ChainCatcher news, Bybit CEO Ben Zhou responded to the concerns regarding the Launchpool project OIK token dump: "The budget for OIK's launchpool activity was a total of 10 million tokens provided by the project party, of which 3.3 million have been distributed, with over 90,000 users participating in the activity. The launchpool is still ongoing and will conclude on March 19, with 5.7 million tokens yet to be distributed.Bybit has never sold off activity budgets for profit; such market manipulation has serious legal consequences, and the budget is all in hot wallets, which can be audited by any regulatory authority. Currently, it appears that there are indeed large holders selling OIK in the market, and the compliance department is investigating the specific details. In the future, we are considering allowing the community to have a more direct view of our budget situation by using independent wallets to receive project budgets, enabling the community to see everything transparently."It is reported that previously some community users raised concerns: "It is inferred that Bybit is using its own Launchpool as a cash machine. The TGE of SpaceNation, which has been built for a year, was a failure. However, over the past three days, the community has gone from outrage to resentment to questioning and investigation, and has collected some evidence. A community sold less than 5% of the project, yet the project party absorbed an abnormal circulation volume within 30 minutes of the opening."

ChainCatcher news, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's crypto-friendly commissioner Hester Peirce stated that the SEC is addressing the case against Coinbase with bias. She personally does not support actions against Coinbase and is concerned that using enforcement tools to regulate the crypto industry could become part of a larger strategy for the SEC.Currently, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has engaged with the public by establishing a cryptocurrency working group to create a regulatory framework that serves the American public. This new approach has led to the dismissal of charges against Coinbase, but it does not indicate that the SEC will terminate enforcement when appropriate.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cryptonews, Nigerian House of Representatives member Philip Agbese has filed a lawsuit against Binance executive Tigran Gambaryan in the Abuja Federal Capital Territory High Court, seeking 1 billion naira (approximately $667,000) in damages for defamation.The lawsuit stems from Gambaryan's claims on social media that Agbese and two other lawmakers attempted to solicit a $150 million cryptocurrency bribe. Agbese's camp stated that he has never owned a cryptocurrency account or engaged in digital currency transactions, demanding that Gambaryan publicly apologize in at least three national newspapers and delete all related social media posts.The Nigerian Minister of Information and National Orientation dismissed Gambaryan's allegations on February 14, stating that the claims lack credible evidence. The court has ordered Gambaryan to respond to the lawsuit within 8 days.Previous news, Binance executives reiterated that Nigerian lawmakers had solicited a $150 million bribe in exchange for dropping the lawsuit against Binance.

ChainCatcher news, according to Business Insider, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman stated in court documents that Musk has "no facts" to support his claims that OpenAI is illegally suppressing competition. Altman's lawyers wrote in a lengthy 33-page court document to a federal judge in Oakland, California: "There are no facts supporting the existence of this conspiracy." The lawyers argued that Musk has also failed to prove any harm resulting from the alleged anti-competitive behavior of OpenAI.Musk's 107-page lawsuit accuses Altman of fraud, self-interest, and "unfair competition." "He claims that without judicial intervention, he will suffer irreparable harm, but has not provided a reasonable explanation of how or why he would suffer harm," Altman's lawyer Jordan Eth wrote in the document on Wednesday.The document is Altman's response to Musk's request for U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers to order an immediate halt to what Musk describes as OpenAI's unfair and illegal restrictions on its competitors.Musk seeks an immediate injunction from Gonzalez Rogers to stop OpenAI's transition from a nonprofit organization to a for-profit entity, and he also wants the judge to prohibit OpenAI from forcing its investors not to invest in competing tech companies, including the chatbot Grok developed by Musk's own AI company xAI. (Business Insider)

