Judge orders BitMEX to pay $100M fine over US banking law violations

January 15, 2025 Coin Telegraph

BitMex

BitMEX has been hit with an additional financial penalty following its 2022 guilty plea for violating the US Bank Secrecy Act.

A federal judge has sentenced HDR Global Trading Limited, also known as the parent company of cryptocurrency exchange BitMEX, to two years of unsupervised probation and a $100 million fine.

In a Jan. 15 hearing in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, Judge John Koeltl passed down the sentence against BitMEX, roughly six months after the crypto exchange pleaded guilty to violating the US Bank Secrecy Act by operating without “any meaningful” Anti-Money Laundering program. The crypto firm called the charges “old news” in July 2024, suggesting at the time it expected no additional fines.

In a statement to its users after the judgment, BitMEX said:

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Ripple execs lash out at SEC’s refusal to postpone appeal filing

January 14, 2025 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

According to Ripple’s chief legal officer, the SEC will continue with its appeal of a judgment in the civil case despite Chair Gary Gensler stepping down in six days.

Though party leadership at the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will change hands on Jan. 20, the regulator appeared to be moving forward with its current lineup of enforcement cases in court.

In a Jan. 14 X post, Ripple chief legal officer Stuart Alderoty said the SEC would not be postponing its filing of a brief as part of the commission’s appeal of a judgment against the blockchain firm. In August, a judge found Ripple liable for $125 million as part of the SEC’s case, alleging the firm used XRP as an unregistered security to raise funds.

“What a waste of time and taxpayer dollars,” said Alderoty. “Nevertheless, we are confident in our position on appeal and look forward to working with new SEC leadership to resolve this matter.”

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Crypto deregulation under Trump: Promises vs reality

January 13, 2025 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

The incoming US president will have the authority to enact many policies favorable to crypto users after taking office next week.

With seven days until US President-elect Donald Trump takes office, many in the crypto industry have been monitoring his prospective staff picks and policy announcements.

Since shifting from calling Bitcoin (BTC) a “scam” in 2021 to claiming to embrace the technology during his 2024 presidential campaign, Trump has made many promises to the digital asset industry that could affect regulation and enforcement. Though there is no way to know if he intends to prioritize those promises — or fulfill them at all — after taking office, there has already been some movement in the regulatory landscape before his scheduled inauguration.

At the Bitcoin 2024 conference in July, Trump promised to fire US Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler on his first day in office, Jan. 20. Many speculated that Gensler would be more likely to announce his resignation ahead of any Trump presidency, despite the SEC chair’s term ending in June 2026.

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UK order clarifies crypto staking is not a collective investment scheme

January 10, 2025 Coin Telegraph

bill

The UK Treasury has amended finance laws to clarify that crypto staking isn’t a collective investment scheme, which a lawyer says is “heavily regulated.”

The UK Treasury has amended a law clarifying that crypto staking — necessary for proof-of-stake blockchains such as Ethereum and Solana — doesn’t fall under the definition of a “collective investment scheme,” which is typically heavily regulated.

A Jan. 8 order from the department amends a section of The Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 about group investments, adding that “arrangements for qualifying cryptoasset staking do not amount to a collective investment scheme [CIS].”

It clarifies that “qualifying cryptoasset staking” means validating transactions on a blockchain, a distributed ledger technology network “or other similar technology.”

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US prosecutors will search Do Kwon’s Twitter account for information

January 8, 2025 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

As part of discovery proceedings, prosecutors said they would search the Terraform Labs co-founder’s emails and Twitter account.

Update (Jan. 8 at 4:45 pm UTC): This article has been updated to include details from a Jan. 8 status conference.

Update (Jan. 8 at 6:18 pm UTC): This article has been updated to include the start date for Do Kwon’s trial.

Prosecutors representing the US government in its criminal case against Do Kwon have laid out their plans for discovery, including requesting search warrants for the Terraform Labs co-founder’s email and Twitter accounts.

