News linked to both this project and an event.
According to Cointelegraph, decentralized cloud storage provider Storj Labs has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of West Virginia. The company stated that during the restructuring, the network will maintain normal operations, customer service will not be affected, and parent company Inveniam will continue to provide support. Storj management plans to propose a mechanism allowing STORJ token holders to participate in the equity of the restructured company, but specific eligibility criteria, token snapshots or lock-up arrangements, and equity allocation ratios have not yet been disclosed; any plan must be approved by the court.
According to Cointelegraph, BitMEX was sued in a class-action lawsuit by BKX Services Inc. and David Namdar in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on July 24. The plaintiffs allege that BitMEX's internal trading team used privileged access during server freezes to illegally obtain customer Bitcoin collateral by manipulating the forced liquidation mechanism. The two plaintiffs suffered a combined loss of 622.66 BTC (BKX lost at least 305.81 BTC, and Namdar lost over 316.85 BTC). The plaintiffs demand the return of the seized Bitcoin and seek compensatory and punitive damages, representing U.S. users who purchased BTC swap products since July 23, 2018. Notably, the lawsuit was filed on the same day as the announcement of BitMEX's closure—BitMEX's parent company HDR Global Trading announced it will cease services on September 23 and has stopped accepting new user registrations. Following the announcement, the price of its BMEX token plummeted by approximately 90%.
Cryptocurrency exchange Gemini has donated approximately $10 million worth of Bitcoin to MAGA Inc., a super PAC supporting former US President Donald Trump. According to a report filed with the US Federal Election Commission (FEC), Gemini co-founders Cameron Winklevoss and Tyler Winklevoss completed the donations in two installments on June 19, each worth over $5 million. This donation occurred about three weeks after the CFTC and Gemini jointly filed a motion with the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, seeking to vacate the $5 million settlement agreement reached in January 2025. The settlement stemmed from the CFTC's earlier allegations that Gemini had made false or misleading statements. MAGA Inc. can use these funds to support independent political expenditures for Donald Trump. Previously, the Winklevoss brothers each donated $1 million to Donald Trump's 2024 campaign and contributed $21 million worth of Bitcoin to the Digital Freedom Fund PAC to support the crypto policy direction of the Trump administration. Currently, the court has not yet ruled on the motion to vacate the settlement between the CFTC and Gemini. Meanwhile, CFTC Chairman Michael Selig remains the sole commissioner of the agency. As of June 30, MAGA Inc. has reported receiving over $397 million in funds.
ByteDance has officially launched the Seed STEM Scientist Program, planning to invite 100 outstanding scholars in cutting-edge scientific fields for industry-academia-research collaboration, leveraging artificial intelligence technology to accelerate exploration and breakthroughs across various scientific domains. The program is led by ByteDance's Seed Edge research team, offering sufficient computing resources and competitive compensation, with two participation roles available: Scientist Advisor and Doctoral Intern. The initial project cycle is approximately 6 months, with the work location set in Beijing's Haidian District. The talent application channel remains open until September 30, 2026. (IT Home)
documents filed by Protect Progress PAC, an affiliate of the crypto-focused political action committee Fairshake, with the U.S. Federal Election Commission (FEC) show that as of Tuesday, it has spent over $986,000 to support current Democratic Representative Shri Thanedar in Michigan’s 13th Congressional District and oppose challenger Donavan McKinney. The expenditure occurs two weeks before the August 4 Democratic primary, which will determine the party’s nominee for the November general election. Protect Progress PAC spent approximately $1 million in 2024 to support Thanedar, who received 54.9% of the vote in that year’s Democratic primary and went on to secure 68.6% of the vote in the November general election. Fairshake and its affiliated organizations report having a $191 million war chest to influence key elections. Other crypto industry-related political action committees include the Fellowship, backed by Cantor Fitzgerald and Anchorage Digital, and the Blockchain Leadership Fund, supported by Anchorage and Chainlink Labs. Protect Progress PAC has also spent over $100,000 to support Arizona Representative Greg Stanton’s re-election. Meanwhile, Defend American Jobs PAC has spent over $65,000 to support Amanda McKinney, the Republican candidate in Washington’s 4th Congressional District.
Crypto journalist Eleanor Terrett tweeted that Judge Analisa Torres of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York denied its preliminary injunction application in the case involving Kalshi, allowing the case to proceed to the motion to dismiss stage. The court held that New York State gambling law applies to Kalshi's sports event contracts, and such application is not preempted by the Commodity Exchange Act. This ruling means Kalshi has suffered another unfavorable setback in the relevant legal dispute.
