ChainCatcher news, according to CNN, a U.S. federal judge stated that she would not block the U.S. Department of Justice from deploying monitors at polling places in St. Louis, dismissing a lawsuit filed by Missouri Republican officials. It is reported that the U.S. Department of Justice can send observers to election sites in St. Louis and Texas.U.S. District Judge Sarah Pitlyk, appointed by former President Donald Trump, pointed out that a previous court agreement between the city of St. Louis and the U.S. Department of Justice allows DOJ staff to oversee whether the city's polling places comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act; in another case, the U.S. Department of Justice was allowed to have Texas election monitors remain outside polling places on election day.

ChainCatcher News, U.S. Federal Judge Tanya Chutkan announced on October 18 local time the evidence in the Trump election immunity lawsuit, failing to postpone the announcement until after the November 5 U.S. presidential election.Previously, on July 1, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Trump enjoys a certain degree of immunity from criminal prosecution in federal cases involving alleged "interference in the 2020 election," but does not have immunity from prosecution for actions taken in a private capacity, and instructed lower courts to reconsider the case to determine which actions qualify as "official acts" that cannot be prosecuted.This ruling indicates that the progress of the case will take time. U.S. media generally believe that Trump is unlikely to face trial before the presidential election in November this year.

ChainCatcher news, Ripple Labs Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty stated that as the U.S. SEC prepares to appeal the federal judge's decision regarding XRP, the agency is set to face another defeat.In an interview, he said, "This will backfire on the SEC. I feel good about our case in the Southern District of New York, and even better about the case in the Second Circuit."Alderoty mentioned that when the U.S. SEC first sued Ripple and its two executives in 2020, the company publicly announced that its legal battle was "on behalf of the entire industry." He added that this move indicated the SEC "would take action against the entire industry."In August of this year, Judge Torres ordered Ripple to pay a $125 million fine for XRP transactions that violated securities laws. The SEC had previously claimed that Ripple raised $1.3 billion through unregistered securities offerings since 2013 and later sought a $2 billion fine against it. While Ripple appreciated Judge Torres's ruling, which stated that XRP "is not necessarily a security on its face," there were also judges who disagreed.The SEC has not indicated which parts of the Torres ruling it plans to appeal, while Ripple has also taken its own legal actions.

ChainCatcher news, the application by cryptocurrency exchange Kraken to dismiss the SEC lawsuit has been rejected by a federal judge, which means Kraken must face the lawsuit filed by the U.S. SEC, accusing it of operating an unregistered securities exchange.District Judge William H. Orrick wrote in an opinion issued in the San Francisco federal court, "The U.S. SEC reasonably claims that at least some of the cryptocurrency transactions facilitated by Kraken on its platform constitute investment contracts and therefore qualify as securities, thus subject to securities laws." Kraken had argued that it did not need to register with the agency because the transactions on its platform did not involve securities and therefore fell outside the SEC's regulatory scope.It is reported that the U.S. SEC initially filed the lawsuit last November, claiming that Kraken's crypto trading platform operates as an unregistered securities exchange, broker, dealer, and clearing agency.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, a federal judge has ordered the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to pay approximately $1.8 million in attorney fees and receivership costs related to the regulatory agency's civil case against Digital Licensing (operating under the name Debt Box).It is reported that in documents submitted to the U.S. District Court for Utah on May 28, Judge Robert Shelby signed an order requiring the SEC to pay about $1 million in attorney fees and related costs, as well as $750,000 in receivership fees and related costs. This order was issued alongside the decision to dismiss the case on the same day, but the dismissal was without prejudice.Debt Box stated in a post on May 28: "This is a significant victory for us. It means that the SEC cannot proceed with the case as it stands."Previously, two attorneys from the SEC resigned in April; they were the lead attorneys in a case against Digital Licensing Inc. (a cryptocurrency platform known as DEBT Box), after a federal judge harshly criticized the Wall Street regulator for "serious abuse" of power in a cryptocurrency case.

ChainCatcher news, according to Blockworks, during a four-hour hearing held on Monday, Binance faced off against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in Washington, attempting to dismiss the charges brought against the exchange, its U.S. subsidiary, and former CEO Changpeng Zhao last summer. Binance's defense team called for the invocation of the major questions doctrine. This means that the court would not interpret congressional statutes as allowing agencies to make determinations on issues of "significant" political or economic importance.Binance wrote in its motion to dismiss: "Given the broad nature of the SEC's statutory arguments, the stakes here are even greater than the significant impact on the cryptocurrency market." Judge Amy Berman Jackson acknowledged on Monday that the case has implications for the entire cryptocurrency industry. However, she still "leans against" believing that the major questions doctrine applies to this case.

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 CoinGape, a U.S. federal judge has approved Binance.US lawyer Andrew Rhys Davies to submit a notice of appearance on behalf of BAM Management US Holdings and BAM Trading Services (Binance.US), allowing him to appear in court as legal counsel in the lawsuit between the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Binance, Binance.US.

ChainCatcher news, according to The Block, a federal judge will hear further arguments on August 11 regarding whether to revoke Sam Bankman-Fried's bail.Federal prosecutors are seeking to revoke SBF's bail, which means he will be moved from his parents' home to a jail in New York, awaiting a criminal trial set to begin on October 2. The judge in the Southern District of New York has also ordered SBF to appear in person at the hearing next Friday.

