ChainCatcher news, according to Coindesk, lawyers from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) argued in a brief submitted to the appellate court that a federal judge "erroneously" allowed the prediction market Kalshi to list and trade election contracts, reiterating many of the arguments made in the lower court.Last month, the judge ruled that the CFTC could not prohibit Kalshi from listing election contracts. The regulatory agency requested a stay from the appellate court to prevent the company from launching the product before the appeal outcome. However, the court's judge ruled that the CFTC failed to demonstrate that it would cause irreparable harm.

ChainCatcher news, according to The Block, the federal appeals court ruled that the prediction market platform Kalshi can continue to launch contracts to allow election betting.In an opinion submitted to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, Judge Patricia Millett ruled that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) failed to demonstrate that "if the appeal is not stayed, the public will suffer irreparable harm."Since the CFTC stated at the end of last year that Kalshi could not offer contracts related to "Congressional control contracts," the CFTC and Kalshi have been in litigation.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, the federal court in Northern California denied cryptocurrency exchange Kraken's request to dismiss the SEC lawsuit in a ruling on August 23. The SEC accused Kraken of operating an unregistered securities trading platform, and the court found the SEC's allegations that certain cryptocurrency transactions on the Kraken platform constitute investment contracts to be reasonable. A final ruling in the case has yet to be made.Kraken's Chief Legal Officer Marco Santori stated that they will prove these transactions do not meet the requirements of the Howey test.

ChainCatcher news, according to U.Today, former Binance CEO Zhao Changpeng (CZ) and Binance have been accused of being involved in a new class-action lawsuit. The lawsuit was filed in a federal court in Seattle, alleging that Binance facilitated money laundering for criminals through its platform, harming consumer interests. The plaintiffs claim that Binance operates as a "cryptocurrency money laundering empire," allowing hackers, thieves, and other criminals to launder their illegal gains on the platform and profiting immensely from this activity. The lawsuit also accuses Binance of engaging in illegal extortion, violating the RICO Act.Previously, CZ pleaded guilty to money laundering violations last November and was sentenced to four months in prison in April of this year.

ChainCatcher news, cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase launches a DOGE lottery promotion where the user agreement's dispute resolution clauses are in conflict. Coinbase prefers arbitration for financial disputes, while users lean towards court intervention, with both options listed in the platform agreement. On May 23, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that state and federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction over disputes related to the Coinbase lottery promotion.

ChainCatcher news, CoinDesk reporter @nikhileshde stated on social media that Binance founder Changpeng Zhao is requesting travel permission from the federal court handling his case and is seeking to seal the documents.

ChainCatcher news, according to CoinDesk, the U.S. federal court is prepared to officially rule in favor of Grayscale in its dispute with the U.S. SEC over the Bitcoin spot ETF. According to the procedures for such cases, after the SEC decided last week not to appeal the court's ruling, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals has seven days to conclude the case. The deadline is this Friday, and the court can choose to terminate the case without comment or issue further instructions to the SEC regarding the next steps.According to a source familiar with the matter, the court's final ruling may be announced on Friday local time or next Monday. The industry widely expects that the SEC will approve new ETFs, but it is uncertain whether this will happen later this year or sometime in 2024. If approved, Grayscale will convert its Bitcoin trust GBTC into an ETF and list it on the NYSE Arca.

ChainCatcher news, according to The San Francisco Standard, a federal judge in San Francisco ordered young hacker Ahmad Wagaafe Hared, who is accused of stealing cryptocurrency from a North California cryptocurrency executive, to hand over nearly $5.2 million worth of Bitcoin along with a sports car to the FBI.Prosecutors stated that Hared and his accomplices first obtained the personal contact information of executives and investors, contacted mobile service providers, and manipulated company representatives into believing they were the legitimate owners of the target phone numbers. Hared then transferred the target phone numbers to his own phone, conducting a SIM swap. After that, Hared accessed emails and other accounts, stealing cryptocurrency. Hared signed a plea agreement in 2019.

ChainCatcher news, according to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, a federal court has ordered the South African company Mirror Trading International Proprietary Limited (MTI) to pay over $1.7 billion in forex fraud restitution. The ruling found that the company engaged in fraudulent activities in retail forex trading, that the commodity pool operator (CPO) engaged in fraudulent activities, violated registration regulations, and failed to comply with CPO regulations.It is reported that MTI's controller Steynberg was involved in an international fraudulent multi-level marketing scheme, selling Bitcoin to people to participate in an unregistered commodity pool operated by MTI. It was claimed that off-exchange retail forex trading was conducted through the defendant's falsely claimed proprietary "robots" or software programs. During this period, Steynberg, as an individual and as an agent and representative of MTI, obtained at least 29,421 Bitcoins from at least 23,000 individuals in the U.S. and thousands of individuals worldwide, with the court finding that Steynberg directly or indirectly embezzled all the Bitcoins obtained from the commodity pool participants. The MTI company is currently undergoing liquidation in the Republic of South Africa.

ChainCatcher News, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced that U.S. District Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald for the Southern District of New York issued a permanent injunction against Michael Ackerman, prohibiting him from trading on any CFTC-regulated market and from registering with the CFTC. Ackerman is also ordered to pay $27 million in restitution to fraud victims and a $27 million civil penalty for a fraudulent digital asset trading scheme.The CFTC stated that from August 2017 to December 2019, Ackerman defrauded over 150 individuals and entities of at least $33 million, claiming it was for digital asset trading. However, less than $10 million was used for trading digital commodity assets, with the remaining funds misappropriated for personal use or to extend the fraudulent scheme. (Source link)

ChainCatcher news, after a prolonged silence and vague response from the U.S. SEC regarding Coinbase's petition, Coinbase has formally requested a federal court to compel a federal judge to force the U.S. SEC to establish clearer rules and standards for the digital asset industry.Coinbase's Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal stated on Twitter: "We cannot wait until next week's deadline to address the SEC's response to the Third Circuit's June 6 order; the government's contempt for the federal court is a direct issue that is unusual. The court should now approve the injunction because the commission has decided not to approve Coinbase's rulemaking request and is harming the industry. At the very least, the court should order the commission to report its actions within no more than 60 days, and in the event that the commission has still not acted by then, to timely rule on the injunction request." (source link)

ChainCatcher news, according to The Block, former NBA star Shaquille O'Neal has been officially served with a lawsuit in the FTX class action case at his home and will be required to appear in federal court.It is reported that O'Neal was sued for promoting FTX, and lawyers have been searching for him for three months. The process servers have been working hard to formally notify O'Neal that he is a target of the lawsuit. The lawyers have now served him at his home, and a video has been made of his interaction with a process server. According to the lawsuit, O'Neal will be required to appear in federal court to explain to the public his involvement in FTX's "false advertising campaign." (source link)

ChainCatcher news, according to prnewswire, FTX Trading and approximately 101 affiliated companies (collectively referred to as the FTX Debtors) announced that all "first day motions" related to the Chapter 11 filing submitted by the FTX Debtors on November 11 have received temporary and final approval from the federal court in Delaware.FTX's new CEO and Chief Restructuring Officer John J. Ray III stated, "Following the court's approval of the 'first day' motions, we are moving forward with our work as quickly as possible to maximize value for all FTX stakeholders. We will continue to implement necessary controls and ensure the organization of the company's assets. As we review the business, we have begun to receive interest from potential buyers for our assets, and we will conduct an orderly process to restructure or sell FTX assets around the world for the benefit of stakeholders." (Source link)