New York DA’s Office Hiring Full-Time Crypto Analyst for Cybercrime Bureau

August 3, 2024 Bitcoin.com

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried urges court to dismiss charges

May 9, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Lawyers representing Sam Bankman-Fried want all but three charges against him dismissed in a filing on May 8.

FTX founder and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) is seeking to have up to 10 criminal charges against him dismissed in court, arguing for several counts that there has been a failure to state an offense.

According to court documents filed in the southern district court of New York on May 8, SBF’s legal team has pushed to dismiss everything apart from three counts of conspiracy to commit commodities fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Sam Bankman-Fried has filed motions to dismiss all but three charges in the criminal case against him.

The charges he is not contesting atm are:
5. Conspiracy to commit commodities fraud
6. Conspiracy to commit securities fraud
and
11. Conspiracy to commit money laundering pic.twitter.com/0Dk1zxEw4j
— Molly White (@molly0xFFF) May 9, 2023

Commenting on the move, crypto researcher Molly White suggested that “at least part of it seems to come down to the fact that additional charges were added after SBF's extradition agreement was made.”

U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan will hear arguments on June 15 on this dismissal request, and prosecutors will have until May 29 to respond.

Despite the rest of SBF’s inner circle all pleading guilty and agreeing to cooperate with prosecutors, the man himself has pleaded not guilty to the charges laid against him.

SBF has been on house arrest in his parent’s home in Paolo Alto since December, and in the most recently development, Judge Lewis Kaplan approved the taps on SBF’s parents’ phones as meeting bail conditions, despite SBF’s legal team requesting a revision.

Magzine: Best and worst countries for crypto taxes — Plus crypto tax tips

This is a developing story, and further information will be added as it becomes available.

Elon Musk requests dismissal of $258B Dogecoin lawsuit: Report

April 1, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Elon Musk requests dismissal of 8B Dogecoin lawsuit: Report

Coin Telegraph

The plaintiff's brought up Musk’s Saturday Night Live appearance in 2021, where he portrayed "a fictitious financial expert" and called Dogecoin “a hustle,” resulting in a steep price decline minutes after.

Elon Musk and his lawyers reportedly requested a United States judge to dismiss the $258 billion lawsuit filed by investors who alleged that he operated a pyramid scheme to promote the cryptocurrency Dogecoin (DOGE).

According to an April 1 Reuters report, Elon Musk's lawyers referred to the lawsuit filed by Dogecoin investors, as a “fanciful work of fiction,” in Manhattan's federal court on March 31.

It was reported that the investors accused Musk of driving up Dogecoin's price "more than 36,000% over two years and then letting it crash."

Musk's lawyers referred to his Dogecoin statements as “innocuous and often silly tweets," in an effort to convince the judge to "throw out" the multi-billion dollar lawsuit.

Musk's lawyers explained that his Dogecoin-related comments – including “Dogecoin Rulz” and “no highs, no lows, only Doge” – were “too vague” to warrant a fraud claim. The lawyers noted:

“There is nothing unlawful about tweeting words of support for, or funny pictures about, a legitimate cryptocurrency that continues to hold a market cap of nearly $10 billion.”

The investors cited Musk’s Saturday Night Live (SNL) appearance, in May 2021, where he portrayed "a fictitious financial expert," and called Dogecoin “a hustle,” as a reference point in the lawsuit.

What is Dogecoin?

— Elon Musk, the Dogefather @elonmusk pic.twitter.com/3ZtD5gv221
— DogeDesigner (@cb_doge) March 15, 2023

Minutes after his SNL appearance, the price of DOGE dumped more than 25%, falling as low as $.50 from $.66 highs at the start of the show.

Musk appeared to make numerous efforts to reignite people's enthusiasm for Dogecoin following his television appearance.

He told his Twitter followers just days after that he is working with "Doge devs to improve system efficiency," and that it could be "potentially promising."

During the market crash in March 2022, Musk told his Twitter followers that he would not sell his crypto holdings including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), or DOGE.

The lawyer representing the investors, Evan Spencer, reportedly stated in an email that "we are more confident than ever that our case will be successful."

Magazine: Crypto winter can take a toll on hodlers’ mental health

Manhattan