Short thoughts, notes, links, and musings by Molly White. RSS 
taking psychic damage reading the lawsuit by Justin Sun’s Bit Global against Coinbase
i have to respect the argument that “memecoins... unlike wBTC have no inherent value other than demand created by their memetic potential as jokes”. your honor, wBTC’s lack of inherent value is for a different reason entirely
Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky has entered a guilty plea in his criminal fraud trial, which was scheduled to begin in about two months. His Celsius cryptocurrency platform collapsed in July 2022 after it couldn't meet customer withdrawal demands. Its failure was particularly devastating because it had actively marketed itself to customers as safer than banks, regularly telling customers that "banks are not your friends". Many people believed that because Celsius was based in the US, it was carefully regulated and therefore safe.
Letters written to the judge in the bankruptcy case revealed the extent of the devastation to people around the world, some of whom had their entire life savings or retirement money on the platform. I published some excerpts back in July 2022.
These Celsius letters to the bankruptcy judge should be required reading for anyone who thinks that the only victims of crypto collapses are degens out there gambling on memecoins.
They thought they were insured from losses (and some believed Celsius had FDIC insurance like a bank would). Some of them only had money in stablecoins, which themselves make big promises about reliability. They believed US regulators wouldn't let this happen.
These letters are a big reason why I don't have a lot of patience for people who react to crypto scams with "they should have known better" or "they had it coming".
It's interesting to me that the Fifth Circuit only considered "control" at the smart contract level, and does not seem to consider the role of validators in their opinion. A substantial portion of ETH blocks are built with relays that censor transactions with OFAC-sanctioned contracts, and it seems to me there is now an open question as to whether validators that use non-censoring relays could be sanctioned directly.
(Not saying they should, just remarking on the fact that it seems to have gone completely unaddressed.)
Of course this was a concern already, but what with the Treasury focused on the Tornado Cash contracts, it was less central than I suspect it might be soon. This strategy would be somewhat in keeping with legal theories around other "malicious" code, where it's broadly speaking legal to write a devastating computer virus, but a whole lot less legal to run one.
The Fifth Circuit has just opined that the smart contracts that comprise the Tornado Cash cryptocurrency tumbler are "not property because they are not capable of being owned", and thus cannot be sanctioned by OFAC.
![The immutable smart contracts at issue in this appeal are not property because they are not capable of being owned. More than one thousand volunteers participated in a “trusted setup ceremony” to “irrevocably remov[e] the option for anyone to update, remove, or otherwise control those lines of code.” And as a result, no one can “exclude” anyone from using the Tornado Cash pool smart contracts. In fact, because these immutable smart contracts are unchangeable and unremovable, they remain available for anyone to use and “the targeted North Korean wrongdoers are not actually blocked from retrieving their assets,” even under the sanctions regime. Simply put, regardless of OFAC’s designation of Tornado Cash, the immutable](https://storage.mollywhite.net/micro/5c9f39635b98489b176d_Screenshot-2024-11-26-at-7.01.20---PM.png)
pro tip: name your organization something that sounds terrible to sue
The drumbeat of legal threats signals a potentially ominous trend for journalists during Trump’s second term in office. Litigation is costly and time-consuming. Most news organizations will look to settle rather than face months—more likely years—of discovery and depositions, plus significant legal fees.
“It is both conscious and unconscious. Journalists at smaller outlets know very well that the costs for their organization to defend themselves could mean bankruptcy. Even journalists at larger outlets don’t want to burden themselves or their employees with lawsuits. It puts another layer of influence into the journalistic process,” [Anne Champion] said.
Perhaps the CJR editors decided it went without saying, but it feels worth mentioning that — if Trump’s appointments go as planned — he will have the entire judicial branch to bring to bear on journalists, not just his wacky lawyer neighbor.
“Plaintiff, through individual intelligence, entrepreneurship and human ingenuity, along with the aid of God, is in the professional business of servicing subprime auto loans”
![Plaintiff, through individual intelligence, entrepreneurship and human ingenuity, along with the aid of God, is in the professional business of servicing subprime auto loans generated by an affiliated Car Dealership, alongside an internally-partnered, financial services institution ["Bank"].](https://storage.mollywhite.net/micro/242e61648aa0a46d7a94_Screenshot-2024-10-31-at-7.35.49---PM.png)
this reminds me of the time that cryptoland project sent me a “cease and decease”
FTX's Ryan Salame has returned to Twitter for the first time since FTX collapsed — hours after he was sentenced to 7.5 years in prison for his role in the FTX fraud and for his illegal campaign contributions 💀
Sam Bankman-Fried has filed his notice of appeal. This comes shortly after a request that he remain at MDC Brooklyn until his appeal has been fully briefed, to allow him better access to his counsel than he would have if moved to a federal penitentiary closer to his family in California.
![Re: United States v. Samuel Bankman-Fried, 1:22 CR 673 (LAK) Dear Judge Kaplan: VIA ECF Honorable Lewis A. Kaplan United States District Judge Daniel Patrick Moynihan United States Courthouse 500 Pearl Street New York, NY 10007 Defendant Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced on March 28, 2024, primarily to 25 years imprisonment, to be served, if possible, near his family’s home in California. (ECF 424). Mr. Bankman-Fried respectfully requests, pursuant to Rule 38(b)(2) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, that the Court supplement its recommendation to the Bureau of Prisons (“BOP”) by issuing the attached proposed order recommending that the BOP allow him to remain at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn to facilitate access to his appellate counsel pending the filing of the briefs in his anticipated appeal. Rule 38(b)(2) provides that “[i]f the defendant is not released pending appeal, the court may recommend to the Attorney General that the defendant be confined near the place of the trial or appeal for a period reasonably necessary to permit the defendant to assist in preparing the appeal.” Fed. R. Cr. Proc. 38(b)(2). See e.g., United States v. Carl, No. 07-CR-29-P-S, 2008 WL 4615556 (D. Me. Oct. 16, 2008) (issuing similar order). The government informs us that they take no position on this request. Respectfully submitted, /s/ Marc L. Mukasey](https://storage.mollywhite.net/micro/a356583fb9577a2a25b7_letter.png)