ChainCatcher news, a federal judge overseeing the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) case against Binance and Changpeng Zhao has denied the request from Binance's lawyers to condemn the language used by the regulatory agency in its press release.Binance's lawyers questioned the SEC's wording that described Binance's alleged mixing or transferring of customer assets from the exchange to "investment vehicles controlled by Changpeng Zhao." The judge stated, "While all attorneys in this case should always adhere to their ethical obligations, it is currently unclear whether the court needs to intervene to reiterate this point, or whether it is necessary or appropriate for the court to intervene to modify the wording of the parties' press releases. It remains unclear whether the agency's public relations efforts to date will have a significant impact on the litigation process in this case." (source link)

ChainCatcher news, Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal tweeted that the Third Circuit Court has just ruled that it will uphold Coinbase's challenge to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding the jurisdiction over Coinbase's petition on the fundamental rules of cryptocurrency. The next report will be submitted within 120 days.Previous news, after a long period of silence and vague responses from the SEC regarding Coinbase's petition, Coinbase formally requested a federal judge to compel the SEC to establish clearer rules and standards for the digital asset industry (source link)

ChainCatcher news, according to CoinDesk, a U.S. federal judge has ordered Binance, Binance.US, and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to participate in a mediation meeting to discuss restrictions on Binance's operations. The first mediation meeting is scheduled for June 14 at 2:45 PM Eastern Time. (Source link)

ChainCatcher news, according to CoinDesk editor @nikhileshde's tweet, the federal judge overseeing the SEC's case against BinanceUS and Binance has postponed issuing a temporary restraining order, requiring both parties to negotiate details and provide an update by Thursday.Binance stated that they are willing to agree to freeze some form of assets in BinanceUS, as long as they can continue normal operations, including allowing customer withdrawals. Binance's lawyers also mentioned that they would migrate the keys back to the U.S. as long as they can continue normal operations. The judge has requested Binance.US to detail what they mean by "normal operations." (source link)

ChainCatcher news, according to the Associated Press, a federal judge in Brazil has ordered a temporary block on Telegram, citing that Telegram failed to provide information related to neo-Nazi groups as requested by federal police. Local ISPs (Internet Service Providers) have complied with the order and restricted access to Telegram, while Google and Apple have also been ordered to block Telegram.According to the ruling document provided by the Ministry of Justice's press office, the judge has increased the fines for non-compliance from 100,000 reais to 1 million reais (approximately 1.37 million RMB) per day. Telegram has not yet commented on this. (Source link)

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley has denied the consolidation of five class action lawsuits filed by investors against the FTX exchange. The judge noted that there was no need to consolidate before hearing from the defendants, and not all defendants had the opportunity to respond.It is reported that multiple plaintiffs accused former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried and other executives of misappropriating their assets and filed lawsuits in the Northern District of California. While all plaintiffs are pursuing SBF, these cases also include various other defendants, including external auditors and personnel related to the exchange. (source link)

ChainCatcher news, recently a U.S. federal judge Victor Marrero stated in court documents that NBA Top Shot Moments NFTs meet the criteria to be considered securities and rejected Dapper Labs CEO Roham Gharegozlou's motion to dismiss the lawsuit, which accuses Dapper Labs of violating securities laws by selling NBA Top Shot Moments NFTs without standard registration and disclosure.The court documents indicate that this ruling applies only to NBA Top Shot Moments NFTs and may not apply to other NFTs. Dapper Labs' control over these assets after selling NBA Top Shot Moments, as well as some marketing tweets about NFTs, suggested that these assets would appreciate in value. (The Block)

ChainCatcher news indicates that, according to a court document from Wednesday, U.S. Federal Judge (Katharine Parker) has ordered the seizure of approximately $93 million in funds from FTX Digital Markets' account at Silvergate after freezing Robinhood shares related to FTX and BlockFi.The document also notes that the Bahamian liquidators, who filed for separate bankruptcy in New York, have requested Silvergate to transfer funds related to FTX "to ensure the safety of the assets," but Silvergate responded that the request from the Bahamian liquidators is meaningless since FTX's accounts have already been seized by regulators. Analysts believe that this series of actions by the U.S. federal court may complicate the process for FTX customers to recover their funds. (source link)

ChainCatcher news, according to CNBC, a federal judge dismissed a proposed class action lawsuit against EthereumMax founder and celebrities like Kim Kardashian and boxer Floyd Mayweather for promoting the cryptocurrency.Plaintiff Ryan Huegrich filed the lawsuit earlier this year on behalf of all investors who purchased EthereumMax tokens between May 14 and June 17, 2021. Last October, Kardashian was accused by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of illegally promoting the EtherumMax tokens; she did not admit or deny any findings from the regulator and agreed to pay $1.26 million.The judge stated that the plaintiff's claims were not sufficiently supported, particularly "given the higher pleading standard for fraud claims," but he would allow the plaintiff's attorneys to refile after amending some of their claims based on certain statutes cited in the original complaint. (source link)