US Court

Chainalysis

2026-10-01 09:09:46

Judge dismisses most Celsius claims against Chainalysis, keeps one over disputed $3.3 billion audit

A US federal judge has thrown out most of the claims brought against blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis by the Celsius Network estate, while allowing one aiding-and-abetting claim to move forward. The surviving allegation says Chainalysis helped Celsius insiders breach their fiduciary duties in connection with a disputed 2020 press release tied to a purported audit of roughly $3.3 billion in assets. Judge Margaret Garnett said the complaint plausibly alleged that Chainalysis knew the release contained false statements and assisted in spreading them. The ruling dismissed 12 claims with prejudice, which bars the plaintiffs from repleading those theories in this case. Three consumer-protection claims were dismissed without prejudice, and the plaintiffs have until Oct. 20 to amend them or notify the court that they will not do so. The lawsuit is part of the Celsius estate’s broader effort to recover funds for creditors after the crypto lender froze withdrawals in 2022 and later filed for bankruptcy, leaving customers unable to access about $4.7 billion in assets. At the center of the case is Celsius’ use of Chainalysis Reactor in 2020 to calculate assets under management, which Celsius later described publicly as an audit. According to the complaint as summarized by the court, an initial figure of about $1.18 billion later rose to around $3.3 billion after the methodology changed.

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Policy Regula

2026-10-01 09:20:47

U.S. judge dismisses most Celsius claims against Chainalysis, lets one count proceed

A federal judge in the Southern District of New York has thrown out most of the claims brought against blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis by the litigation administrator for Celsius, while allowing one aiding-and-abetting claim to move forward. Judge Margaret Garnett ruled on Tuesday that the complaint sufficiently alleged Chainalysis knew a 2020 Celsius press release contained false statements and helped distribute that information, rejecting Chainalysis’ bid to dismiss that count. At the same time, the court dismissed 12 other claims with prejudice, which bars the plaintiff from repleading them in this case. Three consumer-protection claims were dismissed without prejudice, giving the plaintiff until Oct. 20 to amend or tell the court it will not do so. The suit was filed by Blockchain Recovery Investment Consortium, or BRIC, acting as litigation administrator and recovery administrator for the Celsius bankruptcy estate on behalf of Celsius and certain former customers. Chainalysis declined to comment to Cointelegraph. The dispute centers on a purported $3.3 billion “audit” tied to Celsius’ 2020 use of Chainalysis’ Reactor software to calculate assets under management.

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Policy Regula

2026-10-01 04:49:43

U.S. court dismisses class action over LIBRA and M3M3 token launches

A federal judge in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York has dismissed a class action tied to the issuance of the LIBRA and M3M3 tokens. The case had targeted Hayden Davis, Kelsier Ventures, Meteora’s former CEO Ben Chow, and others. Judge Jennifer L. Rochon also denied the plaintiffs another chance to amend their complaint. The court said the plaintiffs did not adequately show that Meteora was an unincorporated association that could be sued in the way alleged. It also found that the claims brought under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO, failed to meet legal requirements including the need to show a continuing pattern of criminal activity. Separately, the fraud claim against Ben Chow did not meet the required pleading standard. The ruling was limited to whether the complaint, as filed, satisfied the relevant legal standards. The court said it did not make any factual finding on whether market manipulation, fraud, or similar conduct actually occurred during the issuance of LIBRA or M3M3.

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Policy Regula

2026-09-30 22:34:03

Florida federal court orders over $30 million in penalties in Fundsz fraud case

A federal district court in the Middle District of Florida has entered a default judgment against Brian Early and Alisha Ann Kingrey in the Fundsz digital asset and precious metals fraud case, ordering the two to pay more than $30 million in penalties. According to Techub News, citing Wu Blockchain, the court found that Early and Kingrey, who served as Fundsz board members and Telegram group administrators, made false statements about expected returns, historical trading performance, and the risk of losses. The court also said they falsely claimed investor funds could be traded through a "proprietary algorithm" and later withdrawn with both principal and returns. On the same day, the court issued consent orders against two other individuals tied to the case. One of them, Juan Pablo Valcarce, was permanently barred from having others trade crypto assets or precious metals on his behalf.

