ChainCatcher news, Paradigm co-founder Matt Huang announced that the firm will donate $1.25 million to support Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm's legal defense against a lawsuit in the United States.Huang wrote on X on Wednesday: "The prosecution's case threatens to hold software developers criminally liable for the misconduct of third parties, which would have a chilling effect on cryptocurrency and other fields. We must stand with Storm."Storm co-founded the Ethereum-based cryptocurrency mixer Tornado Cash with Roman Semenov, both of whom were charged by the U.S. Department of Justice in 2023 with money laundering-related offenses.Prosecutors claim that Storm "knowingly assisted" in laundering over $1 billion in illegal funds through the cryptocurrency mixer, including funds related to the North Korean cybercrime group Lazarus. The founders of Tornado Cash each face a maximum of 45 years in prison.

ChainCatcher news, Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal stated on social media that Coinbase has invested millions of dollars to defend SOL (Solana) against the lawsuit by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that claims it is a security.He emphasized that his team is working every day to defeat this unjust accusation and is firmly supportive of the future development of SOL.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, Coinbase has filed a motion to dismiss BiT Global's lawsuit regarding wBTC. The complaint shows that Coinbase requests the court to dismiss BiT Global's lawsuit on the grounds that the company is associated with Tron founder Justin Sun. The court will consider the motion to dismiss at a hearing on April 3. Previously, BiT Global filed the lawsuit on December 13 of last year, claiming that Coinbase's decision to delist wBTC harmed the wBTC market.

ChainCatcher news, just minutes after President Trump was sworn in, three organizations filed lawsuits in federal court, accusing the government efficiency department led by Elon Musk of violating the transparency requirements of the 1972 law.All three lawsuits argue that DOGE should be considered a federal advisory committee. According to the 1972 FACA Act at the center of the lawsuits, such committees must represent balanced perspectives, hold all meetings in public, and maintain records of the meetings, among other requirements.

ChainCatcher news, according to The Washington Post, a lawsuit against the "Department of Government Efficiency" led by billionaire Elon Musk for violating federal transparency regulations is expected to be filed just minutes after U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump's inauguration, marking the beginning of a legal battle over key aspects of the incoming U.S. government's agenda.In a 30-page complaint obtained prior to submission, the Public Interest Law Firm's National Security Advisor claims that the non-governmental DOGE group violated a 1972 law that requires advisory committees providing advice to the executive branch to adhere to certain regulations regarding disclosure, employment, and other practices.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has been accused of omitting multiple cryptocurrency-related "suspension letters" sent to banks in a Coinbase-supported Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit. A report submitted by History Associates to the federal court in Washington, D.C. on January 17 indicated that the FDIC "may have overlooked other suspension letters" and plans to update the lawsuit based on this. Public reports have claimed that the FDIC is "systematically obstructing FOIA requests," resulting in at least 150 related documents not being released. The 25 FDIC letters that have been made public suggest that financial institutions should suspend cryptocurrency operations until regulatory reviews are completed, which the cryptocurrency industry views as an action to cut off banking services to related businesses ("Operation Chokepoint 2.0").Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal stated on January 16 that the lawsuit seeks to obtain all suspension letters confirmed by the Office of the Inspector General, but accused the FDIC of limiting its search to the letters in the report, potentially overlooking others. Grewal added that when asked to correct and stop the wordplay, the FDIC claimed it would take at least a year.In a status report on January 17, the FDIC responded that it has provided all relevant documents and conducted a search of letters shared with the Office of the Inspector General from March 2022 to May 2023, in accordance with the FOIA request. The agency stated that History Associates has no reasonable basis to believe that letters beyond this scope and timeframe belong to the original FOIA request and added that these letter requests are being processed as separate FOIA requests for expedited review.

ChainCatcher news, the American cryptocurrency law firm BurwickLaw announced that it will represent investors who suffered losses on Pump.fun in a legal lawsuit.It is reported that among the 14 million cryptocurrency wallets interacting with Pump.fun, only 0.4% of wallets made profits exceeding $10,000.

ChainCatcher news, according to Bloomberg, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed a lawsuit against Elon Musk in federal court in Washington, accusing him of securities violations. The specific details of the lawsuit have not yet been disclosed. Reports indicate that the relevant lawsuit has appeared in court documents.Court documents show that the SEC's lawsuit against Musk is related to his purchase of Twitter stock.