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Court stays order in SEC v. Coinbase case pending appeal

January 7, 2025 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

Judge Katherine Failla granted Coinbase’s request for an interlocutory appeal, citing different courts’ interpretations of what constituted a security under the SEC’s purview.

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase won a small victory in its civil case against the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) after a federal judge granted an order for an interlocutory appeal.

In a Jan. 7 filing in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, Judge Katherine Failla granted an appeal for an order denying Coinbase’s motion for judgment, which she filed in March 2024. Judge Failla ordered all proceedings in the case to be stayed until the Second Circuit ruled on an interlocutory appeal over the order.

One of the crucial arguments for the SEC’s case against Coinbase was alleging that “certain transactions involving crypto-assets qualified as investment contracts within the SEC’s regulatory purview,” i.e., as securities. Judge Failla said there was a “possibility of reversal” of her interpretation of investment contracts based on the Howey test, granting Coinbase’s appeal.

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Number of Do Kwon’s victims could exceed one million — court filing

January 6, 2025 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

The Terraform Labs co-founder is in US custody after pleading not guilty to nine felony charges related to fraud at the platform.

Prosecutors with the United States government overseeing Do Kwon’s criminal case have estimated that the Terraform Labs’ co-founder could potentially have more than one million victims across the world after the collapse of the ecosystem.

In a Jan. 6 filing in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, Acting US Attorney Daniel Gitner notified the court of the procedures to inform Kwon’s victims of their rights in his criminal case.

According to the US Attorney, the government would set up a website about public proceedings in Kwon’s case as other methods for affording victims their rights were “impracticable.”

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Do Kwon’s superseding indictment includes money laundering charge

January 2, 2025 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

The Terraform Labs co-founder was indicted on eight felony charges in 2023 but will likely face an additional count for money laundering conspiracy.

The United States Attorney’s Office revealed an additional charge for Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon following his extradition from Montenegro: money laundering conspiracy.

In a superseding indictment unsealed on Jan. 2 in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, US Attorney Damian Williams alleged Kwon conspired with others to commit money laundering.

According to the US Attorney, the Terraform co-founder facilitated transactions of more than $10,000 on the platform “knowing that the property involved in certain financial transactions represented the proceeds of some form of unlawful activity.”

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Crypto criminals who are spending their first New Year’s in prison

January 2, 2025 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

From Sam Bankman-Fried to the man responsible for hacking Bitfinex, many convicted felons are ringing in 2025 behind bars.

Though Bitcoin ended 2024 having reached an all-time high price of more than $100,000, the year also marked the end of criminal cases of many high-profile cryptocurrency industry leaders and scammers.

In its heyday, FTX was one of the most prominent cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, bringing in millions of users from dozens of countries. That changed in less than a week in November 2022 after the firm reported liquidity problems and was forced to declare bankruptcy.

After a lengthy extradition process from the Bahamas, former FTX CEO Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried was moved to United States custody and initially released on bond. He was held in a correctional facility after a federal judge revoked his bail in August 2023, prior to his criminal trial, conviction and sentencing.

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Vitalik Buterin donates $170K to Tornado Cash developers’ legal fund

January 1, 2025 Coin Telegraph

Vitalik Buterin donates 0K to Tornado Cash developers’ legal fund

Coin Telegraph

Many in the crypto industry have criticized US authorities for sanctioning Tornado Cash smart contract addresses and charging developers with money laundering.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has made a significant contribution toward a legal defense fund for Tornado Cash developers Roman Storm and Alexey Pertsev.

According to a Dec. 31 X post from the Juicebox project Free Pertsev and Storm, Buterin donated 50 Ether (ETH) — roughly $170,000 at the time of publication — to Storm’s and Pertsev’s legal aid.

Storm reported that the contribution was roughly 25% of the total $650,000 available to the Tornado Cash developer through JusticeDAO ahead of his trial.

Law