The United States Department of Justice has officially notified the court handling the bankruptcy of FTX that it has seized assets in accordance with criminal cases against the crypto exchange and its executives. In a Jan. 6 court filing, the Justice Department said it had seized 55,273,469 shares of Robinhood to which former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, BlockFi, and FTX creditor Yonathan Ben Shimon had made claims — worth more than $450 million at the time of publication. The DOJ noted it had also taken control of more than $20 million in U.S. currency from the brokerage firm ED&F Man …

Crypto conglomerate Digital Currency Group, or DCG, are under investigation by the United States Department of Justice's Eastern District of New York (EDNY) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), according to a Bloomberg report. The authorities are digging into internal transfers between DCG and its subsidiary crypto lending firm Genesis Global Capital, noted the report citing people familiar with the matter. Prosecutors have already requested interviews and documents from both the companies, while the SEC is running an early-stage similar inquiry. As of yet, no indictment has been brought against DCG, nor have both U.S. authorities provided any information …

United States prosecutors are investigating hedge funds' relationships with cryptocurrency exchange Binance for money-laundering violations. According to anonymous sources cited by the Washington Post, the U.S. attorney’s office for the Western District of Washington in Seattle subpoenaed investment firms to provide records of communications with Binance in the past months. The allegedly subpoenas do not mean prosecutors are bringing charges against the crypto exchange or hedge funds, as authorities are still evaluating evidence and a possible settlement with Binance, according to legal specialists. Binance did not immediately respond to Cointelegraph’s request for comment. Binance is under probe in the United …

While many crypto fraudsters were able to slip through the cracks in the past, the same does not hold for FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF). Running parallel to the ongoing scrutiny related to FTX frauds, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) is reportedly investigating a potential fraud that involves SBF siphoning funds offshore just days before FTX filed for bankruptcy. According to a Bloomberg report, the federal investigation aims to examine SBF’s involvement in improperly transferring FTX funds to the Bahamas as the defunct crypto exchange filed for bankruptcy on Nov. 11. The anonymous informant further revealed that DOJ …

A watchdog group has demanded an investigation into Sam Bankman-Fried's political donations, claiming the former FTX CEO “admitted” to donating tens of millions to Republicans under the table in violation of federal law. The Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed the complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) on Dec. 8, citing comments made by Bankman-Fried in a Nov. 16 interview with cryptocurrency vlogger Tiffany Fong which was released via Youtube on Nov. 29. CREW suggested in their complaint that wealthy donors often take advantage of the Citizen United ruling and evade federal disclosure laws by using …

The United States Trustee handling FTX’s bankruptcy proceedings has referred to the now-defunct exchange as the "fastest big corporate failure in American history," and is calling for an independent probe to look into its downfall. In a Dec. 1 motion, U.S. Trustee Andrew Vara noted that over the course of eight days in November, debtors "suffered a virtually unprecedented decline in value" from a market high of $32 billion earlier in the year to a several liquidity crisis after a "proverbial 'run on the bank.'" "The result is what is likely the fastest big corporate failure in American history, resulting …

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York has announced that an individual has pled guilty to wire fraud charges connected to “unlawfully obtained” Bitcoin from the Silk Road marketplace in 2012. In a Nov. 7 announcement, the U.S. Justice Department said James Zhong pled guilty to wire fraud charges related to executing a scheme to steal roughly 50,676 Bitcoin (BTC) from Silk Road. Authorities seized the Bitcoin from Zhong’s home in the state of Georgia in November 2021, at which time the total value of the crypto was roughly $3.36 billion. “James Zhong committed wire …

The U.S. Trustee overseeing the Celsius chapter 11 bankruptcy case, William Harrington, has objected to a Celsius motion that would see 62 of its 275 employees paid a retention bonus totaling $2.96 million. The Trustee has blasted Celsius in its supporting statement for the objection filed on Oct. 27, noting: “It defies logic, not to mention the Bankruptcy Code, that a company where the majority of its functions are no longer providing services, would now propose a multi-million dollar bonus scheme.” For the “bonus motion”, as it is aptly named, to receive approval, the Trustee claims that Celsius must show …

Republican members of the House Financial Services Committee have requested the Department of Justice provide its assessment and legislative proposals around a digital dollar within ten days. In an Oct. 5 letter addressed to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, 11 Republican lawmakers asked the Justice Department for a copy of its “assessment of whether legislative changes would be necessary to issue a CBDC,” as required by President Joe Biden’s executive order on digital assets from March. The House members claimed the “appropriate place for the discussion” on legislation concerning a central bank digital currency would be in the U.S. legislative …

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has submitted an objection to Celsius’ motion to reopen withdrawals for select customers and sell its stablecoin holdings. The DOJ is asserting that the state of Celsius’ financials are lacking transparency, and that key decisions like this should not be considered until the independent examiner report has been filed. The move by the DOJ adds to the objections filed last week by the Texas State Securities Board, the Texas Department of Banking, and the Vermont Department of Financial Regulation. All three are opposed to Celsius selling its stablecoin holdings, asserting there’s a risk the firm …

The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) published its latest report in response to President Joe Biden’s March executive order (EO) on the development of digital assets on Sept. 16. At the same time, it announced the formation of a new Digital Asset Coordinator Network (DAC) “in furtherance of the department’s efforts to combat the growing threat posed by the illicit use of digital assets to the American public.” The report, titled “The Role of Law Enforcement in Detecting, Investigating, and Prosecuting Criminal Activity Related to Digital Assets,” complements its June report on international law enforcement cooperation. The new report …

Regulatory uncertainty surrounding crypto has created a “fertile environment” for crypto-related litigation and enforcement to grow, according to lawyers from Choate Hall & Stewart LLP. In an analysis piece published on Law360 on Tuesday, lawyers from Choate Hall & Stewart LLP, including Mike Gass, Diana Lloyd and Alex Bevans, noted increasing evidence that “novel applications of existing laws” are being used to litigate against users and investors of cryptocurrency, predicting this trend to only accelerate over time: “High market capitalization, alongside widely discussed regulatory uncertainty, has created fertile ground for litigation and enforcement to grow.” The lawyers cited several cases …