appeal

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit heard oral arguments from lawyers representing the prediction market platform Kalshi and Nevada authorities regarding Nevada's ban on the platform's event contracts. This appeal stems from a lower court ruling that prohibited Kalshi from offering certain event-based contracts in Nevada based on the claim that Kalshi requires a license.The appellate court judges responsible for Thursday's oral arguments and Kalshi's lawyers acknowledged that there have been several state-level enforcement actions against Kalshi and other prediction market platforms, including criminal charges filed in Arizona. However, a federal court last week blocked Arizona authorities from enforcing the state's gambling laws against Kalshi's event contracts."I believe existing case law does indicate that what we want to avoid here is state courts and federal courts simultaneously considering the exact same issue and potentially reaching different conclusions," said Colleen Sinzdak, representing Kalshi.The core argument of Kalshi's debate is that the platform's event contracts fall under "swap" transactions and should be regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, rather than state gambling regulators. CFTC Chairman Michael Selig supported this position in the case involving Crypto.com's prediction market and Nevada authorities.Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal predicted that this case may be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. "The questions in the oral arguments are not a reliable signal of the court's leanings; nonetheless, I stand by my long-standing prediction that the Supreme Court will rule on whether sports contracts on designated contract markets fall under the exclusive jurisdiction of the CFTC as swap transactions."

Backpack officials posted on platform X stating that regarding the witch determination issue for Backpack, the team has had in-depth communication with the anti-witch leader. Due to the enforcement level's insistence on the compliance bottom line of "one person, one account," some Chinese-speaking users have been affected.Armani and the core team are ready to immediately open an appeal channel and establish "Guideline No. 3": Any user who has operated 3 or fewer accounts on one device and has been determined to be a witch will have more than 50% of their points returned after manual appeal verification. In addition, the Backpack team will launch a special program in the coming days to compensate eligible users by repurchasing tokens in the secondary market.

According to CoinDesk, federal prosecutors submitted documents to the judge questioning the authenticity of a letter claimed by FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried to have been sent from prison. Prosecutors pointed out that the letter was actually sent via FedEx from the Palo Alto or Menlo Park area, which does not match the Terminal Island federal prison where he is located, and the letter incorrectly labeled his federal prison as a state facility, using a typed signature instead of a handwritten one, violating the federal prison's prohibition on using private couriers to send mail.Although prosecutors did not directly accuse SBF or his associates of forging documents, they stated that the aforementioned inconsistencies are sufficient to raise reasonable doubts about the letter's origin, which will affect the credibility of related evidence in his motion for reconsideration. SBF is currently serving a 25-year prison sentence for fraud and conspiracy and is actively seeking a reconsideration, but the appellate judges have shown clear skepticism towards his claims.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in the United States rejected the application of the prediction market platform Kalshi, allowing Nevada regulators to enforce a temporary restraining order prohibiting it from offering contracts related to sporting events.Previously, the Nevada Gaming Control Board determined that Kalshi's related products constituted unlicensed sports gambling and issued a cease-and-desist order in March. Kalshi argued that its event contracts fall under the jurisdiction of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.Reports indicate that, since the relevant temporary restraining order is not appealable under state law, Kalshi expects to exit the Nevada market for at least 14 days until the preliminary injunction hearing is held. In addition, several prediction market platforms, including Polymarket, Crypto.com, and Coinbase, are also facing regulatory pressure in multiple states.

According to a report by the European media "Brussels Times" cited by Jinshi, the EU previously imposed a fine of 120 million euros on X platform, owned by Musk, for allegedly violating the Digital Services Act, and X platform has appealed this decision.This fine was imposed by the European Commission last December and is the first penalty under this digital regulatory legislation by the EU. The regulation requires large platforms to combat illegal content, misinformation, and abuse. In a statement released on its own platform, X stated that it is appealing this penalty and claimed that the EU's investigation is flawed.The company stated: "This decision stems from an incomplete and superficial investigation, with serious procedural errors, a misinterpretation of the obligations under the Digital Services Act, and systemic violations of the rights to defense and due process."

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) submitted an amicus brief to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit regarding the prediction market dispute between Crypto.com and the state of Nevada, arguing that Congress granted the CFTC "exclusive jurisdiction" over futures and related products under the Dodd-Frank Act, and that this authority also applies to event contracts.

