ChainCatcher news, according to Decrypt, the UK Court of Appeal has rejected a request from a Welsh man to excavate a landfill, claiming that his hard drive was discarded there over a decade ago, containing $676 million worth of Bitcoin.It is reported that the software engineer mined the lost Bitcoin in 2009, and in 2013, his former partner threw away the hard drive, which contained the keys to 8,000 Bitcoins. He subsequently launched a lengthy legal battle to gain the right to search the landfill for the Bitcoin hard drive.

ChainCatcher news, the British Columbia Court of Appeal upheld the provincial government's decision to limit electricity use for Bitcoin mining operations, rejecting the attempts by Bitcoin mining hosting provider Conifex Timber to secure unlimited electricity usage. The court supported BC Hydro, emphasizing its priority to protect public interest, safeguard the province's power supply, and prevent consumer electricity rate increases. Due to concerns about the impact of crypto mining on energy consumption, several provinces in Canada have implemented restrictions.

ChainCatcher news, according to Decrypt, the U.S. bankruptcy court has approved the liquidators of the hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC) to expand their claim against FTX to $1.53 billion, rejecting the objections of FTX's debtors, who argued that this move was untimely and unfair.

ChainCatcher news, according to Jinshi reports, court documents show: The U.S. court dismissed the preliminary injunction requested by Musk in the lawsuit against OpenAI.

ChainCatcher news, according to Yonhap News Agency, the operator of the South Korean virtual asset exchange Upbit, Dunamu, has filed a lawsuit with the Seoul Administrative Court to revoke the business suspension order imposed by the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of South Korea and has applied for a stay of execution.Previously, on February 25, the FIU made several punitive decisions against Dunamu and its employees for violating the Specific Financial Information Act, including a three-month business suspension for nine employees, a warning issued to CEO Lee Seok-woo, and the dismissal of the compliance officer. The suspension order will restrict new customers from transferring virtual assets from March 7 to June 6.The FIU's penalties stem from on-site inspections conducted from August to October last year, which found that Dunamu had conducted transactions with unreported virtual asset operators abroad and violated customer verification obligations. Dunamu stated that it will truthfully explain the relevant circumstances during the court hearing.

ChainCatcher news, according to the announcement from the Beijing Third Intermediate People's Court, recently, the Beijing Third Intermediate Court and Renmin University of China jointly held a project demonstration meeting for the Supreme People's Court's major judicial research topic for 2024, "Research on the Disposal of Involved Virtual Currencies." Representatives from the Supreme Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, the Ministry of Public Security, and experts from academia and enterprises attended the seminar.The meeting discussed the disposal paths for involved virtual currencies and the construction of future regulatory systems, emphasizing that research results should be combined with judicial practice to assist national financial security. Zhai Chao, Deputy Chief Judge of the Third Criminal Division of the Supreme Court, suggested that the research should highlight characteristics and meet practical needs. In the future, the research team will deepen investigations and collaborate with judicial and financial regulatory authorities to promote the regulation of virtual currencies and the improvement of judicial adjudication rules.

ChainCatcher news, the Tianing Court has concluded a contract dispute case involving "USDT" as the investment object. In 2021, Jiang met Lin through an introduction by others and established a WeChat group to trade "USDT." Between 2021 and 2022, Jiang transferred approximately 100,000 RMB to Lin via WeChat and bank transfers, and Lin purchased about 76,000 U coins for him. Jiang also purchased 81,000 U coins as directed by Lin. Following Lin's instructions, Jiang transferred his held U coins to the platform multiple times for Lin to operate, but all funds were exhausted by Lin's operations, leading Jiang to file a lawsuit in court.The court found that the plaintiff Jiang claimed that the dispute between the two parties was a guarantee contract dispute, and that a civil entrustment financial management contract relationship regarding the virtual currency U coin investment project was established between them. The entrustment transactions and management issues concerning the virtual currency U coin between Jiang and Lin are currently not regulated and protected by law in our country, and the consequences of their actions should be borne by Jiang himself. Therefore, the court ruled to dismiss Jiang's lawsuit request.

ChainCatcher news, citing TASS, reports that the Supreme Court of Russia is pushing to classify cryptocurrencies as property in criminal cases, aiming to enhance law enforcement's ability to track, freeze, and confiscate illegal digital assets. The Supreme Court is involved in drafting a legislative initiative "aimed at recognizing digital currencies as property in criminal proceedings," which could strengthen law enforcement's capacity to handle crypto-related crimes.This is not the first time the Supreme Court of Russia has dealt with cryptocurrency issues in legal proceedings. In 2019, the court ruled that exchanging Bitcoin for rubles constitutes money laundering if the digital currency was obtained through illegal activities, particularly in cases involving drug trafficking. The court's ruling further indicates that cryptocurrencies may fall under the jurisdiction of existing anti-money laundering laws. Additionally, in 2021, the court ruled that the electronic currency WMZ used in the Webmoney Transfer system is legally recognized as a civil rights object, setting a precedent for Russia's legal treatment of digital assets. These earlier rulings demonstrate that the Supreme Court is working to incorporate cryptocurrencies into the country's judicial framework.

ChainCatcher news, according to Decrypt, Irina Podnosova, the chairwoman of the Supreme Court of Russia, stated at the annual judges' meeting attended by President Putin that with the proliferation of cryptocurrency in the economy, there has been a significant increase in criminal cases involving digital currencies.The Supreme Court is preparing new legislation to classify cryptocurrency as property in criminal cases.