Odaily, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has filed a lawsuit against North Carolina resident Trevor Vernon and his company, Argent Capital Management LLC, accusing them of defrauding approximately 60 investors out of a total of $14 million through a fraudulent commodity pool.According to the complaint filed by the CFTC on Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina, the commodity pool operated by Vernon and his company involved trading in multiple asset classes, including stock index futures options, stock index futures contracts, and crypto assets.The CFTC alleges that Vernon misled investors by portraying himself as a "successful trader" through quarterly financial updates and monthly performance review emails. In reality, however, he incurred substantial losses while trading with investor funds.The regulator stated that Vernon suffered cumulative losses of at least $8.6 million from trading futures, options, and crypto assets. The CFTC claims that his actual trading results were marked by "consistent and catastrophic losses," which significantly contradicted the profitability he presented to investors.
Coinbase officially stated it is cooperating with the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office in New York to assist in investigating a long-term impersonation scam targeting platform users and supporting victims in recovering funds.According to the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office, a Brooklyn man has been charged with long-term impersonation of Coinbase customer service. Using social engineering tactics, he tricked users into believing their accounts had been compromised and instructed them to transfer funds to a "secure wallet," subsequently moving and stealing the funds. The case involves approximately 100 victims, with the total amount involved nearing $16 million. Over $600,000 has been recovered so far.Coinbase stated that this type of scam does not stem from platform security vulnerabilities but is a social engineering attack exploiting user trust and a sense of urgency. Common methods include identity forgery, impersonating customer service, and creating panic over account risks. The company stated it has cooperated with law enforcement agencies to complete various investigative tasks, including identifying suspects, assisting with victim notifications, providing data support for legal requests, and conducting on-chain fund tracing. It emphasized that blockchain traceability helps law enforcement track the flow of funds.Coinbase also reminded users that the platform will never ask them to transfer funds to a "secure wallet" or request 2FA codes, seed phrases, or password reset links. It recommends that users only contact customer service through official in-app channels. The company will continue to strengthen its anti-fraud mechanisms, user education, and cooperation with law enforcement agencies to address increasingly sophisticated crypto asset fraud activities.
a federal judge in Boston, Massachusetts, has blocked the implementation of U.S. President Trump’s executive order aimed at tightening mail-in voting regulations, preventing the order from taking effect before the November elections that will determine control of Congress. U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani supported the claims of a coalition of Democratic-led states, which argued that Trump is unlawfully attempting to interfere with state administration of federal elections.The judge noted that the President lacks the authority to compile state voter rolls, and the U.S. Postal Service also has no statutory authorization to establish binding mail-in voting rules. Under the U.S. Constitution, the responsibility for administering federal elections lies with the states. (CCTV)
: This evening, Zhipu's official open platform announced that, to further provide full lifecycle support for entrepreneurs in the OPC (One Person Company) model of artificial intelligence, it has partnered with Haidian District Zhongguancun Science City to officially launch a model voucher subsidy plan totaling 50 million yuan for all industries, making AI a productivity tool accessible to every innovator.During the subsidy period, all enterprises registered in Haidian District that have passed the application process can enjoy a subsidy of up to 50% on the call fees for the GLM-5.2 model, with a maximum annual subsidy limit of 2 million yuan per enterprise. The goal is to help Beijing become the "world's leading city for artificial intelligence."The core rules for this model voucher subsidy are as follows: Subsidy ratio: Up to 50% subsidy on GLM-5.2 model call fees; Subsidy period: From now until November 19, 2026; Subsidy cap: Total annual subsidy per enterprise not exceeding 2 million yuan; Applicable model: Currently supports GLM-5.2, with newly added models to be announced separately.Possibly influenced by this news, Zhipu's Hong Kong stock rose over 16% today, with its total market capitalization once again surpassing one trillion Hong Kong dollars, before falling back to 969 billion Hong Kong dollars.
