Monat: September 2024

• Roman Storm will face trial on December 2 for alleged money laundering via Tornado Cash
• The judge rejected Storm’s defence that his code was protected under the First Amendment
• The prosecution must, however, prove Storm knew he dealt with the proceeds of any crime, not specifics

Roman Storm, co-founder of the cryptocurrency mixing service Tornado Cash, is set to face trial after a US federal judge rejected his motion to dismiss money laundering charges.

The trial will occur on December 2, 2024, in New York.

District Judge Katherine Polk Failla of the Southern District of New York denied the dismissal during a telephonic conference on September 26, pushing the case to trial.

Tornado Cash founders face multiple charges

Storm, alongside co-founder Roman Semenov, face multiple charges, including conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to violate the International Economic Emergency Powers Act (IEEPA), and conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business.

The charges stem from allegations that Tornado Cash facilitated the laundering of over $1 billion in criminal proceeds, some of which were linked to North Korea-backed cybercrime group Lazarus.

In a motion to dismiss the charges, Storm’s legal team argued that his role in developing the Tornado Cash software was protected under the First Amendment.

However, Judge Failla rejected this claim, asserting that the “functional capability” of the code did not equate to free speech as defined under the First Amendment. She emphasized that the government’s efforts to combat money laundering and sanction evasion were “wholly unrelated” to suppressing free speech.

The court also ruled that control was not a necessary element for the charges under the 1960 statute and rejected the argument that Storm had to be aware of specific criminal activities. Instead, the prosecution must only prove that Storm knew he was dealing with proceeds from a crime.

The judge dismissed arguments about due process, stating that Storm’s state of mind and intent were matters for the jury to decide.

Judge Failla further noted that Tornado Cash was not “meaningfully different” from traditional financial services and money-transmitting firms, thereby holding Storm accountable under existing laws.

The trial, expected to last two weeks, could set a precedent for how software developers are treated under US law when their technology is used for illicit purposes.

Semenov remains at large.

The post Judge rules Tornado Cash co-founder will face trial for money laundering appeared first on CoinJournal.

• PEPE’s price shot up 14% as meme coins rose, with Floki and Shiba Inu among the top gainers
• The price of Pepe increased as Arthur Hayes withdrew $250,000 in PEPE from Binance
• Hayes is also touting Mother Iggy (MOTHER) and Mog Coin (MOG)

Pepe’s (PEPE) price spiked more than 14% in 24 hours as the meme coin reacted upwards to a massive bet from Arthur Hayes, the former BitMEX CEO.

The uptick follows recent gains for PEPE alongside dogwifhat and Sei.

At the time of writing, the frog-themed meme coin was trading at $0.00001047, having deleted one zero as prices reached intraday highs of $0.00001071. Pepe’s trading volume rose 34% to over $1.3 billion.

These gains, followed closely behind Bitcoin’s rise to $65k and top altcoins seeking to mirror it, have seen PEPE rank among the top gainers on the day in the top 100 by market cap category.

Pepe’s market cap was $4.4 billion, up 14% in 24 hours. In terms of top gainers in the 100 largest coins by market cap, PEPE ranked behind Wormhole (W), whose price had increased by 17% to $0.32.

Floki (FLOKI), another flying meme coin, rose 14% while Shiba Inu (SHIB) also outpaced most altcoins with a 13% upside in the past 24 hours.

PEPE’s price soars amid Arthur Hayes bullish bet

The meme coin market is abuzz, with Solana-based baby hippo meme Moo Deng (MOODENG) outperforming all top 500 coins by market cap. However, many of the other meme coins are also seeing decent gains as traders bet on further upside momentum.

Crypto analyst Rekt Capital pointed to PEPE having broken its downtrend with the latest price rally.

$PEPE

PEPE also broke its multi-month Downtrend#PEPE #crypto #BTC https://t.co/HXzveqvwN8 pic.twitter.com/bF1Df1rcAK

— Rekt Capital (@rektcapital) September 27, 2024

PEPE has attracted the attention of Hayes who’s recently increased his bullish bet on Aethir (ATH), a decentralized cloud infrastructure platform for gaming and artificial intelligence.

As well as adding to his ATH position with another $1.5 million purchase on Friday, Hayes bought $250,000 worth of PEPE. The crypto investor and entrepreneur acquired the meme coins on crypto exchange Binance.

Other than PEPE, Hayes also recently talked about Mother Iggy (MOTHER) and Mog Coin (MOG).

It’s time for a memecoin breakout. I respect my $MOTHER, I $MOG like no one else, but I can’t neglect $PEPE.

Yachtzee Bitches!😘😘😘😘😘😘

— Arthur Hayes (@CryptoHayes) September 27, 2024

The post PEPE surges as Arthur Hayes bets on meme coin appeared first on CoinJournal.

• Mark Cuban claims that Gensler is “awful” for crypto and all businesses
• Cuban highlighted Harris’s promise to advance technologies such as AI and blockchain
• Lawyer John Deaton said Cuban would be a “breath of fresh air” unlike the “lawlessness of Gary Gensler” as head of the SEC

Billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban has said he’d be interested in becoming the chair of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) if Kamala Harris becomes the next President of the White House.

Speaking on Fox News in an interview with Neil Caputo, the Dallas Mavericks owner was asked whether he’d be interested in positions such as the Treasury Secretary or the Commerce Secretary under a Harris administration.

The crypto friendly billionaire responded by saying:

“Head of the SEC. That’s the job I would take.”

He added that he’d be open to working as the head of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), “but somebody needs to replace Gary Gensler” who is the SEC’s chair.

Cuban continued by highlighting Harris’s promise to advance technologies such as artificial intelligence and blockchain. Earlier this week, Harris delivered – what are believed to be her first – crypto-positive remarks at a New York fundraiser.

During her speech, she said under her administration, she would “encourage innovative technologies like AI and digital assets.”

However, when pushed further by Caputo about potentially replacing Gensler, Cuban said “bottom line, he’s awful, particularly for crypto and for businesses in general.”

A blight on technology

Cuban hasn’t been one to shy away from criticizing Gensler and the SEC’s policies and regulatory approach to crypto companies.

Recently, the entrepreneur took to X, commenting on Rep. Richie Torres’s post, where the head of the SEC claimed that NFTs were securities.

Gensler is gone https://t.co/NbPd4RQkM7

— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) September 24, 2024

In an earlier message on the social media site, Cuban argued that Gensler was “a blight on the technology community.”

Gary Gensler is a blight on the technology community. He says Howey is the law of the land. If it was, there never would be a reason for Reves vs Ernst &Young to exist https://t.co/QebV6xb3uy

— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) September 24, 2024

For many, Gensler has taken a hard-line approach to crypto companies, often labeling them as securities and taking legal action against those that supposedly violate securities laws. It it this lack of clarity that is putting a damper on the industry’s growth in the US.

Some think that if Cuban were to replace Gensler, he’d be a “breath of fresh air” unlike the “lawlessness of Gary Gensler,” as stated by John Deaton, a lawyer and entrepreneur. To help advance the space with more regulatory clarity, many in the space will be waiting to see who will next be the head of the SEC.

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