Starting now
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npub1hn4z...htl5
Vitalik Buterin donates $170K to Tornado Cash developers’ legal fund
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has made a significant contribution toward a legal defense fund for Tornado Cash developers Roman Storm and Alexey Pertsev.
According to a Dec. 31 X post from the Juicebox project Free Pertsev and Storm, Buterin donated 50 Ether (ETH) — roughly $170,000 at the time of publication — to Storm’s and Pertsev’s legal aid.
Storm reported that the contribution was roughly 25% of the total $650,000 available to the Tornado Cash developer through JusticeDAO ahead of his trial.
In 2022, Dutch authorities arrested and charged Pertsev for his involvement with the cryptocurrency mixing service. In May 2024, he was found guilty of money laundering and sentenced to more than five years in prison, though Pertsev will appeal the verdict.
United States prosecutors later charged Storm and fellow developer Roman Semenov with money laundering, sanctions violations, and fraud related to their roles with Tornado Cash.
Storm was given bail conditions ahead of his trial, scheduled to begin on April 14, while Semenov remained at large at the time of publication.
Many of the criminal charges against the Tornado developers seemed to stem from the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control adding the mixer to its Specially Designated Nationals list in August 2022. US officials said at the time that bad actors, including North Korean hackers, had used Tornado Cash to launder more than $7 billion worth of crypto since 2019.
The sanctions against the mixer and criminal charges against the developers have drawn outrage from many in the crypto industry.
Buterin donated 100 ETH — roughly $240,000 at the time — to the Free Pertsev and Storm Juicebox in October, but GoFundMe shut down a similar fundraising effort in February.
The US Treasury Department faces two lawsuits filed by crypto advocacy group Coin Center and a group of Tornado Cash users backed by Coinbase.
An appellate court said in November that the Treasury had “overstepped” in sanctioning the crypto mixer’s immutable smart contracts, but the ruling did not appear to have affected the criminal case against Storm.
originally posted at 
Cointelegraph
Vitalik Buterin donates $170K to Tornado Cash developers’ legal fund
Vitalik Buterin donated 50 Ether toward a project to support the legal defense of two Tornado Cash developers: one convicted in the Netherlands, th...
Stacker News
Vitalik Buterin donates $170K to Tornado Cash developers’ legal fund \ stacker news
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has made a significant contribution toward a legal defense fund for Tornado Cash developers Roman Storm and Ale...
FBI Found Largest Cache of Homemade Explosives in Its History in Norfolk, VA
https://archive.is/8FJX4
A Virginia man was arrested this month with what federal prosecutors described in court papers on Monday as the largest cache of “finished explosive devices” ever found in the F.B.I.’s history.
The man, Brad Spafford, was taken into custody at a farm outside Norfolk on Dec. 17 on the basis of a single-count criminal complaint accusing him of illegally possessing an unregistered short-barrel rifle. When investigators searched his 20-acre property, in Isle of Wight County, they found in a detached garage more than 150 explosive devices — mostly pipe bombs, some of them labeled “lethal,” prosecutors said.
They found more pipe bombs in a bedroom inside Mr. Spafford’s house, loosely stuffed in a backpack that bore a patch shaped like a hand grenade and a logo reading “#NoLivesMatter,” prosecutors said.
No Lives Matter is a nihilistic, far-right ideology that largely exists on encrypted online messaging apps like Telegram. The movement’s adherents promote “targeted attacks, mass killings and criminal activity” and have “historically encouraged members to engage in self-harm and animal abuse,” according to a threat assessment released in August by the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness.
Prosecutors in Federal District Court in Norfolk filed the court papers describing Mr. Spafford’s explosives in an effort to keep him in custody as his case moves toward trial.
According to the court papers, which were reported earlier by the website Court Watch, the investigation into Mr. Spafford began last year, after a neighbor reached out to the authorities. Mr. Spafford had lost three fingers on his right hand while working with a homemade explosive device, the neighbor said, and he was stockpiling weapons and homemade ammunition.
The neighbor reported that Mr. Spafford had told him that he and his friends were “preparing for something” that he “would not be able to do alone,” the court papers said.
