News linked to both this project and an event.
According to CoinDesk, U.S. District Court Judge for the District of Minnesota Katherine Menendez ruled on July 28 local time that the Minnesota state law criminalizing the operation of prediction markets likely violates the federal Commodity Exchange Act (CEA), and granted a preliminary injunction to Kalshi, Polymarket, and the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to suspend the enforcement of the state law. The judge held that prediction market contracts structurally fall under 'swap' products within the CFTC's regulatory scope, federal law takes precedence over state law, and the three plaintiffs are 'likely to prevail in the formal trial'. Additionally, the judge noted that failing to suspend the enforcement of the law would cause 'irreparable harm' to Kalshi and Polymarket. The preliminary injunction will remain in effect until the final judgment of the case is issued.
U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez for the District of Minnesota ruled on Monday that a recently enacted Minnesota state law banning prediction markets may conflict with the Commodity Exchange Act. She granted a preliminary injunction in favor of Kalshi, Polymarket, and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Kalshi, Polymarket, and the CFTC had sued the state of Minnesota earlier this year after the state passed a law classifying the operation of prediction markets within the state as a criminal offense. The three parties argued that prediction market contracts are structured as "swaps" and that the state law infringes upon the CFTC's regulatory authority over such products. In her ruling, Judge Menendez stated that the parties are likely to succeed on the merits of their claim that the federal Commodity Exchange Act preempts the state law.
Odaily Odaily News Crypto derivatives platform BitMEX is facing a proposed class action lawsuit, with BKX Services Inc. and David Namdar filing a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The plaintiffs allege they incurred combined losses of 622.66 BTC from forced liquidations on BitMEX, with BKX claiming losses of at least 305.81 BTC and Namdar claiming losses exceeding 316.85 BTC. The complaint alleges that BitMEX's internal trading desk had access to customers' private information and could continue trading during periods when the server was frozen and regular users were unable to access or close positions. The plaintiffs further claim that BitMEX allowed customers to use leverage of up to 100x and would automatically liquidate positions when the collateral value was still twice the loss amount, with the remaining BTC entering the platform's insurance fund. The plaintiffs are seeking the return of the allegedly withheld Bitcoin, as well as compensatory and punitive damages. They intend to represent U.S. customers who purchased BTC swap products since July 23, 2018. On the same day the lawsuit was filed, BitMEX announced that following a strategic review by its owner, HDR Global Trading, it will cease providing services on September 23, has already stopped accepting new registrations, and plans to prohibit users from opening new positions starting August 26.
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.
Odaily news The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has agreed to pay $150,000 to resolve a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit concerning its records on the Ethereum investigation. According to a joint case status report filed on July 22, the SEC and the plaintiff, History Associates Inc., have reached a settlement and have requested the United States District Court for the District of Columbia to dismiss the case.Under the agreement, the SEC will continue to provide the remaining relevant documents and pay a fixed amount to cover the plaintiff's legal fees. The lawsuit was filed by History Associates in June 2024. This agency, commissioned by Coinbase, demanded the SEC disclose materials related to its regulatory investigation of Ethereum, including investigation files on Zachary Coburn and Enigma MPC, as well as records of regulatory discussions regarding Ethereum's transition from proof-of-work (PoW) to proof-of-stake (PoS).Previously, this lawsuit prompted the SEC to deliver thousands of documents. The court also ordered the SEC to prioritize providing internal communications sent, received, or reviewed by then-Chairman Gary Gensler regarding Ethereum's migration from PoW to PoS.During the case, the SEC sparked controversy for deleting some of Gensler's text message records. The SEC's Office of Inspector General previously disclosed that the agency accidentally deleted Gensler's text messages from October 2022 to September 2023. Subsequent documents revealed that the SEC also wiped data from 21 senior officials' phones.Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong stated that the incident highlights transparency issues within government agencies during the crypto regulatory process and noted that the relevant lawsuits aim to promote public access to the basis for regulatory decisions. With the SEC completing the submission of the remaining documents, this lawsuit, which has lasted for over two years, will officially come to an end. (CoinDesk)
