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All that and more in this 100th recap issue (and 196th issue overall) of Citation Needed! To celebrate the milestone, I'm running a membership drive with a goal of 50 new paid subscribers by issue #200. Please consider joining today and helping me reach it!
$40 million in seized crypto held by the US Marshals was stolen in 2024, and crypto sleuth zachxbt has now linked the thefts to the son of a contractor managing the agency's crypto assets. The incident has renewed concerns about the government's ability to manage its crypto holdings.
#crypto #cryptocurrency #USpol #USpolitics #CitationNeededNewsletter
![In crime
Something funky’s been happening with the US Marshals’ pile of seized crypto — the crypto they’re tasked with hanging on to as cases wind through the courts.b In March 2024, almost $25 million was inexplicably removed from a Marshals-controlled wallet containing funds connected to the 2016 Bitfinex hack. In October 2024, crypto sleuth zachxbt noticed that $20 million of the Marshals’ crypto assets had apparently been stolen, with the thief laundering the funds through various exchanges [W3IGG]. The next day, $19.3 million of those funds were mysteriously returned.
Now, zachxbt has linked the stolen government funds — as well as stolen assets belonging to other victims — to a man named John Daghita. According to zachxbt, Daghita was previously known only as “Lick” online, and was active in Telegram chat rooms where crypto thieves boasted about their wealth. When another thief taunted Lick for “only having $6 mil”, Lick evidently decided the only way to defend his honor was to go on a screenshare call to show proof of ownership by transferring funds between wallets. In doing so, he exposed several wallet addresses, and zachxbt was able to trace some of the crypto back to the US government wallet addresses.1415](https://plantroon.com/photo/preview/640/841441 "In crime
Something funky’s been happening with the US Marshals’ pile of seized crypto — the crypto they’re tasked with hanging on to as cases wind through the courts.b In March 2024, almost $25 million was inexplicably removed from a Marshals-controlled wallet containing funds connected to the 2016 Bitfinex hack. In October 2024, crypto sleuth zachxbt noticed that $20 million of the Marshals’ crypto assets had apparently been stolen, with the thief laundering the funds through various exchanges [W3IGG]. The next day, $19.3 million of those funds were mysteriously returned.
Now, zachxbt has linked the stolen government funds — as well as stolen assets belonging to other victims — to a man named John Daghita. According to zachxbt, Daghita was previously known only as “Lick” online, and was active in Telegram chat rooms where crypto thieves boasted about their wealth. When another thief taunted Lick for “only having $6 mil”, Lick evidently decided the only way to defend his honor was to go on a screenshare call to show proof of ownership by transferring funds between wallets. In doing so, he exposed several wallet addresses, and zachxbt was able to trace some of the crypto back to the US government wallet addresses.1415")
The SEC has dismissed with prejudice an enforcement action against the Winklevoss twins’ Gemini crypto exchange. This comes after the Winklevosses contributed $4.4 million to Trump, backed his sons’ ventures, and committed $21 million to elect pro-Trump, pro-crypto lawmakers.
To date, the SEC has paused, dismissed, or otherwise ended crypto lawsuits or investigations against Aave, Binance, Coinbase, ConsenSys, Crypto.com, Cumberland DRW, Dragonchain, Gemini (twice), Hex, Immutable, Kraken, Ondoe, OpenSea, PayPal, Ripple, Robinhood, Tron, Uniswap, Yuga Labs, and Zcash.