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Apple

2026-09-28 11:08:01

Apple ordered to pay more than $5.7 billion in Taction patent case, plans appeal

A federal jury in San Diego ruled on Sept. 28 that Apple must pay more than $5.7 billion to Taction Technology for infringing touch technology patents, setting what the report described as the largest patent damages award in U.S. history. The case began in 2021, when Taction accused Apple of infringing patents through iPhone and iPad products. Although a trial judge dismissed the case in 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit later revived it, leading to a new trial and the latest jury verdict. According to the report, jurors found that Apple improperly benefited from Taction’s technological innovation and commercial results by selling infringing touch-enabled devices. During the litigation, Apple’s technology chief argued that the company’s haptic engine was fundamentally different from Taction’s technology, and early evidence on that point had been accepted by the district court. Even so, the jury ultimately sided against Apple. Apple said it disagrees with the decision and will appeal. A company spokesperson called the damages figure completely unsupported by the facts and said testing presented during trial showed differences between the two technologies. The report also noted Apple’s earlier patent dispute involving two Apple Watch models that were forced off shelves in 2025 over blood oxygen technology.

250

Anthropic

2026-09-25 15:26:24

U.S. appeals court denies Anthropic request to pause enforcement

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit previously denied a request by Anthropic to stay enforcement in a case tied to a federal government restriction on its products. The dispute centers on actions by the Trump administration and the U.S. Department of War, which designated Anthropic a "national security supply chain risk" and restricted federal agencies and related contractors from using its products. In its earlier ruling, the court said Anthropic had not met the strict standard required for a stay. The court also made clear that the decision did not amount to a final ruling on the underlying merits of the case, leaving the core dispute unresolved for now.

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Justin Sun

2026-08-21 04:45:07

Justin Sun Says Court Rejected WLFI’s Secret Arbitration Bid, Claims Will Stay Public

Justin Sun said a U.S. federal court in California backed his position and rejected World Liberty Financial’s attempt to move the dispute into a private arbitration process and seal the filings from public view. He said his personal claims will continue to be heard in open court, while the judge also denied WLFI’s request to send all company-related claims to arbitration and told both sides to work out which claims stay in court and which go to arbitration. Sun called the ruling a “major victory” and said token holders have the right to know how a project handles investor interests. He said he was one of World Liberty’s earliest and largest investors, having put in $45 million to buy WLFI tokens. He also accused the project of embedding a backdoor in the WLFI smart contract after the project raised about $550 million, and said the same kind of functionality may exist in USD1 as well. Sun further questioned World Liberty’s treasury and business arrangements, citing public information that he said showed about 5 billion WLFI tokens were pledged on Dolomite and at least $75 million in stablecoins, including USD1, were borrowed against them.

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Kalshi

2026-08-11 23:35:54

US Judge Rules Kalshi Sports Contracts Are Not Swaps, CFTC Lacks Exclusive Jurisdiction

Judge Vernon D. Oliver of the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut denied Kalshi's preliminary injunction request and ruled that the company's sports event contracts are not swaps under the Commodity Exchange Act. As a result, the CFTC does not have exclusive jurisdiction over those contracts. The court noted that sports event contracts represent 80% to 90% of Kalshi's listed contracts and revenue, but the CFTC had never examined any of them under the special rules at issue. Oliver wrote that a sports outcome is an event result, not an independent event. Coinbase Financial Markets lost on the same grounds; it offered Kalshi contracts via its platform in January as a futures commission merchant, not a designated contract market, and Connecticut had not issued a cease-and-desist order. Kalshi was valued at around $11 billion at a February hearing and has roughly 24,000 users in the state.

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