According to Crypto in America, the National District Attorneys Association, the National Association of Assistant U.S. Attorneys, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, and the National Sheriffs’ Association jointly sent a letter to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and Patrick Witt, Executive Director of the White House Crypto Council, expressing strong opposition to Section 604 of the “Clarity Act”—the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act (BRCA). Law enforcement groups argue that this provision could create regulatory loopholes exploitable by criminals for illicit activities including drug trafficking, fraud, child exploitation, sanctions evasion, and terrorist financing. Meanwhile, cryptocurrency-backed candidates achieved sweeping victories in primary elections across Maryland, New York, and Utah. Fairshake—a pro-crypto super PAC—has collectively spent over $7.6 million supporting these candidates, including $5.5 million backing Adrian Boafo, the candidate for Maryland’s 5th congressional district. Miller Whitehouse-Levine, founder of the Solana Policy Institute, warned that August 7, 2026, may be the final window for Congress to pass cryptocurrency market structure legislation. He stated that the industry is willing to make limited revisions to the BRCA provisions to address law enforcement concerns—but firmly opposes any fundamental changes that would weaken the core protections enshrined in the provision. Additionally, the House Financial Services Committee held a hearing on “The Future of Payments” the same day.
the U.S. CFTC on Tuesday sued Kentucky, attempting to prevent the state from regulating prediction market platforms as illegal sports betting and gambling operations, further establishing federal jurisdiction over prediction markets.Previously, Kentucky had last week sued platforms including Kalshi and Polymarket, accusing them of operating unlicensed illegal sports betting and gambling businesses within the state.In its complaint filed with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky, the CFTC stated that Kentucky’s attempt to shut down federally regulated designated contract markets interferes with the federal regulatory system established by Congress for the national swaps market. The agency claims "exclusive jurisdiction" over event contracts and prediction market products.Kentucky has become the ninth state that the CFTC has sued in the prediction market regulatory dispute, indicating that the conflict between federal derivatives regulation and state-level gambling oversight continues to escalate.
Odaily Chicago Mercantile Exchange Group has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and its Chairman Michael Selig in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, concerning the agency's routine approval of cryptocurrency perpetual futures. The lawsuit stems from the CFTC’s May 29 approval of a perpetual futures contract linked to the spot price of Bitcoin by prediction market platform Kalshi, and the issuance of a no-action position for a similar product on the Coinbase exchange. In the filing, CME argues that the CFTC's treatment of "futures" with expiration dates as "swaps" violates directives from the U.S. Congress and the Commodity Exchange Act, and requests the court to invalidate the relevant perpetual futures actions. CME also claims that Selig acted unilaterally without a full panel of five commissioners. A CFTC spokesperson stated that CME is waging a "legal battle" against the agency and the government’s crypto policy, calling the lawsuit "frivolous." Kraken has also announced the launch of perpetual futures trading for U.S. users via the CFTC-regulated platform Bitnomial.
: The U.S. CFTC has filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico against Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, Attorney General Raúl Torrez, and other officials, aiming to prevent the state from applying gambling regulations to prediction market platforms.Previously, New Mexico sued Kalshi, accusing it of offering unauthorized sports betting to state residents and allowing users below the state's legal gambling age of 21 to participate. The New Mexico Attorney General stated that legal gambling in the state can only operate under tribal-state gaming compacts or a strict state regulatory framework.The CFTC argues that platforms like Kalshi offer federally regulated derivative contracts, not gambling products under state law. CFTC Chairman Michael Selig stated that New Mexico is attempting to impose state gambling laws on a federal derivatives exchange that falls under the CFTC's exclusive jurisdiction.Over the past few months, the CFTC has filed lawsuits against several states, including Wisconsin, Illinois, Arizona, Connecticut, and New York, to establish its regulatory authority over sports prediction markets. This week, the agency also proposed broader rules for prediction markets that still generally permit sports-related contracts, indicating an escalating conflict between federal and state governments over the boundaries of prediction markets and sports betting.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania announced that Ruslan Igorevich Tkachuk and Alexander Vladimirovich Ledenev have been arrested for allegedly operating the cryptocurrency money laundering service AudiA6. Since its launch in 2021, the service has received approximately 10,333 bitcoins, valued at over $389 million at the time of the transactions. Of this amount, at least $19.234 million worth of bitcoin came directly from illegal sources such as darknet markets and ransomware groups. A joint international law enforcement operation has seized and frozen the servers, domain names, and Telegram accounts associated with AudiA6.