The neighbor also told investigators that Mr. Spafford sometimes used photographs of President Biden for target practice at a local shooting range and believed that “political assassinations should be brought back.” After the attempt on President-elect Donald J. Trump’s life in Pennsylvania in July, the papers said, Mr. Spafford told his neighbor that he “hoped the shooter doesn’t miss Kamala,” an apparent reference to Vice President Kamala Harris.
Mr. Spafford moved to his farm this fall, and the neighbor went to visit him there in October wearing a secret recording device, the papers said. Mr. Spafford told the neighbor that he had various types of explosives at the property and discussed fortifying it with “a 360-degree turret” in which he planned to mount a 50-caliber rifle, according to the papers.
No Lives Matter is an offshoot of the broader “accelerationist” movement, which seeks to accelerate radical social change through sabotage and violence. Some scholars of far-right extremism believe it takes its name from a song entitled “No Lives Matter,” by the pro-Trump Canadian rapper Tom MacDonald.
originally posted at 
Stacker News
FBI Found Largest Cache of Homemade Explosives in Its History in Norfolk, VA \ stacker news
A Virginia man was arrested this month with what federal prosecutors described in court papers on Monday as the largest cache of “finished explos...
WATCH: Michael Saylor’s Bitcoin $100K Party
The moment Bitcoiners around the world have been waiting for is finally here: Bitcoin has hit the monumental $100,000 mark, and Michael Saylor is throwing the Party of the Century to celebrate!
What started as a dream and a meme has now become a reality, as Michael Saylor, a legendary advocate for Bitcoin and Executive Chairman of MicroStrategy, is hosting the most epic New Year’s Eve celebration to mark this historic occasion.
Bitcoin Magazine is thrilled to announce that we are streaming live from the event in Miami Beach, bringing the excitement of Saylor’s $100K Bitcoin party straight to your screens. From 7:00 PM EST, join us on the Bitcoin Magazine News Desk, hosted by Pete Rizzo.
The Party has been hyped for years and is set to deliver on all fronts. Your favourite Bitcoiners and podcasters will attend, including the man of the hour, Michael Saylor, Preston Pysh, American Hodl, Peter McCormack, and other Bitcoin legends. Expect lively and fun discussions as Bitcoiners come together to ring in 2025.
This exclusive live stream will give you front-row access to the celebration as we welcome a new year—and a new era for Bitcoin.
Catch the Bitcoin Magazine News Desk live stream on X and YouTube starting today, December 31, 2024, at 7:00 PM EST.
originally posted at 
Stacker News
WATCH: Michael Saylor’s Bitcoin $100K Party \ stacker news
The moment Bitcoiners around the world have been waiting for is finally here: Bitcoin has hit the monumental $100,000 mark, and Michael Saylor is t...
Do Kwon is in US custody after extradition battle
The Terraform Labs co-founder was arrested in Montenegro in 2023 for using falsified travel documents as the courts determined whether he would go to the US or South Korea.
Montenegrin authorities handed over Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon to United States law enforcement officers after a months-long fight over where or whether he would be extradited.
In a Dec. 31 X post, Montenegro Prime Minister Milojko Spajić said Kwon was in US custody, suggesting that he would soon be traveling to the United States to face criminal charges.
The handover happened four days after Montenegrin Justice Minister Bojan Božović approved the Terraform co-founder’s extradition to the US instead of accepting a petition from South Korea, where Kwon also faces charges and holds citizenship.
“Our nation welcomes innovation and legitimate crypto, AI and other tech entrepreneurs — but we have zero tolerance for fraud,” said Prime Minister Spajić. “This extradition demonstrates our unwavering commitment to international justice and the rule of law.”
Kwon was one of the individuals alleged to have been involved in the 2022 collapse of the Terra ecosystem, which likely contributed to a significant crypto market downturn the same year.
Authorities in the US and South Korea filed charges against Kwon and some Terraform executives, but the co-founder’s whereabouts were largely unknown until he was arrested in Montenegro in 2023.
After serving four months in prison for using falsified travel documents, Kwon was in legal limbo for more than a year as Montenegro’s courts considered whether to have him remain in the country or be extradited to the US or South Korea. Every time it appeared a court had reached a decision, Kwon’s legal team filed an appeal on different grounds, delaying potential extradition and forcing officials to revisit the matter.
As part of a civil case brought by the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Terraform and Kwon were found liable for fraud in April. Both agreed to pay roughly $4.5 billion in disgorgement, civil penalties and prejudgement interest.
