ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, Braden John Karony, the former CEO of the cryptocurrency company SafeMoon, has requested a judge to postpone his criminal trial, seemingly hoping that the Trump administration's stance on digital assets could lead to at least one charge being dropped.In documents submitted to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York (EDNY) on February 5, Karony requested that the federal judge delay the jury selection for his trial from March to April 2025, citing "significant changes" brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) during President Trump's term. The legal team for the SafeMoon CEO referenced an executive order signed by Trump on January 23, which explored potential changes in U.S. digital asset regulation, as well as a statement from SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, which suggested that the commission would consider providing "retroactive relief" for certain cryptocurrency cases.It is currently unclear when Judge Eric Komitee will make a decision regarding Karony's request. In November 2023, U.S. authorities charged Karony, Kyle Nagy, and Thomas Smith of SafeMoon with conspiracy to commit securities fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Karony was released on bail after paying $3 million in February 2024. Karony has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

ChainCatcher news, according to Solid Intel, French prosecutors have stated that the case involving Telegram founder Pavel Durov will take at least a year to reach the court trial stage, and it is too early to negotiate a settlement.

ChainCatcher news, according to Inner City Press, former Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky has pleaded guilty to two charges and requested to postpone the trial by one month to May 8. The U.S. Attorney's Office has not yet agreed to this.

ChainCatcher news, the Russian government and the central bank announced the successful trial of the digital ruble in budget settlements. The central bank and the Ministry of Finance had conducted closed-door tests of the digital ruble's budget operations by the end of 2024.According to reports, despite opposition from the country's commercial banking sector, the central bank still hopes to launch the currency in early July this year, stating that testing "is ongoing," but did not disclose any details about the pilot "budget" transactions.The Ministry of Finance stated that there are currently no plans to use the digital ruble to pay government funds to citizens and has repeatedly mentioned the use of the digital ruble to "ensure the targeted use of budget funds."

ChainCatcher message, Tron founder Justin Sun stated: "I also want to venture into large models, it's so great, born at the right time, Tron is very suitable for large models, the direct combination of blockchain and AI, I really can't imagine how great the potential will be, the website will be deployed after the New Year for everyone to try."

ChainCatcher news, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol departs from the Seoul detention center to the Constitutional Court, preparing to attend the public debate of the impeachment case scheduled for today at 2 PM local time. (Jinshi)

ChainCatcher news, at the preliminary hearing held in Manhattan, Chief Prosecutor Jared Leno told the court that Terraform Labs co-founder and former CEO Do Kwon's criminal fraud trial in the U.S. is tentatively scheduled for January 2026, to allow prosecutors and Kwon's defense attorneys ample time to review the "massive" 6TB of data expected to be generated during the investigation.Prosecutors indicated that the government is also expected to face further delays, as when Do Kwon was extradited to the U.S. on December 31, Montenegrin authorities provided four mobile phones from which they could not retrieve encrypted information or unlock the devices, thus the government will face additional delays.Additionally, the government must translate materials extracted from Do Kwon's native Korean into English. The next status conference for the case is scheduled for March 6 at 11 AM Eastern Time.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cryptonews, Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Pichai Chunhavajira announced on Wednesday at a seminar of the Thai Marketing Association that Thailand will launch a new cryptocurrency payment project, starting from the popular tourist destination of Phuket. The project will allow foreign tourists to use digital assets for shopping in the tourist city.Pichai Chunhavajira emphasized that the pilot program will comply with the existing legal framework to ensure that no laws are violated. The pilot in Phuket will allow foreign tourists to register their Bitcoin through Thai exchanges, complete identity verification, and then use cryptocurrency to pay for goods and services.Previous news reported that a former Thai Prime Minister suggested trialing Bitcoin payments in Phuket.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, a U.S. court has postponed the CFTC vs. Gemini case to January 21, 2025. U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein announced that the hearing date for the civil case between the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and Gemini Trust Company has been moved from the originally scheduled January 13, 2025, to January 21, and made it clear that there will be no further delays.The CFTC filed a lawsuit against Gemini in June 2022, accusing it of providing false or misleading information when applying for Bitcoin futures contracts in 2017, and seeking the return of illegal profits, civil penalties, and injunctions. The delay in the case may be influenced by the incoming administration and new congressional policies.