Odaily Odaily News Recently, the Haidian District Court ruled on a fraud case. Retiree Meng, addicted to virtual currency trading and unwilling to use her own pension, pretended to be a young woman named Xiaohong, claiming to work for a central ministry in her 20s, on a short video platform. She established an online romantic relationship with a young man. Under the pretext of needing urgent surgery fees for a family member and preparing for overseas study exams, Meng defrauded the man of more than 200,000 yuan.Meng invested all of the defrauded 200,000 yuan into virtual currency trading, opening a ten-times leverage position. Subsequently, due to a market downturn, her position was liquidated, resulting in a total loss of all funds. The Haidian District Procuratorate previously indicted Meng for fraud. Ultimately, the Haidian District Court sentenced Meng to four years in prison and imposed a fine, while also ordering her to compensate the victim for his economic losses. (Beijing Evening News)
the Qingdao Licang District Procuratorate issued an announcement stating that the defendant, surnamed Zhang, took advantage of an opportunity to register a virtual currency wallet on behalf of the victim to obtain the seed phrase, and subsequently transferred 107 Bitcoins from the victim, surnamed Feng, in multiple batches during the early morning hours. Zhang then layered the transfers through various virtual currency trading platforms, converting the Bitcoin into over 660,000 RMB. The Qingdao Licang District People's Court sentenced Zhang to 10 years and 9 months in prison and imposed a fine of 100,000 RMB for the crime of theft in the first instance.After the defendant appealed, the Qingdao Intermediate People's Court ruled to dismiss the appeal and uphold the original verdict. The case determined the theft amount based on the actual illegal proceeds from the sale, totaling over 660,000 RMB. (Shandong Legal Daily)
: Bitcoin financial services company Swan Bitcoin (along with its operating entity Electric Solidus Inc. named as defendants) is facing a lawsuit filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, with claims approaching $1 billion.The lawsuit was filed by PCT Litigation Trust, aiming to recover crypto assets related to the 2023 collapse of Prime Trust. The plaintiff accuses Swan of using "material non-public information" to transfer funds out of Prime Trust before its failure, thereby avoiding significant losses.According to the court filing, Swan had transferred assets including approximately 11,992 Bitcoin (currently valued at around $917 million) out of Prime Trust before it filed for bankruptcy, along with roughly $22.4 million in fiat currency, $5 million in stablecoins, and 91,444 XRP tokens.The plaintiff also alleges that Swan had ties to a senior executive at Prime Trust, who also served as an external consultant for Swan. This individual is suspected of providing Swan with information prior to regulatory meetings, thereby helping the company withdraw its assets early.Swan Bitcoin responded, stating that the relevant assets belong to client trust property and should not be used for bankruptcy liquidation, expressing confidence that the court will ultimately support its position. (Decrypt)
Odaily Odaily News: In the OpenAI lawsuit, Satya Nadella testified in court as Microsoft's CEO at the U.S. District Court in Oakland, California. The case centers on the ongoing legal dispute over OpenAI's non-profit structure and its path to commercialization. The lawsuit, filed by Elon Musk in 2024, accuses Microsoft of "aiding and abetting the breach of charitable trust obligations" during OpenAI's transition from a non-profit organization to a commercial entity. Microsoft has been making strategic investments in OpenAI since 2019, with cumulative investments reaching approximately $13 billion by 2023, making it one of OpenAI's most important external supporters.During the trial, Satya Nadella reviewed the early partnership between Microsoft and OpenAI, mentioning that the two parties had established deep technological and computing power collaboration before the launch of ChatGPT. In his earlier testimony, Musk stated that Microsoft's additional investment of approximately $10 billion in OpenAI in 2023 was the key turning point that prompted him to file the lawsuit, adding that the scale of the investment altered OpenAI's original non-profit-oriented structure. During the trial, Musk stated: "We are concerned they are turning a charitable organization into a commercial tool." He also questioned Microsoft's potential dominant position in the development of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) and pointed out that its deep integration with OpenAI could impact the competitive landscape of the industry.The case is currently still under trial, and the debate surrounding OpenAI's governance structure, non-profit status, and control over the AI industry is expected to continue. (CNBC)
The WeChat official account of the Haidian District People’s Court of Beijing Municipality disclosed a case involving “doxxing” using virtual currencies. Between 2023 and 2025, the defendant illegally obtained personal information of Chinese citizens via encrypted communication tools and other channels—acquiring over 900 million pieces of personal data in total—and built a “social engineering database” website storing over 170 million pieces of citizens’ personal information. The defendant also profited by selling such information, receiving payments exclusively in virtual currencies. Additionally, the defendant used encrypted communication tools to establish “doxxing” and “outing” chat groups for disseminating illegal content, including privacy violations. The court convicted the principal offender, Lin某某, of the crimes of infringing upon citizens’ personal information and illegally utilizing information networks, sentencing him to seven years’ imprisonment and imposing a fine of RMB 70,000.