A New York judge granted a motion filed by US prosecutors in July to stay the CFTC’s civil case against Gannon Ken Van Dyke over making more than $400,000 on prediction markets. A federal judge ordered that a civil case initiated by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) be stayed pending the outcome of a criminal case against a US soldier who is alleged to have used nonpublic information to profit from a Polymarket event contract on the removal of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. In a Monday ruling in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, District Judge Andrew Carter granted a motion filed by prosecutors in July to stay the CFTC’s civil case “pending the outcome of the criminal proceeding.” The cases against Gannon Ken Van Dyke, a US Army Special Forces Master Sergeant, involve allegations of making more than $400,000 on Polymarket event contracts tied to Maduro’s removal. According to the US Justice Department, Van Dyke was involved in the operation to oust Maduro in ...
A federal judge slammed Sam Bankman-Fried’s request for a new trial as seemingly “a plan to rescue his reputation,” denying the former FTX boss’s request. A Manhattan federal judge has denied FTX CEO and co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried’s motion for a new trial, rejecting his claim that there is new evidence. Judge Lewis Kaplan, who oversaw Bankman-Fried’s trial in 2023 and sentenced him to 25 years in prison in early 2024, wrote in an order on Tuesday that Bankman-Fried’s claim of new evidence and witnesses was baseless. “This motion appears to be one part of a plan to rescue his reputation that Bankman-Fried hatched and even committed to writing after FTX declared bankruptcy but before he was indicted,” Judge Kaplan wrote. Read more
A federal judge froze 70.6 Bitcoin tied to BlockFills after Dominion Capital alleged customer fund misuse and sought the return of disputed assets. A US judge has temporarily frozen 70.6 Bitcoin tied to crypto lending and trading firm BlockFills and ordered an accounting of segregated customer funds after Dominion Capital accused the company of misappropriating customer assets and commingling funds, according to a court filing. The complaint, filed Feb. 27, alleges that BlockFills unlawfully retained millions of dollars in customer crypto assets and used commingled funds to cover losses. Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) for 70.6 Bitcoin (BTC), worth about $5 million, currently held by BlockFills, which Dominion is claiming, according to a Tuesday court filing. BlockFills must respond to the court order by March 17, 2026. The order comes three weeks after BlockFills halted withdrawals in February. Read more
Judge issues Allen charge after jury deadlocks in Tornado Cash trial, keeping the case alive as questions mount over crypto developer liability. After four days of deliberations, jurors in the Roman Storm trial told the court they remain deadlocked on some charges, prompting the use of an Allen charge to encourage further discussion. An Allen charge, sometimes called a “dynamite charge,” is a special instruction a judge gives to a deadlocked jury, urging them to re-examine their positions and attempt to reach a unanimous verdict. According to court reports on Wednesday by Inner City Press, Storm’s lawyer Brian Klein opposed the charge, arguing that the jury had made it clear a unanimous verdict was unlikely and instead urged the court to consider accepting a partial verdict. Read more