The US Justice Department charged Kwon with eight felony counts in March 2023, including commodities fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy to engage in market manipulation. It’s unclear when he could appear in a courtroom after his extradition from Montenegro.
originally posted at 
Cointelegraph
Do Kwon is in US custody after extradition battle
Do Kwon faces eight felony charges in the United States after more than a year of legal limbo and prison time in Montenegro.
Stacker News
Do Kwon is in US custody after extradition battle \ stacker news
The Terraform Labs co-founder was arrested in Montenegro in 2023 for using falsified travel documents as the courts determined whether he would go ...
Tangem wallet collects and exposes users seed phrase via email glitch
Cryptocurrency wallet provider Tangem has fixed a critical security vulnerability on its mobile app that collected certain users’ private keys via emails.
The fix came after Redditors repeatedly called out Tangem for putting investors’ funds at risk by exposing their private keys on email accounts and to Tangem employees.
On Dec. 29, a Reddit discussion on Tangem’s operations gained traction, which accused the wallet provider of stealing private keys using emails. The Redditor, u/areklanga, further accused Tangem of not providing “any sensible reaction” when the issue was pointed out previously.
Tangem acknowledged the issue on Dec. 30 and stated the incident arose from a bug in the mobile app’s log processing, which had now been “fully resolved.” Tangem also provided a breakdown of the situation.
Tangem’s official website, which logs all version updates of its mobile application, did not mention the details about the Dec. 30 update.
Tangem also confirmed in its Reddit response that “all logs and attachments sent to its support team were permanently deleted, ensuring no residual data remains.”
While Tangem pushed out an update on Dec. 30 to prevent further leaks of seed phrases, the crypto community members called out the wallet provider’s muted response. Tangem did not respond to Cointelegraph’s request for comment.
Tangem has not made any official announcements on its official social media channels, Twitter, Discord, or Telegram, as of Dec. 31. However, all Tangem users are advised to immediately update their mobile applications to avoid seed phrase leaks.
originally posted at 
Cointelegraph
Tangem fixes bug exposing user seed phrases via email
Tangem said it has fixed a bug leaking private keys via email, prompting user backlash.
Stacker News
Tangem wallet collects and exposes users seed phrase via email glitch \ stacker news
Cryptocurrency wallet provider Tangem has fixed a critical security vulnerability on its mobile app that collected certain users’ private keys vi...
Trump Loses Appeal of Carroll’s $5 Million Award in Sex-Abuse Case
https://archive.is/4o8P6
President-elect Donald J. Trump on Monday failed to overturn a $5 million judgment that he sexually abused the writer E. Jean Carroll in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in the mid-1990s and later defamed her.
Mr. Trump’s lawyers argued to a federal appeals panel that a lower court in Manhattan had erred by allowing two women to testify in the Carroll trial that he had also sexually assaulted them. The lawyers also argued that the court should not have allowed Ms. Carroll’s lawyers to play the recording of the “Access Hollywood” conversation in which Mr. Trump bragged in vulgar terms about grabbing women by the genitals.
The appeals court rejected Mr. Trump’s request for a new trial in the case, which produced the smaller of two defamation judgments against him. “Mr. Trump has not demonstrated that the district court erred in any of the challenged rulings,” the opinion by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit said. It was unsigned but issued by a panel that included the judges Denny Chin and Susan Carney — appointed by President Barack Obama — as well as Myrna Perez, appointed by President Biden.
“Both E. Jean Carroll and I are gratified by today’s decision,” Roberta Kaplan, Ms. Carroll’s lawyer, said in a statement. “We thank the Second Circuit for its careful consideration of the parties’ arguments.”
Steven Cheung, Mr. Trump’s chief campaign spokesman, who is set to be his White House communications director, said Mr. Trump was re-elected with an “overwhelming mandate,” and he said the American people “demand an immediate end to the political weaponization of our justice system and a swift dismissal of all of the witch hunts, including the Democrat-funded Carroll hoax, which will continue to be appealed.”
Mr. Trump was represented in the appeal by D. John Sauer, his pick for U.S. solicitor general.
