UK, Colombia crypto exchanges linked in TD Bank record fine
TD Bank facilitated more than $1 billion worth of bank transfers from two international crypto platforms, according to FinCEN.
TD Bank facilitated more than $1 billion worth of bank transfers from two international crypto platforms, according to FinCEN.
Telegram’s agreement to set up an office in Kazakhstan aligns with the firm’s increasing compliance efforts as its CEO remains in France amid an ongoing investigation.
According to BlockBeats, on October 13, data from CME's 'FedWatch' tool indicates an 89.5% probability that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates by 25 basis points in November. The likelihood of maintaining the current rate is 10.5%.
Since 2019, US regulators have collected a total of $31.92 billion in settlements from 25 crypto companies across various lawsuits.
According to Cointelegraph, a man under home detention for his alleged involvement in a $150 million cryptocurrency fraud scheme is reportedly on the run after tampering with his ankle bracelet, New York prosecutors said. Horst Jicha, the former CEO of the purported crypto mining and trading firm USI-Tech, is believed to have tampered with his ankle bracelet on October 4 and absconded in violation of his pretrial conditions, according to an October 10 court filing. Pretrial Services alerted the government approximately 12 hours after Jicha’s bracelet stopped working, prompting an immediate request for an arrest warrant against the fugitive.Jicha, a German national, was arrested on December 23, 2023, in Miami, Florida, after entering the United States for the first time in more than five years to vacation there. He had not been in the US since fleeing the country in 2018 after receiving cease-and-desist letters from US authorities. Jicha was placed under home detention in New York on a $5 million bond guaranteed by his domestic partner and children, CNBC reported on October 11. John Marzulli, a spokesman for the Brooklyn US Attorney’s Office, stated that there is a very active investigation underway to capture him. The 64-year-old was also forced to surrender his German passport in December, making an attempt to flee abroad more difficult.Jicha’s case was scheduled for trial on March 31, where he faces several securities fraud and money laundering conspiracy charges tied to his alleged involvement at USI-Tech. Prosecutors claim Jicha promised investors a 1% return on their investments daily by participating in USI-Tech’s mining and trading scheme. New York authorities claim 1,774 Bitcoin (BTC) and 28,589 Ether (ETH) — worth more than $180 million at current prices — are missing from USI-Tech’s alleged fraud scheme. Prosecutors allege Jicha transferred those funds to a crypto exchange deposit address controlled by him. USI-Tech was supposedly founded in Europe in May 2017 before being aggressively marketed to US investors a few months later. After receiving regulatory scrutiny from US authorities, USI-Tech shut down on January 8, 2018, blaming investors for making misleading comments about USI-Tech’s products. Investors were left unable to withdraw funds from USI-Tech’s portal.
According to BlockBeats, the CME's 'FedWatch' tool indicates a 95.6% probability that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates by 25 basis points in November. The likelihood of maintaining the current rate is 4.4%. By December, there is an 84.1% chance of a cumulative 50 basis points rate cut, while the probabilities for a 75 basis points and 100 basis points cut stand at 0%.
According to Polymarket users, Vice President Kamala Harris is currently favored to win the popular vote by a staggering 72% margin.
During a recent appearance on Tucker Carlson's podcast, Salame claimed federal prosecutors unfairly targeted him for political reasons.
According to Cointelegraph, Tezos network stakers Josh Jarrett and his wife Jessica Jarrett have filed a new lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regarding the tax treatment of their staking rewards. The complaint, filed on October 10 in a Tennessee federal court, argues that tokens created through staking should be considered property and taxable only upon their sale, not at the moment of creation.The Jarretts contend that staking tokens involves creating 'new property,' similar to a farmer's crop, an author's manuscript, or a manufacturer's product, where no income is generated until the property is sold. They argue that new property should not be considered taxable income until it is sold, a principle they claim the IRS recognizes in other contexts.The IRS's 2023 guidance lists block rewards, such as those from staking, as income at the moment they come into existence, with taxes payable based on the estimated market value of the tokens at that time. The Jarretts are seeking a judgment declaring that previous federal income taxes were incorrectly assessed, a refund of $12,179 for taxes paid on 13,000 Tezos tokens earned in the 2020 tax year, and a permanent injunction against the IRS treating tokens created through staking as income.The Washington, DC-based think tank Coin Center is assisting the Jarretts in their litigation. Coin Center stated on October 9 that it supports the claim, arguing that current tax laws and federal agencies' interpretations of those laws can discourage Americans from using cryptocurrency and permissionless technologies. Coin Center has advocated for legislative changes, such as the Virtual Currency Tax Fairness Act, which would create a de minimis exemption for small personal crypto transactions.The Jarretts' legal battle against the IRS began in 2021 when they sued the agency over 8,876 Tezos tokens earned as staking rewards in 2019. Although they did not sell or exchange the tokens at the time, they paid an assumed tax bill of $9,407 to the IRS. They later filed a lawsuit seeking a refund of $3,293 and a $500 increase in tax credits due to a reduction in their income.In 2022, the IRS successfully had the case dismissed in a Tennessee District Court after offering the Jarretts a $4,000 tax refund for income taxes paid on their Tezos staking rewards. The Jarretts refused the refund, hoping to pursue the case in court to set a legal precedent for all proof-of-stake chains. The IRS argued that the case was moot after issuing the full $4,000 refund and conceding that the Jarretts were not liable for tax on the 2019 staking rewards. The Jarretts' attempt to have the original lawsuit reinstated on appeal was unsuccessful.
According to BlockBeats, on October 11, U.S. Senator Bill Hagerty introduced a legislative discussion draft aimed at creating a regulatory framework for stablecoins. This initiative aligns closely with ongoing efforts in the House of Representatives. In a statement released on Thursday, Republican Hagerty emphasized that his legislative draft provides much-needed regulatory clarity. The draft mirrors the structure of the Clarity for Payment Stablecoins Act, which was drafted by Republican Representative Patrick McHenry and Democrat Maxine Waters in the House of Representatives.Hagerty's proposal adopts the framework of the House bill, dividing federal oversight between the Federal Reserve for banks and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency for non-bank entities. The draft includes a provision that issuers exceeding a $10 billion threshold may receive exemptions from federal regulators, allowing them to remain under state jurisdiction. Additionally, the legislative draft mandates maintaining dollar-denominated foreign exchange reserves on a one-to-one basis.