Author: Nerd Bot

CFTC WINS BATTLE, LOSES GROUND ON ENFORCEMENT SCOPE The Seventh Circuit just handed the CFTC a narrow win that actually limits its future reach. In a mandamus petition tied to the long-running Kraft Foods case, the court forced a district judge to hand over internal CFTC documents—but stopped short of letting the agency rewrite history…

Court Orders Bilzerian Back Into Legal Limbo Over New Crypto Ventures The D.C. district court just revived a 1989 SEC injunction against Paul Bilzerian, ruling that his latest cryptocurrency and blockchain projects fall under the same 2001 asset-freeze order that barred him from starting new businesses without prior court approval. The decision matters because it…

SEC WINS ON STABLECOIN TEST, BUT DEFI MAY SLIP THROUGH The Supreme Court just handed the SEC a narrow but meaningful win: a new, stricter test for when stablecoins can be treated as securities. The ruling says that if a stablecoin’s issuer promises to maintain a one-to-one peg with the dollar and actively manages reserves,…

Judge Slams Conway Trust: CFTC Wins Power Play Over Commodity Trusts A federal appeals court just handed the CFTC a major win in its long-running fight with a family trust, affirming the agency’s authority to regulate commodity trading advisors. The ruling strengthens the CFTC’s reach over trusts and advisers who manage futures and swaps, sending…

Arkham Says It Tracks 78% of Strategy’s 847,666 Bitcoin Holdings Blockchain intelligence platform Arkham says it tracks 78% of Strategy’s reported 847,666 Bitcoin holdings. That percentage represents approximately 661,179 Bitcoin. The figure refers to the portion of Strategy’s holdings that Arkham says it can identify and monitor on-chain. The distinction between tracking and holding is…

Fifth Circuit Slaps SEC’s “Regulation-by-Enforcement” Playbook In a ruling that could redraw the lines between federal oversight and digital-asset innovation, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the SEC’s attempt to punish a decentralized crypto protocol for unregistered securities offerings. The decision directly challenges the Commission’s long-standing strategy of retroactively labeling tokens as securities without…

COURT SLAMS NEW YORK JURISDICTION IN COMMODITIES SUIT Regal Commodities’ attempt to haul Florida-based trader Tauber into a New York courtroom collapsed this week when an appellate panel ruled that two emails and a handful of phone calls were not enough to create jurisdiction. The decision matters because it signals how far state courts will…

Anthropic Lost $42 Billion Last Year. It Wants to Go Public at $2 Trillion Anthropic is seeking to go public at a valuation of $2 trillion despite reporting a $42 billion loss last year, according to the figures provided. The gap between the company’s recent losses and its proposed public-market valuation highlights the scale of…

Court Tells CFTC: Stop Hoarding Kraft Documents The Seventh Circuit just slammed the CFTC for treating a routine subpoena fight like a state secret. The agency had demanded that Kraft and Mondelēz hand over eight years of internal trading records, then refused to let the companies see their own documents—claiming they were “CFTC work product.”…

JUDGES SLAP SEC ON WRIST IN FIFTH CIRCUIT CRYPTO SHOWDOWN The Fifth Circuit just sent the SEC a message it can’t ignore: jurisdiction isn’t a blank check. In a sharply worded November 26 ruling, the court overturned key parts of a lower-court decision that had favored the SEC in a crypto-enforcement fight, warning that regulators…

Illinois agrees to six-month delay of crypto tax as industry continues court battle Illinois officials have agreed to seek a six-month delay in enforcing the state’s incoming 0.2% tax on crypto transactions, pushing the planned start date from Jan. 1, 2027, to July 1, 2027. The change stems from a joint motion filed in Sangamon…

Court Rejects Illinois Hub for Crypto Exchange Suits Three federal lawsuits against a major crypto exchange have been denied centralization in Chicago, a move that keeps enforcement scattered and raises the stakes for traders watching how judges treat digital asset claims. The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation turned down plaintiff Anthony Motto’s request to fold…

CFTC Investigating Adam Kinzinger Over Kalshi Bets on His Own Pardon: Report The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission is investigating Adam Kinzinger over bets he allegedly made on Kalshi concerning whether he would receive a pardon, according to a report. The matter involves Kalshi, a prediction-market platform where users trade contracts tied to the outcomes…

**CFTC Rebuffs Trader’s “Crypto Is Not a Future” Claim in DC Appeals Court** The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit handed the Commodity Futures Trading Commission a clear win, rejecting trader Trevor Kitchen’s bid to claw back penalties for unregistered crypto-futures trading. The three-judge panel ruled that Kitchen’s platform offered contracts…

Bitget Hacker Turns to Zcash Privacy Pool After Near Rejects $50M in Swaps The attacker linked to the Bitget hack has reportedly shifted to a Zcash privacy pool after the Near Protocol ecosystem rejected swap attempts involving nearly $50 million in funds. Near’s refusal appears to have blocked the proposed conversions, prompting the hacker to…

CFTC Wins Crypto Precedent as Ninth Circuit Backs Broad Enforcement The Ninth Circuit just handed the CFTC a sweeping win over cryptocurrency trader James Devlin Crombie, confirming that the agency has authority to police unregistered futures-style contracts even when they’re marketed as “crypto investments.” The decision strengthens the agency’s reach at a moment when digital…

Court Halts IRS Seizure of Crypto Wallets Over Due-Process Gaps A federal judge just blocked the government from grabbing twenty-four cryptocurrency accounts in a civil-forfeiture case, ruling that the IRS gave owners too little notice and too little proof. The decision hands the crypto world a rare, early win against aggressive asset seizures and signals…

**SEC Loses First Round Against Binance in D.C. Court** The Securities and Exchange Commission just took its first clear loss in its sweeping lawsuit against Binance. A federal judge in Washington refused the agency’s request to freeze the exchange’s U.S. assets or halt trading, ruling that the SEC failed to show irreparable harm. The decision…

Near Intents Hacked for $3.8 Million Days After Denying North Korea-Linked Bitget Hacker Near Intents was hacked for approximately $3.8 million, according to the information provided. The incident occurred just days after the project denied an association with a Bitget hacker linked to North Korea. The timing places the attack in the context of heightened…