ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, U.S. District Judge Ann Marie McIff Allen in Utah has denied the appeal request from Kristoffer Krohn, a promoter of Green United, regarding the September 23 ruling that allowed the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to sue Green United LLC. The judge stated that Krohn failed to provide grounds for the appeal.In the arguments against the dismissal of the lawsuit, Krohn claimed that the SEC failed to prove that the Green Boxes offered by Green United were investment contracts, which the regulatory agency alleged in its complaint. He also argued that the SEC confused elements in the Howey test that defines securities. However, Judge Allen stated that Krohn's arguments were incorrect, accusing him of selectively quoting terms from two different definitions and "failing to provide any legal support to demonstrate that any court has adopted the definition he described."In 2023, the SEC charged that executives of Green United operated a fraudulent cryptocurrency mining scheme that defrauded investors of $18 million through the sale of Green Boxes and Green Boxes investment products from April 2018 to December 2022.

ChainCatcher News: A U.S. federal judge has dismissed the SEC's request for sanctions against Elon Musk, citing his absence from a court order related to his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter.Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley ruled that Musk should not be sanctioned for his testimony on October 3 and ordered the SEC to reimburse him $2,923 for travel expenses. The SEC argued that Musk violated an order from May 31 and sought stronger deterrents, but Corley found the issue to be without merit.Musk attributed his absence on September 10 to overseeing SpaceX's Polaris Dawn mission.The SEC's investigation aims to determine whether Musk delayed disclosing his purchase of Twitter stock in 2022, which could violate securities laws. Critics argue that this delay allowed Musk to acquire shares of the company at a lower price before disclosing his 9.2% stake.Musk previously acknowledged a misunderstanding of SEC rules. He had settled with the SEC in 2018 over tweets related to Tesla. The case is still pending in the Northern District of California. (Bitcoin.com)

ChainCatcher news, according to market news, Sam Bankman-Fried's former deputy, FTX co-founder Gary Wang, has been spared from imprisonment by a U.S. judge due to his role in the FTX cryptocurrency fraud case.

ChainCatcher news, according to a published document, U.S. District Judge Juan Merchan in New York has agreed to postpone the hearing of the criminal case involving elected President Trump related to the "hush money" until November 19.The Manhattan District Attorney charged Trump at the end of March last year with attempting to cover up a $130,000 "hush money" payment to an actress by falsifying business records before the 2016 presidential election. Trump firmly denies all charges and does not acknowledge any affair with the woman involved. (Jin Shi)

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, former CEO of the crypto platform Celsius, Alex Mashinsky, is facing criminal charges in the United States. His representative lawyer has lost the case and failed to dismiss two charges related to commodity fraud and manipulation of the CEL token price.In documents submitted to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on November 8, Judge John Koeltl ruled that Mashinsky's legal team's arguments for dismissing the charges were "either irrelevant or without merit." The judge denied the motion to dismiss the two charges, leaving seven charges still in the indictment against Mashinsky, with the trial scheduled to begin in January 2025.

ChainCatcher news, the crypto bank Banq previously filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for Nevada, but its application has been dismissed.The judge presiding over the case, Natalie M. Cox, stated that the bank's bankruptcy filing was a "malicious" strategy aimed at "gaining an advantage in pending litigation" rather than restructuring.Judge Cox wrote in her ruling that the bankruptcy proceedings were a tactic to protect Banq and its founder Jon Jiles from an investor lawsuit initiated by N9 (the company's primary creditor holding a $3 million stake). N9 accused Jiles of failing to fulfill his fiduciary duties by prioritizing the interests of Prime Trust (of which he is a founder and managing member) over those of Banq.Previous news, the crypto custody company Prime Trust's subsidiary Banq has filed for bankruptcy protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Nevada.