The ruling came as Mr. Trump prepares to take the presidency next month amid unceasing legal entanglements. This month, he accused a juror of misconduct that he said should void a 34-count felony conviction in Manhattan. He also sued The Des Moines Register for running a poll that showed him trailing Vice President Kamala Harris. ABC News this month settled a defamation lawsuit brought by Mr. Trump, agreeing to pay $15 million.
During the trial last year, Ms. Carroll testified that she had run into Mr. Trump at Bergdorf’s on Fifth Avenue and he asked her to help him buy a present for a female friend. Ms. Carroll testified that they wound up in the lingerie department, where he pulled her into a dressing room, shut the door and began assaulting her.
Ms. Carroll said he shoved her against a wall, pulled down her tights and inserted his fingers and then his penis into her vagina. She said she pushed him away and fled. Other than telling two friends, she kept the encounter secret until disclosing it in a 2019 book excerpt in New York magazine.
Mr. Trump did not testify at the trial but denied wrongdoing and claimed he had never met Ms. Carroll. He earned a rebuke from the judge, Lewis A. Kaplan, when he posted on Truth Social that Ms. Carroll’s lawsuit was a scam and wrote that Ms. Carroll’s lawyer was a “political operative.” He also said that the dress Ms. Carroll wore at Bergdorf’s that day should be “allowed to be part of the case.”
The jury of six men and three women found that Mr. Trump had sexually abused Ms. Carroll but did not find that he raped her. It was unclear why jurors chose the lesser offense of abuse over rape, which is defined under state law as sexual intercourse without consent that involves any penetration of the penis in the vaginal opening.
The federal jury also found that Mr. Trump defamed Ms. Carroll when he wrote on Truth Social in 2022 that her case was a “a complete con job” and “a Hoax and a lie.” The jury ordered him to pay Ms. Carroll $5 million in damages.
This year, another Manhattan jury ordered Mr. Trump to pay Ms. Carroll $83.3 million for defaming her in 2019 after she accused him of rape, and continuing to do so in social media posts at news conferences and even during the trial. Ms. Carroll’s lawyers argued that a large award was necessary to stop Mr. Trump from continuing to deride her.
Mr. Trump as recently as last week shared a post from another user on Truth Social that contained an image that read: “Should a woman go to jail for falsely accusing a man for rape?” above photos of Ms. Carroll and Mr. Trump. The post encouraged others to share the post “if you want justice for Trump.”
originally posted at 
Stacker News
Trump Loses Appeal of Carroll’s $5 Million Award in Sex-Abuse Case \ stacker news
President-elect Donald J. Trump on Monday failed to overturn a $5 million judgment that he sexually abused the writer E. Jean Carroll in a Bergdorf...
TFTC - Why the Lightning Network Is Broken and How Ark Can Save It | Alex B
This episode of TFTC examines the limitations of Bitcoin's Lightning Network, such as costly channel rebalancing and liquidity issues, and highlights the Ark protocol as a promising scalability solution. Ark uses transaction batching to improve efficiency and preserve Bitcoin's security, enabling off-chain swaps and reducing operational costs for services like Lightning. While covenants could enhance Ark's usability, the protocol functions effectively without them, offering future applications in payment channels and decentralized finance. The Ark team focuses on seamless integration and scalability without requiring protocol changes.
originally posted at 
TFTC – Truth for the Commoner
TFTC - Why the Lightning Network Is Broken and How Ark Can Save It | Alex B
This podcast highlights Ark as a solution to Lightning Network's challenges, using transaction batching to streamline operations, reduce costs, and...
Stacker News
TFTC - Why the Lightning Network Is Broken and How Ark Can Save It | Alex B \ stacker news
This episode of TFTC examines the limitations of Bitcoin's Lightning Network, such as costly channel rebalancing and liquidity issues, and highligh...
Vietnamese police foil $1M crypto scam, protect 300 potential victims
# Hanoi Police Prevent Major Crypto Scam, Save 300 Potential Victims
The Hanoi City Police Department in Vietnam has prevented 300 potential victims from investing in an elaborate crypto scam that had already defrauded 30 billion Vietnamese Dong ($1.17 million) from approximately 100 businesses and 400 individuals.
## Crackdown on Million Smiles
Hanoi police apprehended individuals connected to *Million Smiles*, a company that orchestrated an illegal and fraudulent crypto investment scheme targeting Vietnamese citizens, according to **VTV**, the national television broadcaster of Vietnam.
