justice

The U.S. Department of Justice has announced that it has initiated a compensation program for victims of the OneCoin cryptocurrency fraud case, with over $40 million in forfeited assets available for payout.The program is aimed at investors who purchased OneCoin and incurred net losses between 2014 and 2019. U.S. prosecutors stated that this move is intended to return some of the illicit proceeds to the victims. OneCoin was initiated by Ruja Ignatova and Karl Greenwood, with the related fraud exceeding $4 billion. Ignatova has been missing since 2017, and Greenwood was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2023.

According to CoinDesk, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Department of Justice jointly filed a motion in federal court on Tuesday evening, seeking to block Arizona from enforcing state gambling laws against the prediction market operator Kalshi. The two departments argue that the contracts offered by Kalshi, which are linked to real-world events such as sports events and elections, essentially fall under financial derivatives (swaps) and should be governed by the Commodity Exchange Act and federal regulatory framework, rather than state gambling regulations.Arizona had previously filed criminal charges against Kalshi, with a court date set for April 13. Currently, there are conflicting rulings from courts across the country—while the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in New Jersey has leaned towards supporting the federal regulatory stance, other regional courts have taken an open attitude towards the state’s claims.

Binance founder Zhao Changpeng (CZ) recalled in his new book that during negotiations with the U.S. Department of Justice, the other party initially proposed a fine of up to $6.8 billion, far exceeding the final settlement amount.He stated that the two sides started with about $500 million and went through multiple rounds of negotiations, during which the prosecution repeatedly pressured and issued "ultimatums," ultimately reaching a settlement of $4.3 billion.CZ also mentioned that some lawyers suggested "paying a higher fine might help reduce the sentence," but the Department of Justice later used the high fine as one of the bases for "seriousness of the issue" in court.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has expressed clear opposition to the latest request by Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm to dismiss criminal charges, stating that the recent Supreme Court ruling is unrelated to this case and should not serve as a basis for dismissal.Storm's attorney previously informed the court that he intends to cite a new Supreme Court ruling (involving a civil case of copyright infringement) to support the motion to dismiss. However, U.S. prosecutors pointed out in a letter to the federal judge that the ruling addresses a situation and industry completely different from the current criminal charges and therefore should not affect the handling of this case.This legal battle reflects the contradictory stance of the Trump administration towards the cryptocurrency sector: on one hand, the U.S. government has shown a relatively supportive policy inclination towards cryptocurrency, while on the other hand, it still insists on pursuing criminal liability against certain cryptocurrency project developers. Given the current situation, Storm may still face a retrial, and the case is expected to enter the courtroom again.

According to a report by Reuters, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) have filed a lawsuit against the Governor of Illinois and the Attorney General, accusing them of attempting to regulate prediction markets beyond their legal authority.The two agencies stated that the relevant regulatory measures in Illinois are invalid because the state government does not have the authority to govern federally regulated prediction markets. The lawsuit emphasizes the protection of innovative financial instruments from overreach by local governments.

The U.S. Department of Justice's Northern California Prosecutor's Office announced that 10 executives and employees from four cryptocurrency market-making firms have been charged with allegedly manipulating token trading volumes and prices through wash trading, involving Gotbit, Vortex, Antier, and Contrarian.Three of the defendants have been extradited from Singapore to the U.S., and two others have pleaded guilty and been sentenced. The FBI and the IRS Criminal Investigation Division even created multiple cryptocurrency tokens during an undercover operation to investigate illegal volume manipulation and price inflation within the industry. Over $1 million in cryptocurrency assets have currently been seized.

According to Cointelegraph, three Democratic senators from the United States have stated that they will oversee the Justice Department's alleged investigation into Binance for violating sanctions related to Iran. Senators Chris Van Hollen, Elizabeth Warren, and Ruben Gallego said in a joint statement that they will conduct oversight to ensure the Justice Department investigates Binance and holds it accountable for any wrongdoing.The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing sources familiar with the matter, that the Justice Department is investigating whether Iran may have used Binance to evade sanctions. The senators stated that Binance has a documented history of prioritizing profits over the law, raising serious concerns about the company potentially violating U.S. sanctions laws again and funding activities related to terrorist organizations linked to Iran. Binance previously responded that it was unaware of any investigation but has been cooperating with regulatory and law enforcement agencies to investigate the facts. Binance has filed a lawsuit on Wednesday against a February article by The Wall Street Journal, claiming it constitutes defamation.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the U.S. Department of Justice has launched an investigation into Iran's use of Binance to evade sanctions, focusing on funds flowing through the platform to support terrorist networks.Insiders revealed that this investigation stems from an internal probe by Binance regarding over $1 billion in Iranian-related funds.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the U.S. Department of Justice is investigating how Iran is using the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, to evade U.S. sanctions.The report cites company documents and sources familiar with the matter, stating that an internal investigation at Binance into over $1 billion in suspicious fund flows was halted. These funds were funneled through the platform to a network that finances Iran-backed terrorist organizations, including the Houthi movement in Yemen. The investigation focuses on the flow of the relevant funds on Binance and its compliance risks.