ChainCatcher news, FTX's bankruptcy administrator is being sued by creditor Lidia Favario for extravagant spending. Favario pointed out that the bankruptcy administrator's expenses during the handling of the FTX bankruptcy proceedings were excessively luxurious, including high-end hotel accommodations and exorbitant transportation costs. She mentioned that A&M professionals spent $971.74 for one night at a luxury hotel in New York, and one professional spent $1,733 on a taxi.Additionally, FTX paid $2,683 to have three taxis wait for CEO John Ray's testimony. Favario is urging the court to expand the review of expenses to ensure compliance with the Department of Justice's reasonable spending standards.

ChainCatcher news, on the afternoon of the 7th, the Civil Division 42 of the Seoul Central District Court held the first debate preparation for the lawsuit filed by 27 former and current senior executives of WeMade against the company for approximately 16.2 billion Korean Won in damages.Among these employees, some are still working at WeMade, consisting of members from the subsidiary Wemade Tree (the former blockchain department of WeMade). The company developed WEMIX, which was first listed on cryptocurrency exchanges in 2020. WeMade subsequently merged with Wemade Tree in February 2022.During the debate preparation that day, the plaintiff's representative argued: "The plaintiffs are employees who developed WEMIX and signed a compensation agreement for WEMIX development with the investors. The condition is that they have worked for more than 3 years." They further added: "The company has emails stating that it would clearly promise the plaintiffs token compensation."The judges commented: "The weakness of the plaintiffs is the lack of a contract," and "(even so) it is strange for the defendant to say they cannot give the employees a penny just because there is no contract."Previous news, former and current employees of Wemade Tree (now merged into Wemade), the development company of the WEMIX project, have filed a lawsuit against Wemade for damages amounting to 16.2 billion Korean Won (approximately 11.85 million USD).

ChainCatcher news, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's sister Ann Altman filed a lawsuit on Monday, accusing her brother of frequently sexually abusing her from 1997 to 2006.The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, alleging that the abuse occurred at their home in Clayton, Missouri, starting when Ann was 3 years old and Sam was 12. The lawsuit claims that the abusive behavior "occurred several times a week." It states that "as a direct and proximate result of the aforementioned sexual assault," the plaintiff has experienced "severe emotional distress, mental anguish, and depression, which is expected to continue."Ann has previously publicly accused her brother of sexual abuse on platforms like X, but this is her first time taking him to court. The lawsuit seeks a jury trial and damages exceeding $75,000.In a joint statement with their mother and brother posted on X, Sam Altman denied the allegations.

ChainCatcher news, according to The Block, U.S. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla of the Southern District of New York approved Coinbase's interlocutory appeal request on Tuesday, temporarily halting the lawsuit by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against the exchange. An interlocutory appeal refers to an appeal made before the judge has issued a final ruling, and such requests are typically rarely granted. The case will next be submitted to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals for consideration.Judge Failla noted in her order that this case raises a key legal question regarding the applicability of the Howey test in the context of crypto assets, a question that has significant divergence, and its resolution will help advance the final ruling on SEC enforcement actions. She emphasized that due to the "conflicting authoritative interpretations" of the Howey test in crypto assets, further clarification from the Second Circuit is needed.Coinbase Chief Policy Officer Faryar Shirzad stated that this decision is yet another blow to the SEC leadership's attempts to create ongoing uncertainty and chaos, and he thanked Judge Failla for allowing the interlocutory appeal.

