the cryptocurrency world as “Bruno Block” and the founder of the Oyster Protocol has been sentenced to four years in prison for tax offenses amounting to over $5.5 million. The United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damian Williams, announced the verdict, highlighting the severity of...Read More
In a surprising development, Senator Cynthia Lummis and Representative French Hill, popular pro-crypto lawmakers, have urged the U.S. Department of Justice to expedite the investigation against Binance and Tether for illicit financial activities. Binance, the largest crypto exchange, and Tether, the biggest stablecoin issuer, have been implicated in a scheme for facilitating terrorist financing. Accusations...Read More
Over two dozen former employees of the Ethereum infrastructure firm ConsenSys have filed a lawsuit against the company’s founder and CEO, Joseph Lubin. They allege that Lubin breached a “no-dilution promise” made in 2015, ultimately diluting their equity shares and leaving them with shares of significantly diminished value. ConsenSys Faces Lawsuit from Early Employees According...Read More
New York Attorney General Letitia James has taken decisive action against major players in the cryptocurrency industry, filing a lawsuit against Gemini Trust, Genesis Global Capital, and Digital Currency Group (DCG). The legal action centers around Gemini Earn, a joint effort between Genesis and Gemini that offered investors significant returns on their cryptocurrency deposits. Nonetheless,...Read More
Greece will not yet extradite Alexander Vinnik, a Russian national accused of laundering billions of dollars through the BTC-E exchange. Officially to be sent to France, a letter obtained by RIA Novosti appears to show that the U.S. will be the final destination. Greek authorities have put a hold on the process due to an...Read More
Securitize, a provider of technology for issuing blockchain tokens, has registered as a transfer agent with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Administration (SEC), a move it says will boost adoption. Announced Wednesday, the registration means Securitize can now act as the official keeper of records about changes of ownership in securities. While that might sound...Read More
The Veritaseum blockchain platform and its founder Reggie Middleton have filed a response to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over the regulator’s claim that its ICO was fraudulent and illegal, and that Middleton had later manipulated the VERI token’s value. As a result, the SEC managed to get a New York court last week to temporarily...Read More
A man has been sentenced in San Diego, California, for conspiring to sell drugs over dark web markets for cryptocurrencies. Thirty-nine-year-old Sky Justin Gornik had pleaded guilty to using a number of marketplaces such as Alpha Bay, Trade Route, Abraxas, Evolution, Outlaw Market, and Dream Market to deal in fentanyl, carfentanil, ketamine, oxycodone, amphetamine and other...Read More
If you started your legal career more than 30 years ago in the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC’s) Enforcement Division by suing a company offering geographical dental licenses on the theory they are “investment contracts” and thus “securities” subject to registration under the federal securities laws,*[1] you learned a few things. Among them are invaluable...Read More