According to a post by Amanda Tuminelli, Chief Legal Officer of the DeFi Education Fund, the U.S. Department of Justice has decided to conduct a retrial of Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm this fall.In the previous trial, the jury was unable to reach a consensus on the charges of money laundering and sanctions violations, only convicting him of operating an unlicensed money transfer business. Despite significant errors by the prosecution in the first trial, including calling irrelevant witnesses, failing to understand their own forensic analysis of blockchain evidence, and legal and logical flaws in the third-party developer liability allegations, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York has still decided to retry the first and third charges in the indictment.

The U.S. Department of Justice announced that the cryptocurrency trading platform Paxful Holdings Inc. has been fined $4 million for failing to establish effective anti-money laundering controls.Prosecutors alleged that the platform has long allowed illegal funds related to fraud, prostitution, and human trafficking to flow through it, profiting from these activities. The Department of Justice stated that Paxful was aware that some customer funds were derived from criminal activities but continued to provide services, using lax anti-money laundering regulations as a selling point to attract users. The investigation also pointed out that the platform processed cryptocurrency transactions for websites including Backpage, which is believed to have been used to post advertisements related to prostitution, involving minors. Data shows that from 2015 to 2022, approximately $17 million worth of Bitcoin flowed through Paxful wallets to related websites, with the platform earning at least $2.7 million in profits from this. The Department of Justice stated that Paxful's founder even referred to the resulting business growth as the "Backpage Effect."

SBF (@SBF_FTX) posted on X that new evidence shows the Biden administration's Department of Justice has threatened multiple witnesses, forcing them to remain silent or change their testimonies.He is requesting to overturn the conviction and believes that Judge Lewis Kaplan has bias against the defendants, including himself, former FTX executive Ryan Salame, and President Trump, and that the rulings made under unfavorable circumstances have prevented a fair trial in this case.

The U.S. Department of Justice has officially obtained legal ownership of over $400 million in assets related to the dark web cryptocurrency mixing service Helix, including cryptocurrencies, real estate, and cash assets.U.S. District Court Judge Beryl A. Howell signed the final forfeiture order. Helix, operated by Larry Dean Harmon, processed approximately 354,468 Bitcoin transactions from 2014 to 2017, valued at $300 million at the time, primarily serving the money laundering needs of dark web drug dealers. Harmon pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering in August 2021 and was sentenced to 36 months in prison, 3 years of supervised release, and asset forfeiture in November 2024.

Six U.S. Senators, including Mazie K. Hirono, Elizabeth Warren, and Richard Durbin, sent a letter to Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche on January 28, questioning his decision to dissolve the Department of Justice (DOJ) National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET) in April 2025.The senators pointed out that although Todd Blanche claims the DOJ should not act as a regulator of digital assets, he himself held cryptocurrencies valued between $158,000 and $470,000 at the time of making that decision, which constitutes a clear conflict of interest and may violate federal laws regarding personal financial interests. The senators previously referred to the shutdown of the department as a "serious mistake," believing it would facilitate criminal activities such as sanctions evasion, drug trafficking, and fraud.The letter cited data showing that illegal cryptocurrency activities surged by 162% in 2025, primarily driven by a significant increase in cryptocurrencies received by sanctioned entities, and that money laundering networks have become a "dominant force" in the digital asset space. The senators believe that Todd Blanche's actions may violate the provisions of federal law 18 U.S.C. § 208(a) concerning the influence of personal financial interests on public decision-making. Currently, Todd Blanche has been named as a subject of a complaint by the DOJ Office of the Inspector General.

Federal Reserve Chairman Powell issued a statement that the U.S. Department of Justice delivered a grand jury subpoena to the Federal Reserve on Friday, targeting criminal charges related to his testimony before the Senate Banking Committee last June. Jerome H. Powell stated that the testimony involved a multi-year renovation project for the Federal Reserve building, but the real reason for the criminal charges is the Federal Reserve's setting of interest rates based on economic assessments, rather than following the president's preferences.He emphasized that the Federal Reserve must formulate monetary policy based on evidence and economic conditions, rather than being influenced by political pressure or intimidation. He will continue to fulfill the responsibilities confirmed by the Senate, committed to the mission of maintaining price stability and full employment.