ChainCatcher news, the Constitutional Court of Korea stated that the impeachment case documents sent to Yoon Suk-yeol were not received, but they still have delivery effect. The Constitutional Court announced that the first preparatory hearing (pre-trial meeting) for the impeachment case will be held as scheduled on December 27. (Jin Ten)

ChainCatcher news, according to Nobsbitcoin, a memorandum shows that the pre-trial hearing for Samourai Wallet has been postponed from December 17, 2024, to March 12, 2025, with the trial date set for November 3, 2025. Since the pre-trial conference on September 17, 2024, the U.S. government has submitted the third and fourth batches of evidence and provided copies of the first and second batches to developer Keonne Rodriguez on November 6, 2024. The fifth batch of evidence is expected to be submitted within seven days, containing data extracted from seized devices.The FBI is reviewing 45 devices seized from Keonne Rodriguez and William Lonergan Hill for confidential information and plans to release the remaining data by early 2025. So far, 17TB of data has been shared, accounting for more than half of the total, and more evidence is expected to be released. The defense has described the volume of this evidence as enormous, likening it to "75% of the Library of Congress's collection," with a stack of paper thick enough to make 22 round trips to the moon.

ChainCatcher news, according to Thai media Moneyandbanking, former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra stated at a seminar that Trump might repay the U.S. debt using Bitcoin, while specifically emphasizing that this is not an encouragement for everyone to buy Bitcoin, but a reminder that this is a trend. Currently, various cryptocurrencies have emerged, and some say that the number of future currencies may exceed the number of countries. The Thai people must keep up with the times and understand these changes.Thaksin also suggested that the Prime Minister could instruct the Ministry of Finance to study whether Bitcoin could be accepted in Thailand, for example, by piloting the use of Bitcoin in Phuket, allowing Bitcoin holders to make payments locally.

ChainCatcher news, the blockchain Mandala Chain has completed a $1 million Pre-Seed funding round, led by Harbour Industrial Capital, with participation from O-DE Capital, NLS Ventures, and strategic partners from the Polkadot ecosystem. This funding will enable Mandala Chain to scale its operations, establish strategic partnerships, and expand its influence in emerging markets.Mandala Chain focuses on deploying real-world use cases, aiming to drive meaningful adoption of blockchain technology, starting from Indonesia.

ChainCatcher news, according to Ledger Insights, ten institutions have completed a simulation trial of the Regulatory Settlement Network (RSN), exploring the use of a shared DLT network to settle tokenized transactions. In addition to the previous experiments settling tokenized commercial bank funds and tokenized central bank funds on the same network, this experiment also featured tokenized government bonds and investment-grade bonds on the shared ledger. The institutions participating in the experiment include Citibank, JPMorgan, Mastercard, Swift, TD Bank NA, Bank of America, USDF, Wells Fargo, Visa, and Zions Bancorp.The shared institutional network for tokenized assets has garnered attention for several reasons. If tokenized treasury bills are settled using central bank funds on the same ledger, then settlement risk is almost completely eliminated. Smart contracts enable automation and straight-through processing. The always-online network allows for settlements outside of working hours and batch cut-off times. This could be particularly convenient for assisting overseas clients.

ChainCatcher news, according to official sources, Worldcoin has launched the new World ID Passport Credential, which is currently being trialed in some countries including Chile, Colombia, Malaysia, and South Korea.It is reported that the new World ID Credentials allow individuals to link valid forms of identification (starting with NFC-enabled passports) to their World ID without sharing any information with TFH, the World Foundation, or any other third party.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, Tornado Cash developer Alexey Pertsev will continue to be detained while awaiting trial. Pertsev recently expressed disappointment on X regarding the court's decision to extend his detention, believing it hinders his ability to prepare for an appeal.Previously, several Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives demanded that Treasury officials answer questions about the handling of the cryptocurrency mixing service Tornado Cash, which was sanctioned in 2022 but is still operational. The lawmakers emphasized that the usage of this mixer has "rebounded" this year, with $1.8 billion in deposits in the first half of 2024, a 45% increase compared to the entire year of 2023.

ChainCatcher news, according to a report by The Paper, at the 14th China Anti-Money Laundering Summit and the 4th Lujiazui National Financial Security Summit, Wang Jing, Deputy Director of the Anti-Money Laundering Bureau of the People's Bank of China, pointed out that in recent years, national public security, prosecution, and judicial authorities have continuously increased their efforts to combat money laundering crimes, with the number of cases investigated, prosecuted, and tried steadily rising.With the emergence of new technologies and new business models, criminals are constantly innovating their money laundering methods, using illegal payment platforms, virtual currencies, e-commerce or live streaming platforms, game currencies, and other means to transfer and conceal criminal funds. They also mix various payment methods such as bank accounts, virtual currencies, and cash, making money laundering techniques more diverse and covert, which increases the difficulty of detection and investigation.Wang Jing emphasized that a high-pressure stance must be maintained in the ongoing crackdown on money laundering crimes, continuously improving the quality and efficiency of investigations, prosecutions, and trials.

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)