ChainCatcher news, according to Jinshi reports, on January 31 local time, two insiders stated that U.S. Acting Attorney Ed Martin fired about 30 federal prosecutors who had been handling the January 6 "Capitol Riot" case in the Washington D.C. office for the past four years.The report stated that these prosecutors received their termination notices on the same day. This layoff accounts for approximately 8% of the total number of prosecutors in that office. This decision will impact the civil, appellate, superior court, and violent crime divisions of the office.

ChainCatcher News: President Trump has ordered the Attorney General not to take action against TikTok for 75 days. (Jin Ten)

ChainCatcher news, according to CoinDesk, blockchain entrepreneur Michael Lewellen has filed a lawsuit against U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, seeking a court ruling that his upcoming crypto crowdfunding project Pharos does not violate unlicensed money transmission laws. Lewellen accuses the Department of Justice of prosecuting crypto software developers (such as Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm and Samourai Wallet co-founder Keonne Rodriguez) in violation of the First and Fifth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution, and contradicting the Department of Justice's previous public statements that developers are not considered money transmitters.Lewellen's project Pharos is an Ethereum-based crypto crowdfunding platform that uses smart contracts to ensure that projects that fail to secure funding automatically return funds and protect donor privacy.

ChainCatcher news, New York Attorney General Letitia James has taken legal action to recover over $2 million in cryptocurrency that was fraudulently obtained. The scammers promised remote job opportunities to lure these victims into purchasing cryptocurrency.James stated in a recent announcement: "Scammers sent text messages to New York residents, promising them high-paying, flexible jobs, only to trick them into buying cryptocurrency and then steal it from them."With the assistance of the U.S. Secret Service, James indicated that the stolen cryptocurrency has been frozen and urged people to be vigilant against text messages from unknown senders, especially suspicious messages claiming to offer jobs or other opportunities.

ChainCatcher news, according to Jinshi reports, Trump has nominated Pam Bondi for the position of U.S. Attorney General, after the previously nominated Matt Gaetz has withdrawn from the position.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, Trump has nominated Bitcoin supporter Matt Gaetz as the U.S. Attorney General. He previously proposed a legislative bill on June 25, requesting the IRS to accept Bitcoin payments from Americans filing federal income tax.Trump's choice of Matt Gaetz could impact the crypto industry, as he is expected to advocate for a regulatory approach that supports digital asset innovation while balancing oversight.

ChainCatcher news, according to CNN: Trump is considering appointing Todd Blanche as Deputy Attorney General. (Jin Shi)

ChainCatcher news, according to Caixin, the elected President Trump nominated Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio as his candidate for Secretary of State on November 13 local time.On the same day, Trump announced the nomination of former Democratic Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard as his candidate for Director of National Intelligence after taking office. Trump also nominated Florida Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz as his candidate for Attorney General of the United States after taking office.

ChainCatcher news, Fox Business reporter Eleanor Terrett posted on social media that former Deputy Attorney General Donald Verrilli of the Obama administration stated that U.S. regulators are intentionally "debanking" the cryptocurrency industry: "Despite the urgent need for banking services in the digital asset industry, federal regulators have launched a coordinated effort to debank the industry."

ChainCatcher news, according to Fox Business reporter Eleanor Terrett, former U.S. Attorney General Paul Clement, who represented the Loper Bright side in the Supreme Court's Chevron case, has just submitted an amicus brief on behalf of the cryptocurrency industry against the Federal Reserve in the appeal case involving Custodia Bank (crypto-friendly regret).Clement, after recently successfully overturning the Chevron deference principle, raised a question in the submitted amicus brief regarding whether the Federal Reserve violated the Second Article of the U.S. Constitution by allowing the Federal Reserve Chair to make official decisions. This poses a significant challenge for Custodia, as it seeks court intervention to limit the excessive power of the U.S. central bank (which recently denied Custodia's request for access to a master account).Clement stated, "In short, the district court has granted the Federal Reserve Bank Chair such significant and almost unrestricted discretion, which raises serious constitutional questions about whether the Second Article is being violated." Clement essentially questioned whether the structure of the Federal Reserve is constitutional, which makes the significance of this case far beyond just the issue of Custodia Bank.

ChainCatcher news, according to CoinDesk, Digital Currency Group (DCG) and its top executives, namely CEO and founder Barry Silbert and former Genesis trading division CEO Soichiro "Michael" Moro, are making efforts to persuade a judge to dismiss the civil fraud lawsuit filed by New York Attorney General Letitia James.The lawsuit alleges that DCG, Gemini, and the now-bankrupt Genesis jointly concealed a $1 billion hole caused by the collapse of Three Arrows Capital (3AC), defrauding investors. James accuses DCG and Genesis of making "false assurances" on Twitter, claiming that DCG had absorbed the losses, but these assurances were not fulfilled. Although Genesis and Gemini have reached a settlement with the NYAG, DCG and its executives insist that the lawsuit is "baseless" and deny that the promissory note is fraudulent, arguing that it is legally binding and that they have transferred hundreds of millions of dollars in funds and assets to fill the hole. Both sides are engaged in a heated debate over the nature of the tweets, the validity of the promissory note, and the purpose of late-night strategy meetings.DCG's lawyers state that the promissory note is a "completely appropriate financial transaction" that benefits Genesis's creditors. Silbert's lawyers also deny any fraudulent conduct on his part.