The Shanghai Municipal Justice Bureau has issued a reminder that recently, many places across the country have seen a new tactic in telecom network fraud involving counterfeit supermarket "tasting cards" as bait. Related groups are luring individuals by distributing fake "tasting cards" offline, enticing them to scan a code to join so-called "benefit groups," and then carrying out scams such as transferring money for rebates.Police reports indicate that multiple cases have been solved in Shandong and other areas, with several suspects arrested. Investigations show that criminals use overseas communication software to contact their superiors and settle criminal proceeds through virtual currencies, making their activities highly concealed. The Shanghai Municipal Justice Bureau urges the public to enhance their awareness of prevention, not to scan unknown QR codes, and not to disclose personal information to unfamiliar platforms to avoid financial losses.

Although Executive Order 14233 stipulates that confiscated BTC must be stored in the U.S. strategic BTC reserves, the U.S. Department of Justice appears to have sold the BTC paid by the Samourai developers as part of a plea agreement. Furthermore, this is not the first time the SDNY has acted in disregard of federal guidelines in the Samourai case.

The Russian Ministry of Justice recently submitted a draft amendment to the Criminal Code aimed at combating unregistered illegal cryptocurrency mining activities in the country.According to the draft, illegal mining activities will face fines of up to 1.5 million rubles (approximately $19,000) or up to two years of compulsory labor. If illegal mining activities involve substantial profits, the maximum prison term can reach 5 years, along with fines of up to 2.5 million rubles (approximately $31,800) or 480 hours of compulsory labor. The amendment also sets penalties of up to 5 years of imprisonment or compulsory labor for substantial profits realized by illegal "organized groups." Russian Deputy Finance Minister Ivan Chebeskov stated that as of June 19, 2025, only about 30% of cryptocurrency miners have completed registration and achieved operational legalization, while most practitioners remain in the "gray area." According to current regulations, individual miners with a monthly electricity consumption of less than 6,000 kilowatt-hours are not required to register but still need to pay personal income tax.

The Justice Network published an article titled "Establishing Multiple Judicial Disposal Paths for Criminal Cases Involving Virtual Currency." The article proposes to improve the judicial disposal paths for virtual currency involved in criminal cases:First, clarify the legal status and role positioning of third-party institutions. Future legislation could include third-party institutions in the category of judicial auction assistants, granting them exclusive qualifications for "one-time, targeted, non-public bidding."Second, construct a dual system of technical standards and procedural norms. The Supreme Court and the Supreme Procuratorate, in conjunction with financial regulatory authorities, should jointly issue dual standards. Price assessment should use the average price of the 20 days prior to the transaction date or the victim's acquisition cost as a benchmark, unify the on-chain evidence storage format, and directly transfer the proceeds to a special fiscal account to eliminate the channels for fund backflow into cryptocurrency speculation.Third, strengthen the full-process connection of prosecutorial supervision and rights protection. The procuratorial organs should participate throughout the disposal process, requiring third-party institutions to submit regular progress reports on the disposal and establish a rights notification and objection mechanism.Fourth, explore differentiated disposal models. Different measures such as liquidation, destruction, and return should be applied. For cases involving the return of victims' property, a targeted bidding liquidation model should be prioritized to ensure that the proceeds are fully compensated. For stablecoins that have not yet been exchanged after the victim was defrauded, if they are willing to return the original currency, it can be directly returned under compliant conditions to avoid exchange rate losses. For cases involving the confiscation of prohibited items, destruction or technical sealing methods can be employed to prevent them from re-entering the market. For tokens specifically used for pyramid schemes or gambling, if they have poor liquidity and insufficient market depth, forced liquidation may lead to depreciation, and they can be legally destroyed with a record of destruction noted in the judgment documents. For criminal proceeds that have been mixed with legitimate investments in high-value currencies, liquidation should be prioritized to maximize loss recovery. Additionally, for cases involving smaller amounts or those with significant technical tracking difficulties, simplified disposal procedures can be explored, such as a comprehensive identification model, which determines the value and ownership of the virtual currency involved based on relevant evidence when the circulation path cannot be fully clarified.It is reported that the Justice Network is a comprehensive internet service platform sponsored by the People's Daily of the Supreme People's Procuratorate. The authors of this article are members of the Party Committee of the Third Branch of the Beijing People's Procuratorate, a first-level researcher, a professor and doctoral supervisor at the School of Law of Capital University of Economics and Business, and a research assistant at the Research Center for Integrity and Rule of Law at Capital University of Economics and Business.