ChainCatcher news, according to Coindesk, U.S. Delaware bankruptcy court judge John Dorsey decided on Monday during a hearing to approve the FTX bankruptcy plan, which will fully repay cryptocurrency customers in cash plus interest. Under the plan, 98% of creditors will receive at least 118% of the value of their claims in cash.FTX lawyers stated that they are still considering distributing stablecoins to creditors as an option and confirmed that they are in discussions with at least four companies that could handle such distribution if necessary.

ChainCatcher news, according to CoinDesk, a court document released on Monday shows that a U.S. district judge has sided with the SEC in the case against mobile crypto wallet Rivetz for selling unregistered securities.Judge Mark Mastroianni granted the SEC's motion for summary judgment, a decision based on untested evidence.

ChainCatcher news, according to a statement released by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on Friday, U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria of the Northern District of California has ordered 30-year-old William Koo Ichioka to pay $31 million to victims and a civil penalty of $5 million.The CFTC charged Ichioka in June 2023 for misappropriating funds in a scheme involving cryptocurrencies (including Bitcoin and Ethereum) and foreign exchange trading. As part of a parallel action, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) also brought charges against him.Ichioka claimed to be "someone who started pursuing wealth early and has accumulated millions of dollars." According to the court ruling, he told investors that participating in his commodity liquidity pool could yield a 10% return every 30 business days. Ichioka did use a portion of investor funds to invest in startup stocks, digital asset commodities, and foreign exchange trading, but he also "mixed participants' funds with his own" and used that money to pay for rent, restaurants, bars, taxis, gym memberships, and luxury cars among other expenses.

ChainCatcher news, a judge in Georgia has dismissed two criminal charges against former President and 2024 Republican presidential candidate Trump in the 2020 Georgia election interference case, as well as another charge against an ally of Trump.

ChainCatcher news, according to CoinDesk, U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb has issued a formal opinion ruling that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) does not have the authority to conduct a "public interest review" to block Kalshi from listing political prediction markets in the United States.Judge Cobb pointed out that Kalshi's contracts do not involve illegal activities or gambling, but rather pertain to elections, both of which fall outside the CFTC's jurisdiction.Currently, the U.S. Congress has rescinded the CFTC's public review of certain proposed futures contracts, stating that such contracts would only be subject to review if they belong to specific categories such as terrorism or gambling.

ChainCatcher news, Judge Juan Merchan, who is responsible for former President Trump's "hush money" criminal case in New York State, has postponed the verdict date for the case to November 26.On July 2 of this year, a U.S. federal judge agreed to postpone the verdict date for the "hush money" case from July 11 to September 18.It is reported that Trump's representative lawyer previously requested to postpone the verdict on September 18 until after the November elections. Trump's team recently stated that they would immediately appeal if the case continues to move forward.

ChainCatcher news, according to CoinDesk, Judge Analisa Torres of the Southern District of New York ruled that Ripple's 1,278 institutional sales transactions violated securities laws, resulting in a $125 million fine, significantly lower than the $1 billion in illegal gains and pre-judgment interest, as well as the $900 million civil penalty sought by the U.S. SEC.Judge Torres reiterated her stance that Ripple's sale of XRP to retail customers through exchanges does not violate federal securities laws. However, she prohibited Ripple from violating federal securities laws in the future and issued an injunction requiring Ripple to file a registration statement if it plans to sell any securities. Last July, the judge ruled that Ripple's direct sale of XRP to institutional clients violated federal securities laws, but the act of programmatically selling XRP to retail customers through exchanges did not violate any securities laws. During the proceedings, the SEC attempted to appeal that part of the ruling but was unsuccessful.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, a U.S. federal judge has approved the Justice Department's request to delay the handling of the asset forfeiture related to former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried's (SBF) donations to political action committees (PACs). The Justice Department is discussing the forfeiture of these funds with SBF's lawyers, which were primarily directed to Democratic-related committees, including the House Majority PAC, Senate Majority PAC, FF PAC, FF USA Action, EMILYs List, and GMI PAC. Judge Lewis Kaplan approved an extension of the deadline for submitting third-party petitions to September 13. SBF donated approximately $40 million to political candidates and PACs in 2022, mainly to influence U.S. government policy on cryptocurrency.