Korean cryptocurrency exchange Korbit announced that it will accept a nearly $2 million fine and an official warning from the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) without filing an appeal. The FIU conducted anti-money laundering on-site inspections of all fiat exchanges in South Korea in October 2024, discovering approximately 22,000 violations at Korbit, including 12,800 instances of accepting vague or unclear identification documents, as well as allowing users to trade without completing KYC verification.Korbit stated, "We respect and humbly accept the FIU's decision to ensure the transparency and healthy development of the cryptocurrency market, and we have completed all corrective measures." As the first cryptocurrency exchange in South Korea, Korbit's market share has now shrunk to 0.5%, with an average daily trading volume of only about $12 million. Securities giant Mirae Asset is advancing an acquisition deal, with amounts ranging from $68 million to $95 million.

Lighter founder and CEO Vladimir Novakovski responded to the witch hunt screening during a Twitter Space interview, stating: "We have an appeal mechanism for the witch hunt screening, but so far, the number of appeals has been lower than we expected. If users feel that the algorithm is unfair to them, they are welcome to fill out the appeal form in Discord. We will not disclose specific algorithm details because we do not want to be targeted for optimization."

Custodia Bank has submitted a petition for en banc rehearing to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit regarding its legal dispute with the Federal Reserve. The bank argues that the Federal Reserve's refusal to establish a master account undermines the authority of state banks and raises constitutional issues. Custodia Bank requests the court to reconsider its October ruling, which supported the Federal Reserve's denial of the bank's access to core central bank payment services, a struggle that has become a precedent for cryptocurrency banks seeking access to the U.S. payment system.

According to market news, last week the UK Supreme Court rejected an appeal filed by BSV investors in a case where the investors attempted to claim over $13 billion from a well-known cryptocurrency exchange.The appeal stemmed from losses incurred after mainstream cryptocurrency exchanges like Binance and Kraken delisted the BSV token in 2019, causing its value to plummet. The latest litigation process and appeal permission were overseen by three court judges, who ultimately rejected the appeal.The appellant—BSV Claims Limited—claimed that the value of the token immediately dropped after it was delisted, and its potential growth was hindered, resulting in "immediate and ongoing impacts" as well as losses from the "missed growth effect" for token holders. In July 2024, the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal dismissed the appellant's claim regarding the "missed growth effect," rejecting the assumption that BSV would eventually grow to a value equivalent to Bitcoin. In May of this year, the appellant attempted to reassert this claim but was rejected again.

The prediction market platform Kalshi lost its preliminary injunction to block enforcement by Nevada regulators on the eve of Thanksgiving and is currently seeking to continue blocking state regulatory actions during the appeal in court. The court's lifting of the injunction means that Kalshi faces potential legal risks if it continues to operate in Nevada. Similar to Polymarket, Kalshi offers prediction contracts covering sports, politics, crypto, and traditional markets, believing that obtaining a CFTC license allows it to operate in all 50 states, but some state regulators—especially in Nevada—disagree.After the lifting of the injunction, Nevada regulators stated that they would not immediately initiate enforcement actions until the court decides whether to approve a stay of enforcement, but this does not equate to an administrative exemption granted by the court. The court has required state regulators to respond to Kalshi's application by December 8, and Kalshi may submit a reply by December 12.Reports indicate that as Kalshi engages in negotiations with regulators in multiple states, the platform's trading volume has rapidly increased, and its valuation has risen to $11 billion in a funding round led by Sequoia. Certuity predicts that the prediction market size could reach $95.5 billion by 2035. Nevada regulators have accused Kalshi of "continuing to engage in illegal activities" without a state gaming license and emphasized that both Crypto.com and Robinhood have agreed to suspend local operations during the appeal. Crypto.com did not receive extended injunction protection, and its prediction market operations in Nevada have been suspended.

