Messari: Crypto wallets are positioning to compete directly with neobanks New research from Messari argues that the next phase of “crypto neobanks” will look less like traditional fintech apps with blockchain features, and more like an attempt to rebuild core banking functions directly onchain. Rather than relying on established payment rails and simply offering a…
**PA Court Backs Cops on DUI Stops, No Crypto Link** Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth Court just upheld a driver’s license suspension in a routine DUI refusal case, affirming that cops need only “reasonable grounds” – not ironclad proof – to demand blood tests under the Implied Consent Law. Nathan Sanderson lost his appeal after flunking field sobriety…
China Continues to Shed US Treasuries, Reaches Lowest Exposure Levels Since 2008 China trimmed its holdings of US Treasuries in November to the lowest level since 2008, moving against a broader global trend that pushed total foreign ownership of the debt instruments to a record high. According to the figures provided, China’s Treasury holdings fell…
**Pennsylvania Court Slams Door on Late Unemployment Appeal** A Pennsylvania court just crushed a woman’s bid for unemployment benefits, upholding the dismissal of her appeal filed seven months past deadline. Lisa Yozwiak missed the 21-day window to challenge her disqualification notice from August 2023, and judges ruled ignorance of separate appeal rules doesn’t excuse it….
**Court Quashes Property Owner’s Desperate Tax Sale Gambit** Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth Court just slammed the door on Lawrence Owens’ bid to halt a city tax sale of his nuisance-plagued property, quashing his appeal as procedurally defective. This ruling underscores how local governments can bulldoze repeat offenders’ procedural tricks, potentially chilling similar challenges nationwide. For crypto holders…
Riot Platforms shares jump after $96 million land buy and AMD data center lease signal AI infrastructure pivot Riot Platforms shares rose sharply after the bitcoin miner announced a major expansion of its data center strategy, combining a $96 million land acquisition with a multi-hundred-million-dollar data center lease with AMD. Following the news, the stock…
Tennessee Judge Slams DCS: Parental Rights Fight Heats Up Over Drug Rehab Failures In a fiery dissent from Tennessee’s Court of Appeals, Judge Andy D. Bennett blasts the Department of Children’s Services (DCS) for half-hearted efforts to reunify a drug-using family, urging remand instead of terminating parental rights to baby Juanita M. Mother pled guilty…
Tennessee Appeals Court Upholds Meth-Exposed Child’s Parental Rights Termination A Tennessee appeals court affirmed the stripping of parental rights from a mother and father whose toddler tested positive for methamphetamine, citing persistent drug use, severe child abuse via exposure, and failure to prove custody readiness. This ruling, despite parents completing some rehab steps, underscores state…
Jefferies strategist Christopher Wood drops bitcoin for gold on quantum computing concern Christopher Wood, Jefferies’ global head of equity strategy, has removed bitcoin from his model portfolio and shifted that allocation into gold and gold-mining stocks. According to the update, Wood replaced a 10% bitcoin position with gold-related exposure, citing concern that advances in quantum…
Texas High Court Torpedoes Sloppy Default Judgment on Service Flub The Texas Supreme Court just obliterated a $170,000 default judgment against Alabama mover Shamrock Enterprises because plaintiff Top Notch Movers botched substituted service via the Secretary of State. Service hit a wrong address—not the statutorily mandated “most recent address on file”—dooming the no-answer ruling despite…
Morning Minute: Coinbase Withdraws Support of Clarity Act, Markup Delayed Coinbase has withdrawn its support for the current draft of the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, saying it cannot back the bill “in its current state.” The move contributed to a delay in a scheduled Senate markup that had been expected to advance the legislation….
**Texas High Court Torpedoes “Gotcha” Default Judgments** Texas Supreme Court just vacated a default judgment against an Alabama mover because the plaintiff half-assed service of process, ignoring known addresses, emails, and phones after certified mail bounced back undelivered. This isn’t just procedural nitpicking—it’s a constitutional gut-punch demanding real notice before stripping someone’s rights, with Chief…
### Kazakh Tycoon’s RICO Bid Crushed Over Foreign Injury A Kazakh businessman’s desperate U.S. lawsuit alleging torture and racketeering to seize his $450M energy empire was shot down by the Second Circuit, shielding Kazakhstan’s spy agency and accomplices. The ruling clarifies RICO’s ironclad domestic-injury barrier, slamming the door on foreign fraud schemes chasing U.S. treble…
BitMine’s $200 million MrBeast investment seen as strategic diversification: B. Riley BitMine Immersion Technologies (NASDAQ:BMNR) is drawing fresh attention after making a $200 million investment in Beast Industries, the company associated with YouTube creator MrBeast. Following the announcement, B. Riley maintained its Buy rating on BitMine and reiterated a $47.00 price target, according to Investing.com….
**Drug Smuggler Walks Free on Technicality** The Second Circuit just tossed a jury’s drug conviction of airport mechanic Paul Belloisi, ruling prosecutors failed to prove he knew cocaine—not just some contraband—was stashed in a plane’s avionics bay at JFK. Belloisi admitted sneaking into the compartment for something shady, but the court demanded ironclad evidence he…
**Second Circuit Backs Harsher Supervised Release Sentences** The Second Circuit just affirmed a 12-month prison term for Theodore Owens, who blew through his supervised release by using drugs like fentanyl, dodging probation check-ins, and jetting out of state without permission. This non-precedential ruling greenlights judges to stretch beyond federal sentencing guidelines when offenders rack up…
**Immigration Court Rejects Asylum Over Waiver Blunder** A U.S. Second Circuit panel slammed the door on Ecuadorian Patricia Yolanda Landi-Camas’s bid to stay in America, upholding a Board of Immigration Appeals decision that booted her asylum, withholding, and torture claims. She claimed gang threats tied to her police tips and Jehovah’s Witness faith, but judges…
**Chevron’s Ghost Haunts Immigration Deportation Ruling** The Second Circuit just crushed a Barbados man’s bid to dodge deportation, sticking to old precedents despite the Supreme Court’s death knell for agency deference in Loper Bright. Devon Hinds, convicted of child endangerment in New York, lost his appeal against removal and a shot at staying via cancellation—signaling…
**Second Circuit Vacates Deportation Over El Salvador Torture Fears** The Second Circuit Court of Appeals has granted Salvadoran national Jorge Alberto Andrade’s petition, vacating his removal order and remanding his Convention Against Torture (CAT) claim back to immigration authorities. This non-precedential ruling slams U.S. immigration judges for ignoring mountains of evidence on state-sanctioned prison brutality…
**Second Circuit Shields Employers from Weak Discrimination Claims** The Second Circuit just affirmed summary judgment for a library boss who yanked a job offer from a Black candidate, ruling her evidence couldn’t prove race was the real reason behind it. This non-precedential order underscores how tough it is for §1983 discrimination suits to survive without…
