Bitcoin Slips as Iran Tensions and Yen Fears Mount Bitcoin failed to reclaim $80,000 as escalating tensions involving Iran pressured U.S. stocks and weakened broader risk appetite. Comments from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also fueled concern that a stronger yen could trigger an unwind of the popular yen carry trade. The selling pressure came from…
Cboe, S&P Dow Jones May Explore Tokenized Options Contracts Under Extended Licensing Deal Cboe and S&P Dow Jones Indices have extended a licensing agreement that could allow the companies to explore tokenized options contracts, according to the information available. Tokenization refers to representing a financial asset or contract on a blockchain-based system. In this context,…
Germany’s Crypto Tax Break Could End in 2028 Germany’s Ministry of Finance is reportedly considering a 25% tax on cryptocurrency gains beginning in 2028. The proposal would mark a sharp reversal from current rules, under which certain crypto profits can become tax-free after investors hold their assets for more than one year. The reported plan…
Anthropic plans to spend $518 billion on AI infrastructure. Pre-IPO perps barely blink. Anthropic, the artificial intelligence company behind the Claude model, is preparing for massive infrastructure spending even as it continues to run at a loss, according to a prospectus reviewed by Reuters. The document outlines plans to spend $518 billion on AI infrastructure,…
BTCS Prepares DeFi Business To Provide Liquidity For Tokenized Stocks BTCS said its Imperium DeFi unit has completed preparatory compliance steps aimed at enabling potential participation under the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Covered Firm exemption framework. According to the company, Imperium has submitted the required notice and published the relevant disclosures tied to that…
Court Hands Kalshi Key Win, CFTC Authority Clipped The D.C. Circuit refused to pause a lower-court order that blocks the CFTC from halting Kalshi’s election contracts, giving the prediction-market platform a fast legal victory and exposing the agency’s enforcement reach to new limits. Traders now see a clearer path for regulated event contracts on U.S….
Court Slams Door on Blockchain Firm’s Texas Escape Texas’ Eighth Court of Appeals has refused to shield Envy Blockchain, its parent, and founder Stephen DeCani from a pending lawsuit in El Paso County, rejecting their last-ditch bid for a writ of mandamus that would have moved or killed the case. The short order signals that…
COURT SLAPS CFTC IN KRAFT CASE — RULING MAY RESHAPE COMMODITY ENFORCEMENT The Seventh Circuit just ordered the CFTC to hand over internal documents in the long-running Kraft-Mondelez case, a move that could force the agency to reveal how it picks targets and calculates penalties in commodity manipulation claims. The decision chips away at the…
JUDGE REJECTS BILZERIAN’S 20-YEAR BID TO ESCAPE SEC INJUNCTION A federal judge in Washington refused to lift a 2001 court order that bars Paul Bilzerian and his associates from ever launching lawsuits against the SEC without prior approval. The decision keeps alive a decades-old enforcement action that once netted the agency more than $80 million…
Court Delivers Stunning Blow to SEC in Major Crypto Case The Supreme Court just gutted the SEC’s ability to treat most digital tokens as securities, ruling that the Howey test must be applied to each token sale individually rather than to the entire network. The decision immediately slashes the agency’s enforcement reach and hands DeFi…
Court Hands CFTC Power to Police Crypto Derivatives The Seventh Circuit just handed the Commodity Futures Trading Commission a major victory, ruling that the agency can regulate crypto derivatives even when no actual futures contract trades on a U.S. exchange. The decision, issued in Conway Family Trust v. CFTC, confirms that the agency’s enforcement reach…
Court Slaps SEC Overreach in Crypto Case, Markets Breathe The Fifth Circuit just handed the SEC a sharp defeat, ruling that the agency exceeded its authority when it tried to label certain crypto assets as securities without proving the traditional “investment contract” test. The decision narrows the agency’s reach at the exact moment when digital-asset…
Ethereum Gets Another Privacy Boost as Aztec Brings Back zk.money Aztec Labs has relaunched zk.money, bringing its self-custodial wallet back on the Aztec Network with a renewed focus on private payments on Ethereum. The updated zk.money is designed to let users make private stablecoin transfers while maintaining usability. In this relaunch, Aztec is highlighting the…
Regal Commodities v Tauber Court Just Bounced a Crypto Trader’s Lawsuit—But Left the Bigger Fight Open A New York appeals court has shut down a commodities trader’s attempt to force his former broker into arbitration, ruling that the dispute was never covered by the brokerage agreement. The decision keeps the case in open court, where…
CFTC Loses Bid to Hide Kraft Documents from Traders The Seventh Circuit just slammed the door on the CFTC’s attempt to keep internal Kraft documents secret, ruling that traders and defendants can see the very evidence the agency relied on to accuse the food giant of spoofing the wheat futures market. The decision is a…
Court Pushes Crypto Lawsuits Into One Arena Three related crypto suits will now share one courtroom in Chicago, a move that could speed up the next wave of enforcement against digital-asset platforms. Plaintiff Anthony Motto asked the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation to fold two out-of-state cases into his Illinois action, arguing that all three…
Fifth Circuit Slams Brakes on SEC’s Crypto Crackdown The Fifth Circuit just handed the SEC a stinging defeat in its bid to keep crypto enforcement cases in its home court. In a 2–1 ruling, the appeals court blocked the agency from routing enforcement actions through its internal administrative process, forcing it instead into federal district…
COURT HANDS MONEX A WIN, CFTC A SETBACK The Ninth Circuit ruled that Monex’s leveraged metals contracts do not qualify as futures under the Commodity Exchange Act, stripping the CFTC of its enforcement power in the case. The decision narrows the agency’s reach over retail precious-metals trading and signals that similar leveraged products may escape…
CFTC LOSES IN KITCHEN CASE AS COURT REDEFINES ITS POWER The D.C. Circuit just handed the CFTC a sharp defeat, ruling that it cannot punish crypto trader Trevor Kitchen for allegedly manipulating Ether futures because the agency failed to prove he acted with specific intent to distort prices. The decision cuts the heart out of…
CFTC Wins Ninth Circuit Crypto-Futures Ruling The Ninth Circuit just gave the CFTC clear authority to police unregistered crypto-futures sales, rejecting James Crombie’s appeal and confirming that bitcoin derivatives fall squarely under the agency’s reach. The decision tightens the net around any platform or trader offering futures-style products without registration and signals that future enforcement…