ChainCatcher news, according to market reports, Enron is facing fraud allegations due to the issuance of new tokens. The company responded by stating that they have been "attacked" by early investors and denied any wrongdoing. Their CEO, Connor Gaydos, even took a lie detector test to prove his innocence, stating, "When we say we want to be as transparent as possible, we mean it."However, during the test, Connor Gaydo changed his answers regarding alcohol and drug use while denying any connection to the token crash incident. The former FBI agent responsible for the test, Andre Cicero, reportedly concluded that Connor Gaydo did not pass the test. Nevertheless, Connor Gaydo admitted that the token launch process was "sloppy" and that mistakes were made.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, regarding the judicial investigation by French authorities into Binance, a Binance spokesperson stated that this latest development is a continuation of a legal investigation from several years ago: "Binance is deeply disappointed to learn that the Paris branch of the French prosecutor's office, JUNALCO, has decided to refer this case, which has been ongoing for several years, to the French judicial authorities for further investigation."Binance stated: "While our policy is generally not to comment on legal proceedings, Binance fully denies these allegations and will vigorously contest any false claims."

ChainCatcher news, according to official news, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has announced that it has filed settlement charges against Wells Fargo and Merrill for violations related to their cash clearing plans.The two companies have agreed to pay a total of $60 million in civil penalties. The reason for the settlement charges is their failure to adopt and implement reasonably designed written policies and procedures to prevent violations of the Investment Advisers Act and its related rules concerning the companies' cash clearing plans.According to the SEC's order, Wells Fargo Advisors and Merrill Lynch provided a Bank Deposit Sweep Program (BDSP) as the only cash clearing option for most advisory clients and derived significant economic benefits from the cash of advisory clients in the BDSP. The two companies and their affiliates set the interest rates offered in the BDSP, and during periods of rising interest rates, the yield differential between the BDSP and other cash clearing alternatives sometimes grew to nearly 4%.

ChainCatcher news, according to CoinDesk, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) led by Gary Gensler has called Binance.US a "fraudulent melting pot," and has used its power and influence to cut off the company's relationships with banks and U.S. dollar fiat channels. Binance.US interim CEO Norman Reed stated in an interview with CoinDesk that the SEC failed to provide any evidence to support its allegations in court.After the SEC filed a lawsuit, Binance.US lost thousands of customers, suffered billions of dollars in losses, and was forced to lay off 70% of its staff.Binance.US interim CEO Norman Reed said, "U.S. dollar fiat services are expected to be revitalized and put back into operation in the coming weeks; the company is preparing for a comeback, seeking to collaborate with banks, and re-engaging in dialogue with state regulators."

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 Cointelegraph, Green United promoter Kristoffer Krohn filed a motion on October 24 in the U.S. District Court for Utah, requesting the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals to rule on the SEC's allegations in a $18 million cryptocurrency mining fraud case. Krohn argues that the SEC's application of securities law is incorrect, claiming that the company is selling high-performance computing hardware rather than securities.Previously reported, U.S. District Court Judge Ann Marie McIff Allen dismissed the defendants' motion to dismiss, stating that the SEC's allegations of unregistered securities sales are "well-supported."

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, as WazirX undergoes debt restructuring following a hacker attack, its digital custody partner Liminal issued a statement addressing security vulnerabilities. Today, Liminal released an update in response to WazirX's so-called "false advertising campaign," clarifying its role in the incident.The statement said that although WazirX accused Liminal of causing a $235 million theft in July, WazirX continues to use its digital custody services, holding over $175 million in assets on its platform. Liminal emphasized that it cannot initiate transactions involving WazirX funds and stated that only the WazirX team has the capability to execute such transactions.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cryptonews, the short video application TikTok is under scrutiny for allegedly operating in the UK in a manner similar to cryptocurrency exchanges. It is reported that a compliance expert has warned the UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), suggesting that TikTok undergo checks for money laundering and terrorist financing. The expert emphasized that the virtual tokens on TikTok could potentially be indirectly exchanged for real currency through its creator program, which is concerning.This scrutiny stems from TikTok's virtual currency system—TikTok tokens. Users can purchase tokens with real money and gift them on the platform or during live streams. They may also have the option to exchange these tokens back for cash. This process is similar to cryptocurrency trading. Given the strict regulations surrounding cryptocurrency businesses, this system has raised regulatory concerns. Critics argue that TikTok's handling of virtual currency may face the same scrutiny as cryptocurrency platforms. Additionally, such cryptocurrency-like transactions have raised concerns about the security of users' financial data, especially considering the geopolitical sensitivities.It is reported that the letter stated: "TikTok provides funding transfer services for money service businesses through its rewards program and facilitates the exchange of crypto assets for currency or currency for crypto assets, or makes arrangements for such exchanges." As of the time of publication, neither TikTok nor the FCA has responded to Cryptonews' request for comment.

