Court

Former SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, who resigned from his post on January 20 when Donald Trump took office, filed lawsuits against many cryptocurrency platforms during his term.
At this point, there has been a new development in the lawsuit filed by the SEC against the leading crypto exchange Kraken for alleged unregistered securities sales.
The court overseeing the case rejected one of Kraken's defense arguments.
Kraken argued in its defense that the SEC lacks the legal authority to regulate the crypto market through litigation and that the SEC cannot act unless authorized by Congress.
However, court judge William Orrick rejected Kraken's objection, stating that the SEC's jurisdiction over the case could not be questioned.
This objection, also known as the “important questions doctrine,” was one of the biggest criticisms leveled against the SEC by many exchanges in the lawsuits. Because the giants that the SEC sued, such as Binance and Coinbase, also claimed that the SEC exceeded its authority.
The SEC filed a lawsuit against Kraken in November 2023, alleging that the exchange operated as a securities exchange without registration and that Payward Inc. and Payward Ventures, which operate Kraken, have also violated securities laws since 2018.
The SEC had also filed a staking lawsuit against Kraken prior to the securities violation allegations, but that case ended in a settlement with Kraken paying $30 million.
*This is not investment advice.
#Court #Binance #Crypto #MarketPullback #BinanceAlphaAlert

The US Treasury was accused of unlawfully allowing Elon Musk and his government efficiency organization access to millions of Americans’ personal and financial data.
Union groups have sued the US Treasury, accusing it of breaking federal laws by giving Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency enforcers access to sensitive financial and personal information.
The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, the country’s largest union group, sued the Treasury and Secretary Scott Bessent in a Washington, DC, federal court on Feb. 3 to stop what it alleged is an “unlawful ongoing, systematic, and continuous disclosure of personal and financial information” to Musk and DOGE.
“The scale of the intrusion into individuals’ privacy is massive and unprecedented,” the AFL-CIO said. “People who must share information with the federal government should not be forced to share information with Elon Musk or his ‘DOGE.’”
The lawsuit is the latest challenge to Donald Trump’s promise to cut federal spending. He put Musk in charge of the effort with DOGE, seemingly an homage to Dogecoin (DOGE $0.2643) , which the billionaire has mentioned in the past.
The complaint cited a Feb. 1 Bluesky post from US Senator Ron Wyden, which said that sources had told his office that “Bessent has granted DOGE full access” to the Treasury’s payments system. A day earlier, Wyden had demanded answers from Bessent over Musk DOGE’s access to the system.
The payments system at issue includes “names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, birthplaces, home addresses and telephone numbers, email addresses, and bank account information” of millions of members of the public, according to the suit.
It comes as top Democrats, including the party’s Senate leader Chuck Schumer and Senator Elizabeth Warren, held a press conference on Feb. 3 to air concerns over Musk and DOGE’s access to the Treasury systems.
Schumer said that he’d be introducing legislation “to stop unlawful meddling in the Treasury Department’s payments systems.”
“DOGE is not a real government agency,” he added. “It has no authority to make spending decisions. It has no authority to shut programs down or ignore federal law.”
Warren said the system “is now at the mercy of Elon Musk,” who “has the power to suck out all that information for his own use.”
The Treasury and the US DOGE Service (USDS), the parent agency of DOGE, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
#Law #Court #ElonMusk #crypto
$DOGE