*Million Smiles* promoted an in-house cryptocurrency, **QFS** (*Quantum Financial System*), using deceptive advertising that linked it to ancestral treasures and spiritual claims.
In addition to promising unrealistic returns, the company falsely claimed that owning QFS would allow individuals and businesses to access a financial ecosystem with benefits like funding without collateral or interest.
---
## Foiling the Elaborate Crypto Scam
Law enforcement reportedly intercepted *Million Smiles’* plan to host a meeting with 300 customers to further promote QFS. The fraudsters attempted to persuade individuals to invest roughly **4–5 million dong** (roughly $190) and up to **39 million dong** ($1,350) for businesses in the meetings.
Police raided the company’s headquarters, confiscating documents, computers, and other materials. Subsequent investigations revealed that the **QFS token** was fictitious and not recognized under Vietnamese law.
---
## Related Efforts: Blockchain Strategy in Vietnam
Vietnam recently released a **blockchain strategy**, aiming for regional leadership in the technology sector. However, the country remains vigilant against crypto-related fraud.
---
## Vietnam: Not a Safe Haven for Crypto Fraud
Vietnamese authorities have a strong track record of crypto crackdowns. In October, a provincial police force arrested five individuals connected to an elaborate crypto scam network led by offshore bad actors.
### The Nghe An Province Crackdown
On Oct. 4, police from Nghe An, a province bordering Laos and the Gulf of Tonkin, dismantled a Laos-based scam ring linked to fraudulent wire transfers. The scammers were led by offshore individuals specializing in **pig-butchering** and crypto investment scams.
One scammer, posing as a woman, gained the trust of a man from Ho Chi Minh City. The victim was deceived into investing in *“Biconomynft,”* a fake app that promised exorbitant returns. Over several months, the scammer stole more than **17.6 billion dong** ($700,000) from the victim.
originally posted at 
Cointelegraph
Vietnamese police foil $1M crypto scam, protect 300 potential victims
Vietnamese police intercepted a $1.17 million crypto scam by Million Smiles, saving 300 victims and exposing a fake QFS token.
Stacker News
Vietnamese police foil $1M crypto scam, protect 300 potential victims \ stacker news
Hanoi Police Prevent Major Crypto Scam, Save 300 Potential Victims The Hanoi City Police Department in Vietnam has prevented 300 potential victims ...
Earn Bitcoin For Providing Liquidity Via Boltz Pro
Today, Boltz is launching Boltz Pro, a service that lets users help Boltz manage its bitcoin wallet and Lightning channel liquidity, and I plan to test it out.
But first some background on how Boltz Pro works.
According to Kilian, a co-founder of Boltz, the balances of Boltz’s wallets and Lightning channels are constantly shifting, especially as the volume and velocity of sats flowing through the platform increases.
So, the idea behind Boltz Pro is that users can help provide liquidity for swaps in the event that Boltz’s balances run low.
originally posted at 
Bitcoin Magazine
Earn Bitcoin For Providing Liquidity Via Boltz Pro
I look forward to earning some sats in a non-custodial manner for helping Boltz manage its liquidity.
Stacker News
Earn Bitcoin For Providing Liquidity Via Boltz Pro \ stacker news
Today, Boltz is launching Boltz Pro, a service that lets users help Boltz manage its bitcoin wallet and Lightning channel liquidity, and I plan to ...
Good Morning, Bitcoin - Monday, December 30th, 2024 - No BS Bitcoin
originally posted at 
No Bullshit Bitcoin
Good Morning, Bitcoin - Monday, December 30th, 2024
Good Morning, Bitcoin is your daily news roundup delivering key stories, project updates, new releases, guides, research, and all things related to...
Stacker News
Good Morning, Bitcoin - Monday, December 30th, 2024 - No BS Bitcoin \ stacker news
@nym stacked 0 sats posting https://www.nobsbitcoin.com/gm-2024-12-30/
How Being an Influencer Became a New American Dream
https://archive.is/3yOL4
Whenever I browse social media, I see advice and products for self-improvement - a deluge of elusive promises tethered to consumer goods. How to look more angular or more toned, feel more energized, age backward. Capitalism and modern technology have mixed to create an internet world where users are transformed into brands. As a filmmaker, I’m drawn to document this culture.