ChainCatcher news, according to Bloomberg, the cryptocurrency exchange Gemini has reached a settlement with the New York Attorney General's office regarding a fraud lawsuit, agreeing to pay $50 million in digital assets to Gemini Earn investors. As part of the settlement agreement, Gemini Earn is also prohibited from operating in the state. Gemini stated in a press release on Friday that the final distribution of earnings will reach customer accounts within seven days.Previously, New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a lawsuit against Gemini in October last year, accusing the platform of misleading investors in the Gemini Earn program, resulting in losses of over $1 billion.

ChainCatcher news, according to Coindesk, Genesis Global Capital's parent company DCG has filed a motion to dismiss New York Attorney General Letitia James' lawsuit against its subsidiary.DCG founder and CEO Barry Silbert has also submitted a motion to dismiss the lawsuit filed by the Attorney General for "concealing company losses, thereby deceiving customers and investors."

ChainCatcher news, according to CoinDesk, Digital Money Group (DCG) opposes the settlement proposal made by its subsidiary Genesis with the New York Attorney General's office. Genesis Global reached an agreement with the Attorney General's office earlier this month to resolve allegations of defrauding investors, but its parent company believes this is not an appropriate settlement. In a filing opposing the proposal submitted to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, DCG stated: "Genesis cannot use the guise of 'settlement' to violate absolute priority, take value from lower-tier creditors, and redistribute it to senior creditors."In another statement issued by DCG on Wednesday, the company described the deal as a "backdoor attempt to evade U.S. bankruptcy law," and as a "last-minute secretly arranged disruptive deal." Jason Brown, former co-chief deputy of the Attorney General's office and former senior federal prosecutor in New York, supports DCG's opposition, claiming in court documents that the details of the settlement agreement may not have been properly handled.

ChainCatcher news, according to Bloomberg, the bankrupt crypto lending platform Genesis has reached a settlement agreement with New York Attorney General Letitia James, who previously accused Genesis of deceiving customers through the now-defunct Gemini Earn program.It is reported that this settlement will allow assets that could have been seized by New York state authorities to be returned to former Earn customers and other Genesis creditors. The deal must be approved by the bankruptcy judge, and Genesis is operating independently during bankruptcy, seeking approval from Judge Sean Lane for the New York settlement and liquidation plan on February 14.

ChainCatcher news, according to Bloomberg citing informed sources, the New York Attorney General's office is investigating the financial dealings between Genesis and DCG. It is understood that the New York Attorney General's office has requested information from former executives of Genesis, and former Genesis Chief Risk Officer Michael Patchen was recently interviewed.Federal prosecutors and the SEC have begun investigations and are seeking to interview potential witnesses from Genesis and its parent company DCG.A DCG spokesperson stated that the company is cooperating with regulators and investigative agencies as requested.

ChainCatcher news, according to The Wall Street Journal, New York Attorney General Letitia James is proposing a new bill called the "Cryptocurrency Regulation, Protection, Transparency, and Oversight Act" (CRPTO), aimed at granting her office more power to regulate the crypto industry. The bill will give the Attorney General's office broader enforcement authority over cryptocurrency companies operating in the state, while stipulating that the New York State Department of Financial Services has the authority to issue licenses to participants in the industry and oversee the state's digital asset licensing regime. The bill will be submitted by Letitia James's office to the New York State Senate and Assembly for consideration during the 2023 legislative session, which will last until June 8.The proposed legislation aims to control the crypto industry by requiring cryptocurrency exchanges to undergo independent public audits of their financial statements and to compensate defrauded customers. The bill also seeks to limit conflicts of interest in the industry, such as when the same person both issues tokens and owns the market for trading those tokens. Additionally, the bill will require cryptocurrency companies to implement KYC and prohibit the use of the term "stablecoin" to promote virtual currencies unless their value is pegged to the dollar on a one-to-one basis. (source link)

ChainCatcher message, regarding "New York Attorney General sues KuCoin for offering unregistered securities," the exchange's representative stated in response: "Currently, KuCoin has not received any legal documents regarding this matter. KuCoin will continue to closely monitor the situation and will resolve this matter through legal means if necessary." (Source link)

According to ChainCatcher, as reported by CoinDesk, New York Attorney General Letitia James has filed a lawsuit against the cryptocurrency exchange KuCoin, accusing it of offering unregistered securities and commodities. This lawsuit is part of a "crackdown on unregistered crypto platforms" initiated by New York state regulators. The lawsuit also alleges that Ether, Luna, and TerraUSD are all classified as securities.Additionally, James believes that KuCoin is selling unregistered securities through its lending and staking product, KuCoin Earn. James is seeking a court order to stop KuCoin from operating in New York and to instruct KuCoin to implement geo-blocking based on IP addresses and GPS locations to prevent New York residents from accessing KuCoin's applications and services. (Source link)

ChainCatcher News: New York Attorney General Letitia James has sued the cryptocurrency exchange CoinEx, claiming it sold commodities and securities without being registered in New York State. James stated that some cryptocurrencies offered by CoinEx are considered commodities and securities under the New York Securities Law, specifically the Martin Act, including four tokens: AMP, LBC, LUNA, and RLY.Additionally, CoinEx has failed to comply with a subpoena issued in January of this year. The petition aims to prevent CoinEx from engaging in unauthorized activities in the state and seeks to block the use of the exchange from IP addresses in New York. Furthermore, James has requested "the complete accounts of CoinEx's New York accounts." (The Block)