the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia, in coordination with the U.S. Secret Service's Washington Field Office, announced that investigations into multiple international cyber fraud cases have led to the seizure of over $25 million in cryptocurrency. The funds were allegedly linked to crypto investment scams targeting residents of the United States and Canada.This action is part of the "Scam Center Strike Force," an initiative launched in 2025 by District of Columbia Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro. To date, the task force has recovered assets totaling over $800 million. U.S. prosecutors stated that on July 21, 2026, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia filed five civil forfeiture complaints in the U.S. District Court, seeking the forfeiture of over $25 million in crypto assets recovered from various fraud investigations.Investigators indicated that these cases involve multiple money laundering networks with victims worldwide. Criminal groups lured victims into investing through fake crypto investment platforms and online romance scams, then laundered the funds through multi-layered wallet addresses and mixing operations to conceal the source of funds. The seized funds are associated with five major investigations:In one case, Canadian law enforcement provided the U.S. Secret Service with wallet addresses suspected of being used to transfer illicit proceeds. Investigators froze the relevant addresses and traced over 270 suspected victim transactions, involving approximately $10.4 million;The second case involved an online romance scam that defrauded over 200 victims. Illicit funds were transferred through hundreds of intermediate wallet addresses and commingled with funds from other victims, involving approximately $12.08 million;The third case involved a victim from the U.S. capital region who participated in a fraudulent crypto investment project. After failing to withdraw funds, the victim lost contact with the scammers, with the involved amount being approximately $1.23 million;In the fourth case, a victim transferred millions of dollars in cryptocurrency to a fake investment account. Investigators traced some of the funds to six wallet addresses and froze approximately $2.39 million;In the fifth case, scammers impersonated an agency that "recovers stolen funds" to trick victims into paying fees, with the involved amount being approximately $285,000.The U.S. Secret Service stated that these cases remain under active investigation. Law enforcement officials are tracking down the suspects behind the fraud network and will cooperate with international law enforcement agencies to hold them accountable.
Odaily Planet Daily reported that the District Court of Rotterdam, Netherlands, has declared the cryptocurrency trading platform Knaken Cryptohandel BV and its affiliated foundation bankrupt. Earlier, the public prosecutor's office stated that approximately 7 million euros (around 8 million US dollars) in client assets from the platform are unrecoverable. The court ruled on Thursday that since Knaken has suspended its platform services and restricted user access to accounts, initiating bankruptcy proceedings will facilitate an orderly liquidation of the company's assets. The court noted that the company's current assets are insufficient to fully repay user funds, and users also lack sufficient information to assess their own legal rights.The Dutch Public Prosecution Service filed the bankruptcy petition on June 30, having already launched a criminal investigation into the missing funds. The Dutch Fiscal Information and Investigation Service (FIOD) also raided Knaken's offices in late June, seizing related equipment and assets.Knaken was founded in 2017, headquartered in Rotterdam, and ceased operations in early June this year. According to Dutch media NL Times, the company was not listed on the register of authorized crypto asset service providers maintained by the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM).The AFM previously stated that after the Netherlands concluded the transition period for the EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) on June 30, 2025, it has begun taking regulatory and enforcement actions against unauthorized crypto asset service providers. (Cointelegraph)
Argentine Federal Judge Marcelo Martinez ordered the identification and freezing of a group of wallets linked to Libra, after the Federal Police Cybercrime Technical Department tracked the flow of related funds across multiple crypto networks since May. The investigation involves 8 wallets labeled "Libra team," which are directly connected to the token issuance.The report shows that 4 of these wallets had funneled nearly $57 million to an address, which was previously frozen and then unfrozen by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. On May 10, related funds were transferred to a Tron address via an interoperability protocol, with the amount close to $500,000. At least 10 out of 17 transactions passed through Binance, while another 8 wallets are associated with Bybit, 2 with OKX, and 2 with Bitfinex. Some users involved in the $8.2 million in funds could potentially be identified through the KYC rules of centralized exchanges. The remaining funds are currently managed by Libra Trust, which plans to distribute them as grants to Argentine companies by November. There are already 71 applications pending approval.
According to reports from Lianhe Zaobao, Taiwan's largest virtual currency merchant, Bixiang Technology, colluded with fraud groups to launder 2.3 billion New Taiwan Dollars (approximately 92.13 million Singapore Dollars). The Shilin District Court issued a first-instance verdict on July 16. The mastermind, company head Shi Qiren, who had a background in the Tiandao Alliance gang, was sentenced to 22 years in prison, and criminal proceeds exceeding 43.71 million New Taiwan Dollars were confiscated. It is reported that Shi Qiren was the head of the Taiwan region of the offshore virtual asset exchange CoinW (CoinWin). Since CoinW had not completed the anti-money laundering compliance registration with the Taiwan Financial Supervisory Commission, he acquired Bixiang Technology, which had passed the compliance declaration, as a shell company for 19.2 million New Taiwan Dollars in October 2023. Subsequently, 45 physical stores were opened across Taiwan to illegally sell Tether (USDT), collaborating with fraud groups to deceive the public through methods such as fake investments, fake friendships, and fake recruitment. Between January 2024 and April 2025, a total of 1,539 victims suffered losses, with the defrauded amount reaching 1.275 billion New Taiwan Dollars, and the overall money laundering amount exceeding 2.3 billion New Taiwan Dollars.