ChainCatcher News, the U.S. SEC has reached a settlement with trading firm Rimar regarding its allegations that the company provided false information to investors about its claims of using artificial intelligence (AI) to execute automated trading in cryptocurrencies and other assets.The SEC stated that Itai Liptz, the owner and CEO of Rimar LLC and Rimar USA, along with Rimar USA board member Cliffard Boro, claimed they could use AI to trade cryptocurrencies, stocks, bonds, and other investments, raising nearly $4 million from 45 investors.However, the SEC pointed out that the company did not actually use AI, and the claim of using emerging technologies was merely a "buzzword" to deceive investors, which the agency referred to as "AI-washing." Rimar USA agreed to settle the allegations and will pay a total of $310,000 in civil penalties without admitting or denying the findings of the regulatory investigation.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, Wormhole has initiated a new proposal in the Curve governance forum, suggesting to reduce the collateral cap for crvUSD's TUSD to zero "to completely eliminate exposure to TUSD" due to regulatory risks and solvency issues.The proposal also suggests reducing the mintable amount of PayPal's stablecoin PYUSD from $15 million to $5 million, "thus making the reliance on each PegKeeper suitable for the importance of their respective pools." Currently, the main collateral for minting crvUSD also includes ETH and WBTC.Previously, on September 24, the U.S. SEC reached a settlement regarding allegations of fraud against TrueCoin and TrustToken involving unregistered sales of investment contracts related to TrueUSD. The allegations claimed that 99% of TUSD's reserve funds were invested in high-risk offshore funds, raising concerns about its safety and solvency.

ChainCatcher news, FTX's former co-CEO Ryan Salame's partner Michelle Bond pleaded not guilty to four counts of campaign finance violations in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. These charges include conspiracy to cause illegal campaign contributions, causing and accepting excessive campaign contributions, causing and accepting illegal corporate contributions, and causing and accepting intermediary contributions.The charges stem from Bond's alleged concealment of funding sources during her 2022 campaign for a Republican seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. It is alleged that Salame arranged for FTX to pay $400,000 to fund her campaign, while Bond is accused of making false statements to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and congressional committees. Notably, Salame had previously pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 90 months in prison, but after Bond was indicted, he requested the court to withdraw his plea, claiming it was based on a promise from prosecutors not to investigate his partner. Judge Lewis Kaplan stated he would consider whether to withdraw Salame's plea.Currently, Bond remains free on a $1 million bail but is restricted to travel within the continental United States. Judge George Daniels has scheduled a pretrial conference for January 2025. In the criminal cases against FTX and Alameda Research, as of September 18, only Salame and SBF have been sentenced to imprisonment. Sentencing hearings for other implicated executives will take place in the coming months.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, the cryptocurrency exchange Kraken has responded to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's allegations of violating federal securities laws.In legal documents submitted on September 12, the cryptocurrency exchange denied the SEC's allegations, stating that the assets cited by the regulator do not meet the legal definition of securities. Kraken stated in the documents that it has not violated "Sections 5, 15(a), and 17A of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934," because the cited assets "are not securities or investment contracts."

ChainCatcher news, Kraken responds to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) allegations of violating federal securities laws. The SEC claims that several digital assets offered by Kraken are unregistered securities. In its legal response, Kraken firmly denies these allegations, insisting that the assets in question do not meet the legal definition of securities under U.S. law, including Cardano (ADA), Algorand (ALGO), Cosmos (ATOM), and other digital assets traded on Kraken are not investment contracts. The exchange argues that the SEC has failed to demonstrate that the digital assets in question meet the standards outlined in the Howey test, and therefore are not under the jurisdiction of the SEC.