CLS Global admitted to helping wash trade and manipulate the market for a token made by the FBI designed to draw in those engaged in fraudulent crypto activities.
A crypto financial services firm has agreed to plead guilty to US charges of helping to manipulate markets for a crypto token created by the FBI aiming to find fraud.
The United Arab Emirates-based CLS Global agreed to plead guilty to two counts of fraudulent manipulation of cryptocurrency trading volumes and wire fraud, according to a Jan. 21 plea deal.
The Massachusetts US Attorney’s Office said that CLS would pay a $428,059 fine and forfeit all funds held in several accounts on crypto exchanges Binance and KuCoin.
CLS was charged in September after being snared by an FBI-created AI-related token called NexFundAI (NEXF), designed to draw in those engaged in fraudulent cryptocurrency activities, particularly pump-and-dump schemes. 
The FBI masqueraded as scammers and asked for help manipulating the token’s trading volume to fool investors into believing that NEXF was more popular than it was.
As part of the plea deal, CLS admitted its involvement in providing services for the NexFundAI token, including wash trading, to fraudulently attract investors to purchase the token. 
According to the plea deal, CLS is prohibited from participating in crypto transactions on trading platforms available to investors located in the US and was placed on probation for three years.
The firm will have to make annual certifications to the Securities and Exchange Commission that it’s adhering to this prohibition.
The SEC brought separate civil charges against CLS in October, alleging violations of securities laws, and has entered into a separate resolution with the company.
“Moneys seized from or paid by CLS Global will be credited in the SEC resolution, and vice versa,” the district attorney’s office said.
Related: Strange, but true: 5 outlandish and weird crypto stories of 2024
The US Justice Department said last October that 18 people were facing charges in the combined cases, and one additional company, MyTrade MM, also allegedly offered services to NexFundAI.
The operation was the first public case in which the FBI created its own digital token and a fake crypt company to help bait and catch fraudsters in the market. 
CLS Global did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 
#FBI #Court #crypto #CryptoSurge2025 #BinanceAlphaAlert

#Crypto_Century #NFT​ #ape #court
$APE
Three suspects in a large scam involving the Evolved Apes NFT collection worth $3 million were charged with wire fraud and money laundering. We are talking about a case from 2021, when the anonymous developer of the Evolved Apes NFT collection disappeared along with investors’ money. Previously, in just a week, he and his accomplices collected more than $2.9 million on air, promising to develop a fighting game for their community. However, these plans were never destined to come true, because the development team emptied the project’s wallet, took all 798 ethers, deleted the account on the social network and closed official website.

Circle, the issuer behind the USDC stablecoin, has frozen $57 million worth of USDC linked to the LIBRA team, according to on-chain data. The move was first reported by Aggr News on X, revealing two transactions marked as “freezeAccount,” on the Solana blockchain.


Circle's USDC transfer halt demonstrates the centralized control behind stablecoins.
As Circle centralizes control over USDC, asset freezing is an option built into the system. As a result, controls can be activated when necessary, usually against law enforcement, sanctions or suspected illegal activity.
So far, both the circle and other official sources have not explained why the freeze was imposed. These types of actions usually indicate that authorities suspect something.
Many cryptocurrency users still question how Circle can limit access to users' money. Blockchain supports security and follows regulations. However, many crypto enthusiasts dislike the changes the company makes to its operations.
This shows that not all crypto-assets are immune to interference with stablecoins like the USDC that still have ties to the real-world regulatory framework.

Unanswered questions about LIBRA's frozen $57M
On-chain records make the action publicly verifiable, but they don't tell the whole story. The reason for the freeze was in response to a legal request, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Given the amount involved, it will likely attract the attention of both regulators and blockchain investigators in the days following Bitcoin Conference 2025.
It is currently the center of attention among industry players. The incident is a reminder that even in a decentralized world some tokens (especially stablecoins) come with centralized control.
While the USDC offers stability and regulatory friendliness, it can also be frozen if the issuer believes there is good reason to do so. Newsey Johnson, a commentator, pointed out the oddity here. According to him, the leader of the LIBRA team, Hayden, is not wanted by the police.
In addition, he has not been charged with hacking or theft. People happily bought the token knowing the risks. So, they asked, why freeze the funds? And now where does the money go? Does Circle keep it? Do users get a refund?
As more updates come out, the crypto community will be watching closely for Circle's official response and further clues about the LIBRA team and frozen funds. Circle has been in the news recently for various reasons, one of which is the possible acquisition of 10% of its IPO stake by BlackRock.

#Circle #USDC #libra #Court #USDC✅