According to an announcement from the U.S. Department of Justice, Eastern District of New York Office of the United States Attorney, two Chinese citizens, Zhuoying Chen (aka "Jolene", 27, Brooklyn) and Haojie Zhang (aka "Kevin", 38, Queens), were formally indicted on July 16 at the Brooklyn Federal Court on charges of conspiracy to launder money. According to the allegations, between 2020 and 2022, the two managed a money laundering network of more than ten people in Queens and Brooklyn, New York, using approximately 45 shell companies and 140 corporate bank accounts to transfer at least $43 million in proceeds from "pig butchering" investment fraud to accounts within China. "Pig butchering" scams contact victims through social media or instant messaging software, gaining trust with false high-return investment opportunities before absconding with the funds. This case was jointly investigated by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the FBI, IRS-CI, and the United States Postal Inspection Service. If convicted, the two defendants each face up to 20 years in prison.
According to an announcement from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California, former Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD) deputy Scott Allen Simpkins (34 years old) was sentenced by a federal court on July 13 to 18 months imprisonment and fined $10,000 for obstructing a judicial investigation. Simpkins was previously employed by a private security company under businessman Adam Iza, who claims to be the "godfather" of cryptocurrency. In August 2021, he witnessed Iza threaten party planner R.C. with bullets at his Bel Air mansion, forcing him to transfer $25,000. During the federal investigation in November 2024, Simpkins lied multiple times to the FBI and federal prosecutors, falsely claiming he did not witness the ammunition and financial transactions, thereby interfering with the criminal investigation into Iza. Iza has currently pleaded guilty to multiple federal charges, including conspiracy to violate rights, wire fraud, tax evasion, and suspected kidnapping and robbery involving Bitcoin, among others, and is awaiting sentencing. This case was jointly investigated by the FBI and the IRS Criminal Investigation Division.
According to Bloomberg Law, the U.S. Department of Justice plans to drop all criminal charges against Matthew Goettsche, the alleged mastermind of BitClub Network, overturning the indictment decision from 2019. Goettsche was charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and selling unregistered securities; the BitClub Network he operated attracted investors under the guise of "mining pool dividends," but actually fabricated returns and is suspected of defrauding investors of over $722 million. The case was originally scheduled for trial in October this year, but the Office of the Deputy Attorney General recently ordered the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey to terminate the prosecution via "dismissal with prejudice," while still seeking to recover some investor losses. Analysts point out that this move is the latest case of the Trump administration significantly scaling back cryptocurrency enforcement actions—both Trump himself and Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche hold crypto assets, sparking external questions about conflicts of interest. Previously, three co-defendants had pleaded guilty one after another, while Goettsche's case was delayed for nearly 7 years due to evidence review of approximately 2 million electronic records and multiple breakdowns in plea negotiations.
U.S. prosecutors have recently filed criminal charges against a man currently serving a prison sentence, accusing him of transferring and laundering approximately $290,000 in crypto assets that had been ordered confiscated by a court.According to a statement from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Bulgarian national Rossen Iossifov is charged with, in January 2024, conspiring with others to withdraw and transfer a batch of cryptocurrency assets from his Kraken-registered account that had previously been ordered forfeited by a federal court. Prosecutors allege that these funds were subsequently funneled through cryptocurrency mixing services and trading platforms in an attempt to conceal the source and destination of the funds before the U.S. government could complete the seizure.The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Kentucky stated that these crypto assets were held in a Kraken account under Iossifov's name and had been restricted by judicial authorities during the related investigation. The DOJ has not yet disclosed how the account was accessed or whether the involved funds have been recovered.Iossifov was previously convicted of conspiracy to commit extortion and conspiracy to commit money laundering for his involvement in an online auction fraud ring. Prosecutors allege that his cryptocurrency exchange platform, RG Coins, helped the criminal network convert illicit proceeds into cryptocurrencies and cash, with the network defrauding at least 900 U.S. victims. Previous investigations showed that Iossifov processed nearly $5 million in crypto asset money laundering transactions in less than three years.A court had previously ordered Iossifov to pay over $2.6 million in restitution and to forfeit the related crypto assets. The new charges include obstruction of property seizure, aiding and abetting, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. If convicted, he could face a maximum of 25 years in prison.The U.S. Department of Justice emphasized that the indictment represents only charges and that Iossifov is presumed innocent until proven guilty in court. (Cointelegraph)
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.