#crypto #cryptocurrency #USpol #USpolitics #CitationNeededNewsletter
![SEC
The SEC has dismissed with prejudice its case against the Winklevoss twins’ Gemini cryptocurrency exchange. Filed in January 2023, the agency alleged that the company had violated securities laws with its Earn program, in which Gemini partnered with the Genesis crypto lender to offer Gemini customers up to 7.4% APY on assets they loaned through Genesis. When Genesis suffered major losses on loans to Three Arrows Capital [W3IGG] and Babel Finance [W3IGG], the company went under, and around $900 million in Gemini customers’ assets were suddenly locked up in bankruptcy proceedings [I17, 18, 42]. Now, the SEC has evidently decided no harm, no foul, stating: “The 100 percent in-kind return of Gemini Earn investors’ crypto assets through the Genesis Bankruptcy and the settlements noted above, and in the exercise of its discretion, the Commission believes the dismissal of the claims against Defendant is appropriate.”26](https://plantroon.com/photo/preview/640/841435 "SEC
The SEC has dismissed with prejudice its case against the Winklevoss twins’ Gemini cryptocurrency exchange. Filed in January 2023, the agency alleged that the company had violated securities laws with its Earn program, in which Gemini partnered with the Genesis crypto lender to offer Gemini customers up to 7.4% APY on assets they loaned through Genesis. When Genesis suffered major losses on loans to Three Arrows Capital [W3IGG] and Babel Finance [W3IGG], the company went under, and around $900 million in Gemini customers’ assets were suddenly locked up in bankruptcy proceedings [I17, 18, 42]. Now, the SEC has evidently decided no harm, no foul, stating: “The 100 percent in-kind return of Gemini Earn investors’ crypto assets through the Genesis Bankruptcy and the settlements noted above, and in the exercise of its discretion, the Commission believes the dismissal of the claims against Defendant is appropriate.”26")
![While “but we gave the money back” isn’t normally a successful defense (just ask Sam Bankman-Fried), contributing around $4.4 million to Trump’s campaign,27 donating an undisclosed amount to Trump’s ballroom project,28 spending $1 million to be among the first members of the Trump family-run Executive Branch club,29 investing in Donald Trump Jr.’s American Bitcoin venture,30 and committing $22 million to political projects backing pro-Trump crypto advocates in the midterms seems to have gone a long way. The SEC case was paused back in April [I81], and, as I wrote then, “it’s widely understood that these [pauses] mark the end of SEC scrutiny for these companies.” Two months later, as the Winklevoss twins stood behind Trump in the Oval Office as he signed the GENIUS Act stablecoin bill, Trump remarked about the crypto industry: “I got you guys out of so much trouble”. Thanking the Winklevosses specifically, he added: “They’ve got plenty of cash, and it’s great that you’re on our side.” [I89]](https://plantroon.com/photo/preview/640/841437 "While “but we gave the money back” isn’t normally a successful defense (just ask Sam Bankman-Fried), contributing around $4.4 million to Trump’s campaign,27 donating an undisclosed amount to Trump’s ballroom project,28 spending $1 million to be among the first members of the Trump family-run Executive Branch club,29 investing in Donald Trump Jr.’s American Bitcoin venture,30 and committing $22 million to political projects backing pro-Trump crypto advocates in the midterms seems to have gone a long way. The SEC case was paused back in April [I81], and, as I wrote then, “it’s widely understood that these [pauses] mark the end of SEC scrutiny for these companies.” Two months later, as the Winklevoss twins stood behind Trump in the Oval Office as he signed the GENIUS Act stablecoin bill, Trump remarked about the crypto industry: “I got you guys out of so much trouble”. Thanking the Winklevosses specifically, he added: “They’ve got plenty of cash, and it’s great that you’re on our side.” [I89]")
![The dismissal of the Gemini Earn enforcement action adds to a long list of crypto-focused cases and investigations that the SEC has paused, dismissed, or otherwise ended. That list also includes: Aave [I99], Binance [I85], Coinbase [I78], ConsenSys [I78], Crypto.com [I81], Cumberland DRW [I79], Dragonchain,31 Gemini (a separate investigation) [I78], Hex [I82], Immutable [I80], Kraken [I79], Ondo Finance [I98], OpenSea [I78], PayPal [I83], Ripple [I80], Robinhood [I78], Tron [I78], Uniswap [I78], Yuga Labs [I79], and the ZCash Foundation [I99].](https://plantroon.com/photo/preview/640/841439 "The dismissal of the Gemini Earn enforcement action adds to a long list of crypto-focused cases and investigations that the SEC has paused, dismissed, or otherwise ended. That list also includes: Aave [I99], Binance [I85], Coinbase [I78], ConsenSys [I78], Crypto.com [I81], Cumberland DRW [I79], Dragonchain,31 Gemini (a separate investigation) [I78], Hex [I82], Immutable [I80], Kraken [I79], Ondo Finance [I98], OpenSea [I78], PayPal [I83], Ripple [I80], Robinhood [I78], Tron [I78], Uniswap [I78], Yuga Labs [I79], and the ZCash Foundation [I99].")