ChainCatcher news, according to The Straits Times, former Bybit payroll head Ho Kai Xin, who embezzled $4.2 million in public funds, refused to comply with a court order and spent nearly $840,000 on a permanent ownership penthouse and Louis Vuitton luxury goods after the court ruling.For violating the High Court's order, the 32-year-old woman was sentenced to six weeks in prison for contempt of court on January 27.Previous news, in July 2023, the cryptocurrency exchange Bybit sued Ms. Ho for abusing her power by transferring a large amount of USDT to addresses she secretly owned and controlled.On July 25, the Singapore High Court upheld the ruling, stating that cryptocurrencies are generally recognized as property, and holders of crypto assets have, in principle, intangible property rights recognized by common law, which can be enforced in court as items in litigation. The court ordered Ms. Ho to immediately pay Bybit all transferred amounts and interest.

ChainCatcher news, according to Jinshi citing The New York Times, the Trump Media Technology Group (DJT.O) has filed a lawsuit against a Brazilian Supreme Court judge in the federal court in Tampa, Florida.

ChainCatcher news, according to CoinDesk, the U.S. federal court detailed the scale of assets owned by SBF before being tried and imprisoned for fraud, as well as how the U.S. government swiftly intervened to seize approximately $1 billion in financial assets and two aircraft.The final forfeiture order issued by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on Tuesday formally stripped SBF of ownership of all assets listed in a lengthy property list. Alameda's assets on Binance include: $56 million in XRP, $3.6 million in TRX, $3.4 million in ADA, $2.3 million in BTC, and dozens of other tokens.The most significant asset is the proceeds from the sale of Robinhood stock—$606 million held by SBF's Emergent Fidelity Technologies.Other financial assets include:119 million USDT held by Alameda Research on Binance;$21 million held by Emergent Fidelity Technologies at Marex;$50 million held by FTX Digital Markets at Moonstone Bank;$101 million held by FTX Digital Markets at Silvergate;$7 million held by SBF and another individual at Flagstar Bank.The list of seized assets also includes two private jets: a 2009 Bombardier Global 5000 and a 2006 Embraer Legacy.Court documents also detailed over 250 political donations that have been withdrawn from the campaigns and organizations of the recipients, including amounts donated by FTX executives at SBF's direction.

ChainCatcher news, according to Etoday, the South Korean Supreme Court has ruled that the stablecoin TerraUSD and the cryptocurrency Luna are not considered financial investment products or securities. These digital assets collapsed in May 2022, resulting in a loss of approximately $40 billion in value. The latest court ruling may impact similar legal disputes in lower courts.In November 2022, a court in Seoul rejected the prosecutors' request to confiscate the assets of Daniel Shin, co-founder of Terraform Labs, the company behind these tokens. When the prosecutors appealed, the same court reaffirmed its ruling in February 2023.In the appellate court, the judges stated that the evidence provided by the prosecution was insufficient to classify Luna as a "financial investment product" under the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act. This ruling was made three years after the legal proceedings began.

According to ChainCatcher news, as disclosed by the "Shanghai Prosecutor" public account, the Jinshan District Court of Shanghai recently made a ruling on a digital collectibles fraud case. Two suspects built a digital collectibles trading platform, packaging AI-generated images purchased at low prices as digital collectibles with investment value for sale.The suspects attracted investors by fabricating overseas identities and promising capital protection buybacks, and created a false appearance of active trading in the secondary market through self-buying and selling. The case occurred between October and December 2023, resulting in investor losses of approximately 1.8 million yuan.In January 2025, after the Jinshan District Prosecutor's Office of Shanghai filed a public prosecution, the two suspects were sentenced to corresponding penalties by the court for the crime of fundraising fraud.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, the American Web3 gaming company Ready Games has won a legal battle against its Gibraltar subsidiary Ready Maker and its CEO Christina Macedo. The Gibraltar Supreme Court has ordered the freezing of approximately 440 million PLAY tokens (about $7 million), which accounts for about half of the circulating supply. Ready Games founder David Bennahum stated that its subsidiary violated the trust agreement by unlawfully claiming ownership of the company and the PLAY tokens.

ChainCatcher news, Fox Business reporter Eleanor Terrett revealed that court documents show U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson approved the joint motion to stay the lawsuit between the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Binance on February 13. The order will pause the case for 60 days and requires both parties to submit a joint status report by April 14, 2025.

ChainCatcher news, according to the Jiangsu High Court's official WeChat account, the Jiangsu High Court has released typical cases involving foreign-related commercial trials, stating that overseas virtual currency investments are not protected by Chinese law. In the relevant case, Singaporean citizen Pan XX and Chinese citizen Tian XX signed a cooperation agreement with a third party to jointly operate the "MFA Blockchain" project. Pan XX transferred 15.74 million yuan to Tian XX for the purchase of MFA virtual currency, but later the virtual account involved in the case was locked, resulting in the total loss of the principal. Pan XX filed a lawsuit in court.The Jiangsu High Court, in its second instance, held that Pan XX is a Singaporean citizen, and the case has foreign-related factors. According to China's law application rules, matters involving China's financial security and social public interests should directly apply the mandatory provisions of Chinese laws and regulations, which prohibit virtual currency investments. In this case, the parties signed a contract to speculate on overseas virtual currencies, violating the mandatory provisions of China's financial regulatory field. Therefore, the investment losses claimed by the parties are not protected by law, and the resulting losses shall be borne by the parties themselves.

ChainCatcher news, according to Fox Business reporter Eleanor Terrett, Binance and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have jointly filed a motion with the court to request a 60-day pause in the lawsuit. This is the first cryptocurrency-related lawsuit pause request since Mark Uyeda took over as acting chair.Both parties stated that the SEC's newly formed cryptocurrency working group may have an impact on the case and facilitate a resolution. After the 60-day period, both parties will submit a joint status report to assess whether a further pause is necessary. Terrett expects that other non-fraud cases such as Ripple, Coinbase, and Kraken may take similar actions.