The Ontario Court of Appeal ruled in the case of "Binance Holdings Limited v. Ontario Securities Commission (OSC)" to revoke the OSC's previous large-scale document request against Binance, stating that its "scope is shocking" and violates Section 8 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms regarding "protection against unreasonable search and seizure."The court noted that although capital market participants have a lower expectation of privacy in regulated activities, they are still protected by the Charter. The OSC had previously requested Binance to submit "all internal and related party communication records involving Canada for a period of two and a half years," which the court found exceeded reasonable regulatory purposes. The ruling emphasized that regulatory investigations may proceed without evidence of wrongdoing, but must still be limited to "categories of documents reasonably related to the investigation's purpose," or they may be dismissed by the court.Additionally, the court commented on Binance's use of encrypted communication tools like Signal that feature "self-destructing messages," stating that the mere use of such technology is insufficient to infer an intent to "evade regulation," providing important clarification for financial institutions using privacy communication software. This ruling is seen as establishing the boundaries of Canadian securities regulatory authority and reminding companies that they can assert the privacy and due process rights granted by the Charter when faced with cross-border or overly broad investigation requests.

FTX founder SBF retweeted a post "satirizing the FTX bankruptcy management process" and stated that FTX has always been solvent and never insolvent, whether before the bankruptcy filing, on the filing date, or after. FTX debtors are still withholding funds, which deserves more attention.SBF stated he will appeal to overturn the 25-year sentence, arguing that the FTX case was "predetermined guilty," and he had no intent to defraud customers, always believing that user funds would be fully repaid. SBF's lawyer in the New York appellate court argued that his fraud trial was fundamentally unfair and sought to overturn his fraud conviction on that basis.

According to Reuters, on Tuesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit expressed skepticism about SBF's appeal. His lawyers claimed that the previous trial regarding the FTX fraud case was unfair, and the 25-year sentence imposed on SBF should be overturned.During the appeal hearing, a panel of three judges raised questions about key issues: Would the exclusion of evidence in the previous trial affect the jury's guilty verdict? Circuit Judge Maria Araujo Kahn questioned SBF's lawyer, asking whether not challenging the sufficiency of the evidence equated to admitting that the evidence was sufficient for conviction. The lawyer responded that even if the evidence was sufficient, the procedural errors made by the trial judge still affected fairness. Prosecutor Nathan Rehn pointed out that the existing evidence has sufficiently proven that SBF misappropriated customer funds. SBF's side argued that the previous trial did not allow the submission of evidence proving that FTX was solvent at the time, leading to a biased verdict. The prosecution emphasized that the evidence chain, including testimonies from three witnesses and a large number of internal documents, was complete and sufficient for conviction. SBF is currently serving his sentence in a low-security prison in Los Angeles and is expected to be released in October 2044.

The defense attorney for FTX founder SBF (Sam Bankman-Fried) plans to file a motion for reconsideration with the appellate court, claiming that media opinion, the prosecution, and U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan's hasty ruling led to his wrongful conviction. The defense is requesting a change of judge and a restart of the trial.The legal team stated that SBF had no subjective intent to defraud customers, as he always believed that user funds could be fully repaid, and accused Judge Kaplan of preventing him from presenting the key argument to the jury that "FTX had sufficient assets to repay users" during the trial. It is reported that, in addition to the appeal, SBF's parents have also sought a pardon from President Trump.

According to Coindesk, the U.S. Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Wyoming-based crypto bank Custodia does not have the right to compel the Federal Reserve to grant it access to a master account, upholding last year's unfavorable ruling against Custodia by a lower court.Custodia filed a lawsuit against the Federal Reserve in 2022, initially claiming that the Fed took too long to evaluate its master account application, and later amended the lawsuit after the Fed denied its application. Custodia argued that the Federal Reserve has no authority to deny master account applications. Last year, a federal judge dismissed Custodia's lawsuit, ruling that the Federal Reserve is not obligated to grant a master account to every eligible depository institution. The company subsequently appealed, and a panel of three judges heard arguments from both sides in January of this year.

ChainCatcher news, KuCoin announced today that it has filed an appeal against the recent decision by the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) to maintain a violation notice and impose a hefty fine. KuCoin stated that the company should not be classified as a "foreign currency service business," the fine is excessively high and punitive, and it has submitted an appeal to the Federal Court of Canada in accordance with its legal rights.KuCoin CEO BC Wong emphasized that this move aims to protect the rights of the company and its users, and to promote a clearer and fairer regulatory environment. During the appeal process, KuCoin will continue to operate transparently, protect user assets, and keep the community informed of any progress.