The crypto industry’s “educational nonprofit” has also launched an initiative to fund Congressional staff positions after participants go through weeks of “training” on “emerging technologies like crypto, AI, biotech, and defense tech”.
#crypto #cryptocurrency #USpol #USpolitics #CitationNeededNewsletter
![The crypto industry’s “educational nonprofit”, the American Innovation Project [I91, 98], has launched a program to fund Congressional staff positions on the House Financial Services and Agriculture Committees — committees responsible for crypto oversight — after they go through weeks of “training” on “emerging technologies like crypto, AI, biotech, and defense tech”. The program will target young, [begin strikethrough] impressionable [end strikethrough] eager to learn college graduates.](https://plantroon.com/photo/preview/640/841413 "The crypto industry’s “educational nonprofit”, the American Innovation Project [I91, 98], has launched a program to fund Congressional staff positions on the House Financial Services and Agriculture Committees — committees responsible for crypto oversight — after they go through weeks of “training” on “emerging technologies like crypto, AI, biotech, and defense tech”. The program will target young, [begin strikethrough] impressionable [end strikethrough] eager to learn college graduates.")
The Fairshake PAC timed a press blitz about the nearly $200 million they’re brandishing towards members of Congress just ahead of a Senate Ag vote on crypto market structure. It passed, and amendments to address Trump’s crypto corruption or prohibit bailouts of crypto firms were shot down.
#crypto #cryptocurrency #USpol #USpolitics #CitationNeededNewsletter
Amid all this, the crypto industry has amassed at least $315 million to spend in the midterms — more than double their recordbreaking 2024 spending that helped install Trump and members of Congress who either support his atrocities or are too craven to do anything about them.
#crypto #cryptocurrency #USpol #USpolitics #CitationNeededNewsletter
The answer, of course, is that they never actually cared about these principles at all. In fact, many of these executives have long made it clear that authoritarianism isn’t just collateral damage in their pursuit of business-boosting deregulation, but a desirable outcome.
#crypto #cryptocurrency #USpol #USpolitics #CitationNeededNewsletter
![The answer, of course, is that they never actually cared about these principles at all. Anyone who believed they did was dangerously naive. These were marketing slogans and talking points, deployed when convenient to ward off regulation and burnish crypto’s reputation, discarded the moment they might conflict with business interests. The atrocities of Trump’s regime have clearly done nothing to lose crypto’s support: Coinbase, Ripple, and Andreessen Horowitz have each contributed another roughly $25 million apiece to the political machine that installed Trump and bought Congress.9 Gemini’s Winklevoss twins and Kraken have contributed at least $22 million and $2 million, respectively, to new pro-crypto super PACs and dark money groups that are even more explicitly Trump-aligned [I91, 93].a](https://plantroon.com/photo/preview/640/841405 "The answer, of course, is that they never actually cared about these principles at all. Anyone who believed they did was dangerously naive. These were marketing slogans and talking points, deployed when convenient to ward off regulation and burnish crypto’s reputation, discarded the moment they might conflict with business interests. The atrocities of Trump’s regime have clearly done nothing to lose crypto’s support: Coinbase, Ripple, and Andreessen Horowitz have each contributed another roughly $25 million apiece to the political machine that installed Trump and bought Congress.9 Gemini’s Winklevoss twins and Kraken have contributed at least $22 million and $2 million, respectively, to new pro-crypto super PACs and dark money groups that are even more explicitly Trump-aligned [I91, 93].a")
For years, crypto executives have touted cryptocurrency’s supposed anti-authoritarian and human rights credentials. But where are they when their beloved president claims Alex Pretti’s lawful gun ownership justified his killing, or when ICE leaders tell subordinates to enter homes without warrants?
#crypto #cryptocurrency #USpol #USpolitics #CitationNeededNewsletter
As ICE terrorizes communities, crypto executives who spent years posting about freedom have gone conspicuously silent. But behind the scenes, they’ve contributed at least $315 million — more than double their record 2024 spending — to elect more lawmakers to enable this administration.
citationneeded.news/issue-100/
#crypto #cryptocurrency #USpol #USpolitics #CitationNeededNewsletter
Issue 100 – Freedom of all kinds is worth fighting for
As masked agents execute people and terrorize communities, crypto executives who spent years posting about freedom fall conspicuously silent — except when writing checks for the politicians enabling itMolly White (Citation Needed)