Odaily A federal judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut has revived common law fraud claims in the Genesis Yield lawsuit against Digital Currency Group founder Barry Silbert, DCG, and other defendants, while allowing federal securities law claims in the case to proceed.The ruling amends a prior decision by the court from February of this year. The plaintiffs had argued that the court has jurisdiction to hear their state law claims under the Class Action Fairness Act. Judge Stefan Underhill accepted this argument and reopened the relevant state law claims.The case revolves around the defunct Genesis Yield lending program, which allowed users to deposit crypto assets and earn interest. Investors allege that Silbert, DCG, and other defendants misled customers about the company's financial health and risk controls before Genesis suspended withdrawals and filed for bankruptcy in early 2023.However, not all state law claims were revived. The court dismissed consumer protection claims from four states and stayed related claims from three others. Overall, the ruling re-centers the dispute regarding fraud liability for DCG and Silbert as a focal point of the case. (The Block)
the Shanghai Baoshan District Procuratorate disclosed a case yesterday. The defendant, Huang, illegally crossed the border to participate in telecom fraud activities abroad, inducing victims to invest in virtual currencies. After the dissolution of the Myawaddy compound in Myanmar, he continued to engage in "pig-butchering" scam fraud. By using methods such as AI face-swapping and communicating through foreign models, he gained victims' trust and then guided them to participate in cryptocurrency investments. Subsequently, a team leader would take over, tricking the victims into registering, depositing, and investing on fake websites. He was ultimately sentenced by the court to two years and six months in prison for fraud, and fined 30,000 Chinese yuan. (CCTV News)
According to news from the Jing'an Procuratorate, the People's Procuratorate of Jing'an District, Shanghai has publicly prosecuted a criminal gang involved in illegal foreign exchange conversion using cross-border virtual currency matching in accordance with the law. The gang used overseas "private banks" as a cover and, through an "RMB—Virtual Currency—Foreign Exchange" matching model, provided illegal currency exchange services to high-net-worth clients with needs for overseas property purchase, immigration, or study abroad funds, charging a 3% currency exchange service fee. The case spanned 3 years, involving over 200 million yuan. On June 10, 2026, the court held a session and announced the verdict in court. The 9 involved personnel were handled categorically, among whom 5 were sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment ranging from six years to two years and six months, and fined ranging from 1.5 million yuan to 300,000 yuan, while the other 4 were given relative non-prosecution treatment due to minor circumstances. Currently, the Shanghai Branch of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange has initiated administrative case filing investigations against the non-prosecuted personnel, building a "criminal accountability + administrative punishment" cross-border financial governance closed loop.
OdailyOdaily reports that the Dutch Public Prosecution Service has requested the Rotterdam District Court to declare crypto platform Knaken Cryptohandel and its affiliated entity Stichting Knaken Payments bankrupt, citing "public interest" as the reason. Knaken has been offline since the beginning of June, leaving approximately 30,000 customers unable to access their funds.Knaken had allowed users to exchange euros for cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, and provided trading and digital asset storage services. Under EU crypto regulations, such activities require a license from the Dutch market regulator AFM, but Knaken did not obtain the necessary authorization. Additionally, a separate criminal investigation initiated by the Fiscal Information and Investigation Service is ongoing. On Monday, investigators searched relevant premises, seizing laptops, mobile phones, and company assets. No arrests have been made so far. (Decrypt)
According to The Paper, 14 individual consumers and three small businesses filed an antitrust class-action lawsuit on June 25 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, accusing Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron of conspiring to manipulate DRAM supply and pricing since 2022, leading to an approximately 700% increase in memory prices over the past four years. The plaintiffs claim the three companies used the transition to High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) as an excuse to artificially cut supply of traditional DDR3 and DDR4 memory, disregarding "all economic and business logic". The lawsuit also cites Apple's recent price increases for iPads and Macs as evidence that supply restrictions have affected downstream products. If successful, the defendants are required to pay treble damages, and the scope of the lawsuit may expand to all consumers and businesses purchasing products containing DRAM. Notably, Samsung and SK Hynix were previously fined in the U.S. for price-fixing behavior in the early 2000s, and Samsung was even handed a $300 million criminal fine in 2005. Investment bank Jefferies predicts that the high level of memory prices is difficult to reverse in the short term, with prices still expected to rise quarter-on-quarter by 30% to 50% in the third and fourth quarters of 2026, and a significant decline may not occur until 2028 at the earliest.