ChainCatcher news, according to The Block, U.S. District Judge Kevin Castel has ordered the sentence of Ethereum developer Virgil Griffith to be reduced from 63 months to 56 months.In April 2022, U.S. prosecutors stated that Castel violated sanctions law by traveling to North Korea in 2019 "to give a talk on using cryptocurrency and blockchain technology to evade sanctions and provide technical advice," resulting in a 63-month prison sentence.

ChainCatcher news, according to CoinDesk, at a hearing this Thursday, U.S. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla of the Southern District of New York denied Coinbase's request to subpoena SEC Chairman Gary Gensler's personal communications, asking for a revised plan and a briefing schedule.Earlier in June, Coinbase informed the SEC that it planned to subpoena SEC Chairman Gary Gensler for personal communications related to cryptocurrency during his tenure and the four years prior to his appointment as chairman. Judge Failla stated that she was "actually quite surprised by the request made to Gensler in his personal capacity at the start of the hearing."As the hearing was nearing its end, after both sides had explained their arguments, the judge still found Coinbase's request inappropriate but asked the trading platform to file a motion to compel formal proceedings, allowing both sides to elaborate on their arguments more thoroughly.

ChainCatcher news, according to The Block, a district judge in Illinois has supported the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and ordered a man from Oregon and his company to pay over $120 million, part of which is for compensating victims in what the agency referred to as a "Ponzi scheme."U.S. District Court Judge Mary Rowland for the Northern District of Illinois stated in an opinion released on Monday that Sam Ikkurty from Oregon and his company Jafia, LLC made significant misrepresentations, but the opinion was published by the CFTC on Wednesday. The CFTC stated that Ikkurty and his company failed to register and engaged in fraudulent activities.Notably, Judge Rowland also pointed out in the order that the cryptocurrencies OHM and Klima are commodities.The CFTC stated in a statement that the order not only recognizes Bitcoin and Ethereum as commodities under CFTC jurisdiction, but also that OHM and Klima, two non-Bitcoin virtual currencies, meet the definition of commodities, noting that these virtual currencies belong to the same category as Bitcoin and have regulated futures trading.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cryptoslate, a federal judge has approved a timeline for the court to review the lawsuit filed by Consensys against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and its commissioners. In a document submitted to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas on July 1, Judge Reed O'Connor set deadlines requiring the SEC and Consensys lawyers to submit opening statements and opposition statements by September and November, respectively. Additionally, the judge approved a 28-day extension for the SEC to respond to the complaint.According to the timeline, all five SEC commissioners and the agency must submit responses by July 29 and file their answers by November 26. Bill Hughes, Senior Legal Counsel and Global Head of Regulatory Affairs at Consensys, stated in a social media post on July 2 that he expects a ruling on the case around December.

ChainCatcher news, according to CoinDesk, a U.S. judge in Massachusetts has denied DraftKings' request to dismiss a class action lawsuit filed by its NFT buyers.Buyer Justin Dufoe first filed the lawsuit against DraftKings in March 2023 on behalf of other owners, claiming that these NFTs meet the requirements of the Howey test. In this recent ruling, the court recognized that DraftKings' NFTs involve an investment of money, a common enterprise where assets are pooled, shared risks and profits, and a reasonable expectation of profits from DraftKings' efforts, thus they may be classified as securities under the Howey test.

ChainCatcher news, according to Coindesk, a federal judge has dismissed part of the lawsuit by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against the cryptocurrency exchange Binance and its founder CZ. The SEC's claims regarding Binance's initial coin offering and the ongoing sales of BNB, BNB Vault, staking services, as well as the unregistered and fraud allegations can proceed.The judge granted Binance and CZ's motion to dismiss the charges related to secondary BNB sales and Simple Earn.