I first came across Peyton and Lyla, two preteen sisters and influencers on Instagram two years ago. (Since they are minors, their last names are withheld to protect their privacy.) From their rural Alabama home under their mother’s watchful gaze, they hawk fashion and beauty products to tens of thousands of online fans around the world. Every day, packages arrive at their doorstep for them to unbox and try out — deluxe makeup sets, floral dresses, exercise bikes — all free, as if delivered by a shopping mall Santa.
With their parents’ permission, I began filming the sisters’ daily lives as influencers; in this short documentary, “Christmas, Every Day,” they shift between performance and reality. Peyton and Lyla, who were 11 and 12 at the time of filming, see themselves as instilling confidence, positivity and a girl-power attitude for other girls — ideas that I wanted to explore within the broader context of modern consumerism.
Whether as creators or viewers or consumers, children are spending more time online at younger and younger ages. What kid wouldn’t want a stream of likes and gifts, waking up to the feeling of, as Peyton and Lyla’s parents put it, “Christmas, every day”? What does it mean to be participants in a larger social media system that encourages and even demands certain behaviors from its users, especially women and girls?
In a time of immense wealth disparity, influencer culture has created a more fantastical kind of American dream. (Perhaps that’s why nearly one-third of preteens say becoming an influencer is a career goal.) Seeing the field’s potential for a steady income — not to mention the prestige of an ever-growing follower count — some parents encourage it. I sought to go behind the scenes of this new creator economy with curiosity and a focus on the girls’ experiences, aiming to allow viewers to come to their own conclusions.
originally posted at 
Stacker News
How Being an Influencer Became a New American Dream \ stacker news
Whenever I browse social media, I see advice and products for self-improvement - a deluge of elusive promises tethered to consumer goods. How to lo...
Blockchain Association sues IRS over crypto broker rules
The Blockchain Association is pushing back against the latest cryptocurrency regulatory move of the United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) with a joint lawsuit.
On Dec. 27, the IRS issued final regulations requiring brokers to report digital asset transactions, expanding existing reporting requirements to include front-end platforms, such as decentralized exchanges (DEXs).
Set to take effect in 2027, the rules mandate that brokers disclose gross proceeds from sales of cryptocurrencies and other digital assets, including information regarding taxpayers involved in the transactions.
In response to the new rules, the Blockchain Association and the Texas Blockchain Council filed a lawsuit against the IRS, announced Kristin Smith, the CEO of the Blockchain Association.
Under the new rules, if a decentralized finance (DeFi) platform facilitates the exchange or sale of digital assets — even through smart contracts — and exercises sufficient control or influence over the transaction process, it could meet the definition of a broker.
The IRS’ rulemaking puts “unlawful compliance burgers on software developers” building front-end trading infrastructure, wrote the Blockchain Association.
The decision raises significant concerns for blockchain software developers, considering that other code developers have already been sanctioned for how their software is being used.
Notably, Tornado Cash developer Alex Pertsev was found guilty of money laundering by Dutch judges at the s-Hertogenbosch Court of Appeal on May 14. He was sentenced to five years and four months for allegedly laundering $1.2 billion worth of illicit funds despite Tornado Cash being a non-custodial cryptocurrency mixer.
originally posted at 
Cointelegraph
Blockchain Association sues IRS over crypto broker rules
The Blockchain Association filed a lawsuit against the IRS
Stacker News
Blockchain Association sues IRS over crypto broker rules \ stacker news
The Blockchain Association is pushing back against the latest cryptocurrency regulatory move of the United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) wi...
IRS issues rules on digital asset reporting, says front-ends are brokers
The United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued final regulations requiring brokers to report digital asset transactions, expanding existing reporting requirements to include front-end platforms, such as decentralized exchanges.
Set to take effect in 2027, the rules mandate that brokers disclose gross proceeds from sales of cryptocurrencies and other digital assets, including information regarding taxpayers involved in the transactions.
The final regulation says “the only DeFi participants that are treated as brokers [...] are trading front-end service providers.”
The document does not directly apply to all DeFi applications and their level of decentralization, focusing on front-ends as a source of information and tax disclosure.
The reporting requirements apply to front-end platforms that facilitate transactions involving digital assets for customers, such as decentralized exchanges.