ChainCatcher news, according to Bloomberg, the cryptocurrency exchange Gemini Trust Co., founded by the Winklevoss twins, has agreed to pay $5 million to settle a lawsuit filed by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The lawsuit claimed that Gemini misled derivatives regulators when attempting to launch the first U.S.-regulated Bitcoin futures contract. On Monday, documents signed by both parties disclosed this settlement agreement, thus avoiding a trial scheduled to begin on January 21 (the day after Trump's second inauguration as President of the United States). Gemini neither admitted nor denied liability in this case.In 2022, the CFTC sued Gemini in Manhattan federal court, accusing the exchange of making false and misleading statements about how to prevent Bitcoin price manipulation. On Monday, U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein approved the settlement agreement. Last November, Judge Hellerstein denied Gemini's request, ruling that a jury must determine whether 32 statements made by Gemini executives to regulators were misleading.Gemini still faces a lawsuit filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which accuses the exchange and cryptocurrency lending company Genesis Global Capital of illegally raising billions of dollars in crypto assets from investors through the so-called Gemini Earn program. In February of this year, Gemini agreed to return at least $1.1 billion to customers as part of another settlement reached with New York regulators.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon has been hit with a new charge: conspiracy to commit money laundering. This new charge was added in the superseding indictment unsealed by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on January 2. The indictment states that Do Kwon conspired with others, knowing that transactions exceeding $10,000 involved illegal proceeds, yet still facilitated these financial transactions.Previously, Kwon had been charged with eight felonies for his role in the collapse of the Terra ecosystem in 2022 and was arrested in Montenegro in 2023 for forging travel documents. After a dispute over extradition between the U.S. and South Korea, Kwon was transferred to the U.S. in December 2024. Currently, Kwon pleaded not guilty to all charges during his court appearance on January 2 and agreed to be detained. It remains uncertain whether a plea agreement will be reached or if he will enter a criminal trial.This case bears similarities to that of former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, who faced additional charges after extradition and was ultimately sentenced to 25 years in prison.

ChainCatcher news, the American cryptocurrency lobbying group (Blockchain Association) stated on social media that a lawsuit has been filed against the new "broker" related regulations enacted by the IRS and the Treasury Department.The IRS and the Treasury Department have exceeded their statutory authority by expanding the definition of "broker" to include providers at the front end of DeFi transactions, even though they do not execute trades. This not only infringes on the privacy rights of individuals using decentralized technology but also pushes emerging technologies overseas.

ChainCatcher news, according to The Block, former litigation advisor to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and partner at BakerHostetler law firm, Teresa Goody Guillén, stated that the number of cases brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission against cryptocurrency companies is expected to decrease in the new year. In the future, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will only be able to file lawsuits in cases involving securities.Therefore, if the lawsuits do not involve securities, the agency will refer these wrongdoers to the Department of Justice and other regulatory bodies, such as the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

ChainCatcher news, regarding the "U.S. judge ruling that Coinbase can delist WBTC," BiT Global stated that it is disappointed with the ruling but respects the court's decision and appreciates the court's prompt handling of the matter and serious consideration.It emphasized that this ruling is not a final judgment on the case, but merely determines that Coinbase's delisting does not seem to have caused irreparable harm to BiT Global, thus the temporary restraining order is reasonable. The court clearly stated that this ruling does not prevent BiT Global from seeking a preliminary injunction or continuing to litigate the case through trial in the future. "We look forward to continuing to litigate this case and having the opportunity to fully demonstrate the impact of Coinbase's erroneous decision in the future."

ChainCatcher news, according to Bloomberg, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) stated in a lawsuit that staking cryptocurrency should immediately create a tax obligation upon completion.The IRS dismissed the lawsuit filed by cryptocurrency investor Joshua Jarrett in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee. The lawsuit concerns the tax treatment of staking, which is the process of generating new tokens by using existing tokens and computing power to validate currency transactions.In a response on December 20, the IRS denied that staking creates new property and argued that the taxpayer (Jarrett) should pay taxes on the value of the tokens when he receives the staking rewards.

ChainCatcher news, encrypted influencer Haliey Welch posted a response to the HAWK token crash incident. She stated that she will fully cooperate with the investigation and assist the legal team representing the affected investors, dedicated to uncovering the truth and holding the responsible parties accountable.Previously, a meme coin featuring Haliey Welch's portrait, HAWK, was launched on December 4, reaching a market cap of $500 million, before plummeting 90%, prompting investors to file lawsuits. Welch urged affected investors to contact the Burwick legal team.

ChainCatcher News, the U.S. Department of Justice announced a lawsuit against two men from Beverly Hills and Ventura County, accusing them of conducting a "rug pull" scam through multiple NFT projects, involving more than $22 million. 23-year-old Gabriel Hay and Gavin Mayo are charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and stalking harassment among other offenses.It is reported that the two launched several NFT and digital asset projects, including Vault of Gems, Faceless, and Sinful Souls, between May 2021 and May 2024, deceiving investors through false advertising and misleading roadmaps. After a project manager exposed their identities, the two also harassed and intimidated him and his family.If convicted, the two defendants face up to 20 years in prison for each count of wire fraud and conspiracy, and up to 5 years for stalking harassment. The case is currently being investigated by the Baltimore field office of the U.S. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).