The definition encompasses platforms performing intermediary functions in facilitating transactions, including a group of persons facilitating transactions “whether or not the group operates through a legal entity.”
Under the new rules, if a DeFi platform is involved in facilitating the exchange or sale of digital assets — even through smart contracts — and it exercises sufficient control or influence over the transaction process, it could meet the definition of a broker.
originally posted at 
Cointelegraph
IRS issues rules on digital asset reporting, says front-ends are brokers
The IRS has issued final regulations deeming DeFi front-ends and brokers and requiring the report of digital asset transactions.
Stacker News
IRS issues rules on digital asset reporting, says front-ends are brokers \ stacker news
The United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued final regulations requiring brokers to report digital asset transactions, expanding exi...
I survived skydiving today! I thought I was going to die, but I'm glad it worked out.
Montenegro Approves Do Kwon's Extradition to the U.S.
Montenegro's Justice Minister Bojan Božović announced on Friday that Terraform Labs founder Do Kwon will be extradited to the United States. The decision follows a prolonged legal battle involving competing extradition requests from the U.S. and South Korea. Both nations have sought Kwon’s custody to face criminal charges related to the collapse of the Terra/Luna stablecoin ecosystem in 2022.
Do Kwon was arrested in Montenegro in March 2023 for attempting to leave the country using a forged Costa Rican passport. He was later sentenced to several months in prison on charges of passport forgery. Meanwhile, the U.S. and South Korean governments initiated extradition proceedings, vying for custody to prosecute Kwon for alleged financial crimes stemming from the $40 billion collapse of Terraform Labs.
Montenegro’s courts have issued conflicting rulings over the past year regarding which country should take custody of Kwon. In August 2023, the Appellate Court of Montenegro ruled that Kwon should be extradited to South Korea. However, the Supreme Court’s latest decision found that conditions for extradition to the U.S. had been met, leaving the final decision to the Justice Ministry.
In a detailed statement, Minister Božović outlined the criteria considered in approving Kwon’s extradition to the U.S. “The Ministry of Justice considered all the facts and circumstances, including the gravity of the criminal acts, the place of execution, the order of submission of requests, the citizenship of the requested person, and the possibility of further extradition to another country,” the statement read. The U.S. bid reportedly satisfied these criteria.
Kwon’s legal team in Montenegro criticized the decision, stating they were informed through media reports and arguing that it contradicts previous court rulings favoring South Korea. Lawyers Goran Rodić and Marija Radulović described the move as “illegal” and plan to challenge the ruling.
Kwon faces multiple fraud charges in the U.S. related to Terraform Labs’ algorithmic stablecoin TerraUSD and its sister token Luna. These digital currencies were marketed as stable financial assets but collapsed in May 2022, wiping out $40 billion in market value and leaving retail investors with significant losses. Federal prosecutors in New York have accused Kwon of orchestrating a scheme to defraud investors. South Korean authorities have also issued warrants for Kwon and five other individuals linked to Terraform Labs on similar charges.
The collapse of Terraform Labs triggered a chain reaction of high-profile failures in the cryptocurrency industry, including the downfall of FTX. Analysts view Montenegro’s decision to extradite Kwon to the U.S. as a pivotal moment in the international legal response to cryptocurrency-related financial crimes. The case highlights growing global scrutiny of the cryptocurrency market and its participants.
It remains unclear when Kwon will be extradited to the U.S. or whether further legal appeals will delay the process. As the U.S. prepares to prosecute one of the most controversial figures in cryptocurrency history, the outcome of Kwon’s trial could set a significant precedent for how digital asset crimes are handled in traditional legal systems.
originally posted at 
TFTC – Truth for the Commoner
Montenegro Approves Do Kwon's Extradition to the U.S.
Montenegro has approved the extradition of Terraform Labs founder Do Kwon to the U.S., marking a key development in the legal fallout from the $40 ...
Stacker News
Montenegro Approves Do Kwon's Extradition to the U.S. \ stacker news
Montenegro's Justice Minister Bojan Božović announced on Friday that Terraform Labs founder Do Kwon will be extradited to the United States. The ...
Going skydiving today! I hope I survive.
Goodnight Big Homies.
Never let up
Merry Christmas Eve Eve!